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2 Movies Celebrate Originality Of Joy Division

Photo from Bender/Helper Impact

English rock band Joy Division, from left, Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, released just two albums, but left a lasting mark on music.

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By CURTIS ROSS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 15, 2008

TAMPA - Joy Division released only two albums and a few singles during its three-year existence. It recorded for a tiny independent label based in its hometown of Manchester, England, a grim industrial fortress miles away from the U.K. entertainment center of London.

Just as the band released its most accessible single, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," and was about to travel to the United States for a tour, singer Ian Curtis hanged himself on May 18, 1980, at the age of 23.

Despite Joy Division's short life and meager catalog, its profile seems higher than ever, 28 years after Curtis' death.

The band's two albums, 1979's "Unknown Pleasures" and 1980's "Closer," as well as a posthumous collection, 1981's "Still," were reissued last year, each with bonus discs featuring live recordings. A compilation, "The Best of Joy Division," was released at the end of April.

Last year also saw two films about the band issued: "Control," based on "Touching From a Distance," a memoir by Deborah Curtis, Ian's widow; and a documentary, simply titled "Joy Division."

"Control" was issued on DVD June 3, and "Joy Division" arrives on Tuesday.

Despite the band's cultural and geographical isolation, its music reached many, inspiring popular alternative bands such as Interpol, The Killers, She Wants Revenge and Bloc Party.

The band's sound was dark and severe, reflecting the poverty and decay of the members' hometown.

Joy Division "was an original modern classic," says Tom Atencio, producer of "Joy Division." "They did something brand new. They made digital music on analog machines and ended up making something that's stood up for 30 years."

"Joy Division" features interviews with the late Tony Wilson, who founded Joy Division's label, Factory; Pater Saville, who created the austere record sleeves that were such a part of the band's visual image; and the surviving members of the band, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, who went on to worldwide success in the 1980s as New Order. Atencio is New Order's U.S. manager and handles the Joy Division catalog.

Director Grant Gee, who has directed music videos for Blur and Radiohead, ensured that "Joy Division" stayed true to the band's stark visual image, a combination of stark classic and sleek modern graphics. It's not a standard-looking documentary, which wasn't what Atencio wanted in the first place. Nor would one have been possible.

"The band wasn't on a major label, and they weren't enormously successful until after they passed," Atencio points out. "There's not loads of material from TV and interviews.

"We couldn't go to a standard documentarian. We needed someone who was painterly. Grant is projecting film onside of buildings and moving cars, shooting through windshields. We were very fortunate to get somebody with that skill set. Grant did a fantastic job."

"Control" director Anton Corbijn is best known for photographing grainy black-and-white shots of bands such as U2 (he shot the cover of 1987's "The Joshua Tree") and Depeche Mode, as well as directing music videos such as "Heart-Shaped Box" for Nirvana.

According to "Control" producer Orian Williams, Corbijn left his native Holland to follow Joy Division.

Still, Williams says, Corbijn initially was hesitant to take on "Control."

"He turned the film down twice," Williams says. "The third time he said yes. He convinced himself this wasn't a bio-pic. It was a love story."

"Control" charts both the history of Joy Division and the relationship between Ian and Deborah Curtis, who were married in 1976. Curtis, played by Sam Riley, struggles to balance normal family life - working a day job, fathering a daughter - with Joy Division's touring schedule. His epilepsy makes his performances riveting but erratic. An affair with a European journalist adds to the turmoil.

Despite Curtis' death, both producers see Joy Division's story as inspirational.

"We didn't want it to be a music film," Williams says. "We wanted to make a movie for people who live in the middle of nowhere. We wanted them to react on a heartfelt level."

Atencio calls it "the story of four young men who overcome obstacles ... to achieve lasting success. They chose a different path. They chose to make something original. They chose to make a contribution instead of being an echo."

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com.

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