This film about Joy Division is the best yet. For an understanding of the story of the band, I found it better than the Ian and Deborah Curtis-centered drama-biopic 'Control'. It will probably end up being the definitive docu-biopic of Joy Division - not least because it's not just about the band, but about their place within the late 70's English Zeitgeist and the 'psycho-geography' of Manchester. On the DVD, the extras with the interviews are particularly good - being a JD fan from the first time I heard 'Transmission' on the John Peel show as a 15 year-old back in '79, I was pleasantly surprised by them. The movie in and of itself gets an 8 from me but it's the extended interviews on the DVD release that upped the score to 9.
I would have given this movie/DVD 10 out of 10 if it weren't for the use of a curtailed version of 'Atmosphere' to close the story. The missing lines at the end of the sublime Hannett-produced 12" release of 'Atmosphere' go something like -
'People like you find it easy - Aching to see - Walking on air - Hunting by the rivers, through the streets, every corner - Abandoned too soon - Set down with due care - Don't walk away - In silence - Don't walk away'.
I would have given this movie/DVD 10 out of 10 if it weren't for the use of a curtailed version of 'Atmosphere' to close the story. The missing lines at the end of the sublime Hannett-produced 12" release of 'Atmosphere' go something like -
'People like you find it easy - Aching to see - Walking on air - Hunting by the rivers, through the streets, every corner - Abandoned too soon - Set down with due care - Don't walk away - In silence - Don't walk away'.
- and the song is all-the-better for them, I reckon. And this film would've been that bit better if they hadn't been left out.