Review of Joy Division (2009) by Martin P — 17 Jan 2009

I still don't really know why I keep watching feature length films (Control, 24 Hour Party People) about a band that I'm not really bothered about. Especially when they don't seem to reveal anything I didn't know about before or, at least, could have lived without knowing. A major plus point of this documentary is that it didn't really contradict anything in Control, as far as I noticed anyway. It was cool to hear Bernie tell a story about Curtis spazzing out in a van and remember the scene in Control when he spazzes out in a van.

But it remains an interesting story and in the small doses presented in the films, I do enjoy most of the music. I did come up with a theory that the reason I don't like Joy Division is that the idea of sitting down and listening to 40 minutes of the bleak combo is just not that appealing. Maybe they should release their albums in multiple 7" sets, then I can hear them in bits and pieces. I'd probably still get bored after the second verse. And it doesn't explain why I adore loads of other bleak bands.

Good to match a face to the name of Anton Corbijn though, I like his stuff. I used to spend hours looking at those grainy pictures of REM in the AFTP booklet.