Shortly after its release on DVD I watched the Joy Division rockumentary by Grant Gee (much acclaimed for similar stuff on Radiohead -‘famous’ it seems-). Being a sort of old-skool fan I couldn’t escape the same sense of disappointment I had with Control. It was good, maybe even great in a way, but it certainly didn’t fully live up to my expectations. Not excluding my expectations to be the problem.
I regretted that Control didn’t fully capture the insights from Deborah Curtis’ heartbreaking book Touching From A Distance. The problem with this Joy Division rockumentary is that it is mainly a collection of people talking about the band, about Ian, but without much focus or coherence.
The influence and ‘atmosphere’ of the grey concrete of Manchester is visually well captured. The visionary approach of Martin Hannett -sound of breaking glass-. Peter Saville‘s graphics. Authentic footage. All… nice.
But nothing on Warsaw? Their early recording? And no clear chronology or backgrounds on the making of the music, the songs. Confirmation that those who survived (aka New Order) can’t sit in the same room. I only liked Stephen Morris’ funny nervousness, kinda like his drumming.
Deborah Curtis preferred not to appear in a movie with a certain Mrs. Honoré in, but her contribution would have been tremendously bigger.
So, finality? It will probably never be. There are just… opinions.
