Joy Division: Under Review DVD

I recently finished reading Touching From A Distance, Deborah Curtis’ in-depth biographical account of her husband’s life. I bought the book hoping to better understand what type of person Ian Curtis really was, but it fell short of giving me the full picture of his life. The chilling fact that the book made incredibly clear was that he isolated himself from those that were closest to him and they didn’t even seem to know or understand him.

I’m doubting this new straight to DVD documentary, Joy Division: Under Review, is going to provide any insight to Ian’s life and I don’t really expect it to. This 70-minute documentary charts the short career of Joy Division “from their origins in their days as Warsaw to the more well known incarnation of Joy Division.” Features include rare musical performances, obscure footage of interviews, and rarely seen photographs. Plus review, comment, criticism and insight from Mick Middles, Barney Hoskyns, Pat Gilbert, John Robb, David Stubbs, and more. For some lame ass reason, the DVD is being released on October 31st.

On another Joy Division note, filming for Control, “the long-awaited movie about Joy Division’s late frontman, Ian Curtis,” began in July. The film “will expand on Touching From A Distance, to give a fuller account of the man and his life. To achieve this, writer Matt Greenhalgh has interviewed all the relevant people including Annik Honore (Ian’s mistress).”

Joy Division  ”Atmosphere”