In 1976 four young men from ruined, post-industrial Manchester, went to see the Sex Pistols. They formed a band, Joy Division. Three years later it was a matter of art, life and death. Now thirty years later, they are enjoying a larger audience and more influence than ever before with a profound legacy that resonates fiercely in todays heavily careerist music industry and over-mediated pop culture.
Featuring the unprecedented participation of the surviving band members (now know as New Order), the film examines the band’s story as depicted through never-before-seen live performance footage, personal photos, period films and newly discovered audio tapes. With poignant narratives from surviving members of the band – Berhard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris – as well as accounts from Throbbing Gristle musician Genesis P. Orridge, late legendary Factory Records owner Tony Wilson, iconic Factory Records graphic artist Peter Saville, photographer/filmmaker Anton Corbijin, Belgian journalist Annik Honore and others, the film is a fresh visual account of a time and place.
From director Grant Gee and producers Tom Atencio, Tom Astor and Jacqui Edenbrow, Joy Division chronicles a time of great social and political change in England and tells the untold story of four men who transcended economic and cultural barriers to produce an enduring musical legacy. —indi VISION
Grant Gee is a film director and cinematographer currently living in Brighton. He was born in Plymouth and studied Geography at St Catherine’s College, Oxford and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He is most noted for his documentary about the British alternative rock group Radiohead, Meeting People Is Easy (1999), which followed the band on their tour for their highly acclaimed third album, OK Computer (1997).
In the early 1990s he had worked on U2’s Zoo TV and Zoo Radio, and collaborated with Mark Neale on several projects (many through London production company Kudos Productions), including “The Memory Palace”, an experimental multi-media project combining film and live performance for the Expo ’92.
In 1996 he directed a twenty-seven minute short film commissioned by progressive house band Spooky for parts of their album “Found Sound” (namely the tracks “Central Heating”, “Bamboo”, “Aphonia”, “Lowest Common Denominator”, “Hypo-Allergenic”/“Interim”… read more
It's great insight for Joy Division fans, to see the band and those around them discuss the making of their albums, how they got together and of Ian as well.
“Punk enabled you to say ‘Fuck you’, but somehow it couldn’t go any further. Sooner or later someone was going to want to say, ‘I’m fucked’, and that was Joy Division.”
How can you enbody punk and live the story of one of the landmarks of the 20th century music? This is the way. A great picture about the ultimate concrete in the rebirth of Machester city, the Joy Divison.