Review: Joy Division

An awful, torturous historical epic from first time director Reg Traviss. Story follows Thomas (the elder played by Ed Stoppard) from a love sick young German, through his time in the army during WW2, eventually being caught by the Red Russians and recruited to the KBG. This career in espionage brings him to London in the 60s. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened anyway.

Clearly of low budget, the film’s most potent crime is an over-ambitious production. Aiming for the epic (spanning 17 years & 3 countries), Joy Division is embarrassingly artificial. The settings and production design are unconvincing (with the notable exception of some war-time set pieces with big explosions and destroyed buildings) – from broad mistakes like thinking London in the 60s can be sold with a red phone box, an old car and a psychedelic poster slapped on the wall, to minor details like Thomas’ trench coat (that’s what spies wear you see) looking continuously brand new and too big.

The film does strange things. The Russian army are portrayed as emotionless, conscience–less meatheads. Seemingly only to ‘insert tension here’, the female lead is repeatedly raped. Later, a female KGB spy is captured by British authorities and out of nowhere is humiliated in a truly bizarre, festishstic fashion (she is made to strip, turn around and touch her toes).

But the films biggest disappointment is the script. The dialogue is phony, the story is muddled and incoherent in every sense. The timeline is chopped up for no reason other than to add a bit of pizzaz. The heart of the tale seems to be Thomas losing his childhood sweetheart Melanie (Heerwagen) during the war… but later in deep and meaningful conversations with a KGB contact (Hill), the story shifts to talk of the “war of individuals” and god knows what.

Performances range from decent to poor (the standout is young Thomas, played by Tom Schilling), the accents are worse. The score is overbearing, doing its dandiest to steer your emotions – but serving only to highlight the fact you aren’t moved.

Some people think that in a good film you don’t notice its production; the camera moves naturally, the cutting is seamless, the performances real. In Joy Division you’re never involved in the story and you notice everything – you see the film, but don’t watch it. Ultimately, there’s nothing to engage in here.