Letters to the Editor
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And so did we
"and yet they acted as if their music were the only kind that mattered."
And so did we. Everybody does. So we were no better.
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She's Lost Control...
Well I can not wait to see either of these Joy Division films. I remember first hearing their music a few years ago after reading interview upon interview with the likes of Sean Reveron, Perry Farrell and others saying how much Joy Division influenced their own music. Ian Curtis wrote some of the most brilliant lyrics ever. Its hard not to wonder what would have become of them, what music they would have continued to make, but at the same time, I try to remain pleased by the abundance of songs they did make in their short time together.
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Love
Will Tear Us Apart. A universe in that line.
The music 'stays young inside us even as we age,' and it ages within us as we grow, some times like fine wine and other times just vinegar.
I could never know the truth of that lyric at 19 that I do now, nor do I have any doubt that I'll have to learn it anew again and again.
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Beautifully Put
"Sometimes when you hear a song at 45 that meant the world to you at 20, the person you used to be reaches out to connect with the person you've come to be. The few extra pounds, the slight graying (or total loss) of hair: Music is unbound by any corporeal rules and regulations. It stays young inside us even as we age."---How very, very true Stephanie---Proust couldn't have said it better (or at least as concisely) himself!
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Ditto
Agreed, Daniel Myers, that line just brought tears to my eyes.
Of course, I'm currently sporting the RIP Tony Wilson ringtones, (Hallelujah by Happy Mondays and Transmission by Joy Divison) so to say I am giddy about these movies is an understatement.
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Re: And So Do We
" 'and yet they acted as if their music were the only kind that mattered.' And so did we. Everybody does. So we were no better."
No we don't. No they don't. Plenty of folks who grew up on Bad Brains, The Fall, Joy Division, X and The Specials also enjoyed (and enjoy) Buddy Holly, The Four Tops, The Zombies and Smokey Robinson. Some of those people are also big fans of Ghostface Killah, Grandaddy, Bill Frisell and Rakim.
More to the point, plenty of people understand the importance of those artists' music and their place in history.
Speak for yourself.
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Stephanie is right
The 'Big Chill' sucked!! Not one single Beatles song in all the crapola they listened to.
Joy Division sucked too. So did nearly all music from 1978 until about 1990. (& don't tellme I am too old--I was 18 in 1980)
Then Nirvana brought back some life to a dead dead dead genre.
Boy George anyone????
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Soudtracks In My Head
Another movie about Joy Division is 24 HOUR PART PEOPLE. In one of the unwritten screenplays I have stored in my attic, the hero dies, then just before the credits roll, ATMOSPHERE is played. I think Winterbottom used that song in the scene where Curtis commits suicide. I'm weeping just thinking about it.
A happier, comedic mental screenplay of mine uses NO LOVE LOST for the opening credits. I can't wait to see these movies, thanks for the heads up.
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Sorry About Those Typos
Either my computer or my brain is on the fritz today. I could have sworn I put an N in soundtrack and a Y in party.
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hen Nirvana brought back some life to a dead dead dead genre.
wow, that's like so profound
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Joy Division
... was terrible and lame, nobody liked them at the time, and the only people who think they were great are those who probably were too young or even not yet born at the time and think name-checking them makes them sound hip and cool. Sorry - there are plenty of bands from this era that were criminally ignored and should be talked about, but Joy is not one of them.
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Tidings of Joy
I'm so glad there's a sudden surge of Joy Division movie fare lately; they had such a singular aesthetic and sound that remains all their own (Interpol, the Rakes, the Editors, and others certainly dipped a silver cup in their dark waters, but they're pretenders compared to the darkling beauty of Joy Division's own work).
The discordant doom of Ian Curtis's own strangled vocals and lyrics, wrapped in the aggressive electric throb of pulsing bass and staccato, overdriven guitar, with clockwork, if understated percussion holding the beat, and keyboards lurking like sharks in the wake of a sinking ship -- New Order's survivors couldn't hope to match the magic of Joy Division; Curtis was the necromancer who made it all work, the lodestone that bound it together.
While I think the short life of Warsaw and Joy Division (and Curtis, himself) likely only adds to their mystique, limiting the missteps that inevitably afflict bands over time, the body of work they left behind has only become finer with age. I listened to them as a teen, and at 37, it still impresses me, still gives me chills. And black and white? Brilliant touch -- it captures the essence perfectly. I can't wait to see these films.
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Coda...
In my opinion, only Gang of Four (and the Proletariat) managed to convey as much effortless menace in echoing guitar lines as Joy Division did, although those bands' politics were on their lapel pins, while Joy Division's unique aesthetic was on another plane, almost supernatural, ineffable, unfathomable.
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"Reitman -- whose last picture was the limp satire "Thank You for Smoking" --"
Are you f'ing nuts? How could you say that was a limp satire?
Although kudos on the Big Chill, though...looking back at that now, and on World According to Garp, and Forrest Gump, and...well, the list goes on...it's quite apparent that the Boomer Generation really thinks too highly of themselves. Too bad we have to take care of them now, and their outlandish debt...
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question...
what I never understood is how a dark, broody band became new order...anyone??? wonder if the film explores that!
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Watching the reel as it comes to a close/ Brutally taking its time
I'm 25. I like The Big Chill, but I can't stand Kevin Kline's jerk of a character. Remember that the journalist played by Jeff Goldblum actually cares about music other than the pop dreck that dominates the movie, and Kline's character can't fathom it.
I don't like the pop dreck of any era. Most people know me as a huge music fan, and it really bothers me to have to apologize for my taste to people who have none. When I first heard "True Faith," by New Order, it communicated with me instantly. It wasn't the first song that made me a music fan, but it was one of those moments where I listened to the complete song- music, lyrics, and the delivery of those lyrics- and realized that this didn't sound like a dopey love song or macho strutting. I could relate to it.
I love Joy Division. I found out about New Order first, bought (The Best of) New Order, and then learned about JD via Paul Morley's essay in the booklet. In the boxed set Heart and Soul (and elsewhere,) Bernard Sumner drops some hints about how JD became NO, though they do often sound drastically different. With that said, towards the end of New Order's career they could play several Joy Division songs in their set. They integrated nicely. I wish I could have seen New Order, now I don't think I'll have the chance.