The success of Control created the perfect climate for this documentary – but then again, Joy Division fans would have leapt on it any time.
Charting the rise of the band from its humble beginnings in urban Manchester, it hinges around vintage footage and entertaining anecdotes from Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris within a slick, visually inventive format. Other contributors include the late Tony Wilson, Control director Anton Corbijn and Annik Honoré, who’s relatively guarded in her first filmed interview about lover Ian Curtis.
The New Order boys are more frank, Sumner recalling how he sat down and finished his Sunday lunch after he got the call about Curtis’ suicide.
Newfound audio recordings help make this more revealing, if less affecting, than the drama that preceded it.