Too much of everything

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Perhaps I should have been warned by the banner across the top of the box 'THE PAST IS A PLACE YOU CANNOT ESCAPE' (so profound - not) and the fact that the only praise longer than one word they have is from something called Boys Toys, who proclaim 'SEARING WARTIME SET-PIECES'. The latter at least is true.Here's an edited synopsis: 'In the last days of World War II, a teenager is forced into battle against the advancing Red Army ... he is captured by the Russians and disappears behind the Iron Curtain ... 17 years later, he is recruited ... and sent on a mission by the KGB to London'.Bought this because Tom Schilling was in it but have to agree with the other reviewers - his bits are excellent, the German back story is the only watchable part, mostly because of his natural, effortless, sympathetic performance and far more credible and moving than the 60s spy episodes. They should have expanded this to movie length and completely cut the 60s section.This film was written and directed by Reg Traviss. There's a reason this guy's not a household name and this movie could be it. First, he's cast Ed Stoppard (no relation to Tom or Miriam - oh wait, yes, he's their son; nothing like getting a part on merit, and this is nothing like it). His lines are delivered in an affectless tone, reminiscent of Keira Knightley at the wooden beginning of her career, with one of those irritating schizophrenic accents British people adopt to please Americans, often heard in US teen drama, such as Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill; for the first half of a sentence, they sound as if they're in Downton, for the second half, they sound like they're in EastEnders, i.e. posh then common. No one in England really talks like this. And whereas everything Tom Schilling does is finely nuanced; Ed Stoppard's a blunt instrument and he doesn't have the charisma to carry a weak storyline. It's not entirely his fault as he doesn't have much to work with.Then, if he started as German, then went to live in Russia, why doesn't he speak English with a foreign accent? It has to be pointed out that Tom Schilling is way more convincing in a second language than Ed is in his first. It would have made more sense (since Schilling was playing 10 years younger than his actual age), to age him a mere 7 years and allow him to play the older version too. At least there would have been a consistency as far as accents are concerned.The story and script are dire. The 60s spy plot is stultifying (consisting of Ed waiting on a succession of benches to rendezvous with other spies), though they try to spice it up by adding Michelle Gayle (not really known for her acting and this isn't going to help) as a supremely uninteresting love interest. They both like art so they fall in love. It's as bland and as undeveloped as that but no doubt Reg thought it represented a real meeting of minds.There's a very irritating cameo from Bernard Hill as a disaffected Communist who spouts tripe like: 'Are we the leaders? Or are we the led? Or are we neither?' which must pass for deep in Reg Traviss's world and Ed's too as he responds 'It's a lot to think about'. No, it ain't. Who cares? Worse than all this though is the voice-over, which is another attempt to be deep, with Ed delivering such pearls of wisdom as 'strength through experience to again become strong'. Hmm. This doesn't mean anything. Or 'the unstoppable force of nature swept through my heart'. Neither does this. But Reg is fond of 'unstoppable force'; it crops up more than once.Don't go thinking this has anything much to do with either the Joy Division of the Nazis or the band of the late 70s. If only.My final verdict is that there's just about enough Tom Schilling to warrant any fan of his watching this movie.

clumsy and heavy handed...I wanted more London and less flashback and the narrative just doesn't work. The rape scenes are really unnecessary and add nothing to the story. Less telling and more showing would have helped this movie. The more I watched the more I fast forwarded through the WW2 scenes (which is weird for me) and shot to the spy / intrigue elements. Funnily enough though after the movie and I had gone our separate ways I still enjoyed the redeeming features, namely, the concepts tackled in the movie - loyalty, the past, control and freedom. Hey who thought to the put the SAME surf rock song in the girlfriend London scenes? Whacky...

I hired this movie from Love Film, didn't really know what to expect apart from some 2nd world war action. Five minutes in, I had a big smile on my face, the film is brilliant! If like me, you're a 2nd world war / cold war movie fan - you're in for a treat!The attention to detail is fantastic, from costume to locations and the realisation of war torn Germany as well as the war's aftermath years later in London is flawlessly executed. It's a non- linear story and fluctuates between the protagonist's experiences in WW2 as well as his involvement in the cold war. It's not all war though and there's a really powerful romantic aspect. I would go into more detail about the story but I don't want to give anything away to anyone who hasn't seen it!All I'll say is you should definitely get your hands on it!Oh, and Bernadette Heerwagen is hot - loving the bathroom scene ; )

I didn't expect much when I rented this relatively low budget English language WW2 flick set on the Eastern Front – not a great start and up against greats like "Cross of Iron" and "Enemy at the Gate" not to mention US and German productions such as "Downfall" and "Saving Private Ryan", but I couldn't resist the T-34 tanks which adorn the DVD sleeve design. However, I was pleasantly taken aback. "Joy Division" is IMO European cinema at its best and shows that we Brits can make powerful, thought provoking drama too.SPOILERS – the film is the biopic of protagonist Thomas, who starts off as a Hitler Youth troop in the last months of WW2 and ends up as a Soviet spy in the Cold War. The story unravels in flash-back and flash-forward between 1945 to 1962 and bookended with a third contemporary setting in 1970s South America where he has fled (like so many other ex-Nazis, ex-Soviets), and is bound by Thomas' inner-struggle not only to re-discover his lost identity, but to come to terms with the trauma of his lost love.In keeping with so many other cinematic epics, "Joy Division" is at times terribly depressing yet never slow in pace and the bursts of wartime action and moments of innocent tenderness keep you glued to the screen. The WW2 segments are by far the more enthralling of the film but rely on the dialogue heavy Cold War segments to make sense of the futility of war and it's dreadful after affects, which for me was the underlying point of the movie.The film's emotional core comes with Thomas' doomed romance with Melanie. The two 15 year old lovers spend their time flirting at Hitler Youth rallies but as they begin to develop something much deeper the Red Army invade eastern Germany and Thomas is thrust into hopeless battle as one of the defenders of the crumbling Reich. No brutality is spared as the story takes one dark turn after another. As columns of refugees run westwards for their lives, Thomas goes up against fleets of Russian tanks in battle scenes nothing short of "Saving Private Ryan", while Melanie is captured twice and violently gang-raped by dozens of Soviet troops each time. Surviving the onslaught and finally reunited as the war comes to an end, Thomas is witness to Melanie's third gang-rape and henceforth the breaking point of the young lad's life.Reflecting on his wartime experiences while caught up in a Kafkaesque Cold-War conspiracy in 1960s Moscow and London, Thomas the KGB agent is forced to re-explore himself and eventually he re-defines his lines of loyalty. The film has a surprisingly happy end of sorts and uniquely combines war drama, action, and political thriller.