Joy Division (2006)

"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."

"Juggling technical élan with musings on memory, identity and freedom, it’s an ambitious debut from Brit director Reg Traviss. But maybe next time he shouldn’t try to make two films at once..."

"Whether or not writer-director Reg Traviss knows his title refers to death-camp sex slavery is never clear; instead he has concocted a woodenly told yarn about a German PoW spying for the Soviets in a cartoon cut-out swinging London in the 1960s..."

"Ponderous and needlessly complicated but technically accomplished..."

"A little muddled in places, overly-narrated in others, but Traviss' film is rarely dull, and he has proven himself – along with leading man Stoppard – as one to keep watching..."

"Unsure of whether it wants to be a World War 2 actioner or a Cold War spy thriller, Joy Division can't be considered a serious contender in either category, especially when it is bogged down by so much philosophising and navel-gazing, and has the Germans speaking accented English and the Russians talking in their native tongue..."

"Anyone hoping for an Ian Curtis biopic will be deeply disappointed by Joy Division, a Cold War spy thriller. Still, at least they'll have company: everyone expecting a half-decent spy thriller will be equally fed up..."