A teenage orphan fights against the Red Army at the end of WWII and in the aftermath is 'adopted' by a Commissar. Years later he is sent to London during the Cold war to work for the KGB, where he questions his life.
Acting
Tom Schilling's hollow-eyed detachment is genuinely unsettling.
Cinematography
Drab, oppressive palette that suffocates hope beautifully.
Director
Reg Traviss
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title references the Nazi 'Joy Division'—brothels of enslaved women—making Thomas's 'adoption' queasily ironic.
Released the same year as The Lives of Others, this unfairly bombed while capturing similar Stasi paranoia with more personal rot.
US
GB
