"Joyce was a mysterious woman who didn't seem to maintain relationships."
One of the problems I have with this documentary is that the people who agreed to be filmed were friends from over a decade before she died. The documentary doesn't really emphasize the last few years before Joyce's demise which would have been crucial to establishing why she died in the circumstances that she did.
From the timeline, it is implied that Joyce had been engaged to be married, and that she'd bought and sold a property. It seems that her life started unravelling sometime in 2001 which is when her family were last in contact with her. We also know she was a victim of domestic violence, which is of tremendous important to the telling of this story, but is somehow played down.
1997 – 2001 Works at Ernst & Young – Engaged for 2 years.
1998 – Domestic incident reported to the Police. No charges pressed.
1998-1999 buys flat.
March 2001 leaves Ernst & Young.
29th Mar 2001 – Mersey road sold for £94K – 2 Bedroom Flat.
August 2001 – Jan-Feb 2002 – Stays with ex-boyfriend Martin for 7 months.
Jan 2002 – rehoused?
Refuge for Victims of Domestic Violence - she had apparently been placed in the women's refuge accommodation as a victim of domestic violence.
Feb 2003 "Ms Vincent moved into the property, which is general needs rented accommodation. Large part of the rent paid by Housing Benefit.
Operation for Peptic Ulcer.
Dec 2003 Died of natural causes.
Found 25 January 2006 due to Rent Arrears
My theory is that as a victim of domestic violence, Joyce was intentionally in hiding, taking cleaning jobs so as not to be found. Perhaps her family had warned her against her relationship with her abuser and that's why they argued and she severed contact with them. Perhaps it was her pride that kept her from sharing with them what was really happening to her. They did try to find her, even going as far as hiring a private detective which is strangely omitted from the film.
I did come across a comment from somebody who had known Joyce through work:
"I saw the film yesterday and was actually very disappointed. I used to work with Joyce some years ago but did not know her that well. The story was told, it seems, mainly by her former boyfriends and some acquaintances so it was rather biased. In real life she came across as very grown up, mature and in control. Also much more lady like then the character portrayed in documentary. She did not strike me as a victim. She was lovely and friendly and being on her own must have been her choice for a good reason."
There are more photographs of the 'real' Joyce on the special features section of the DVD. Carol Morley did state that she chose not to use them as she felt that it would detract from Zawe Ashton's portrayal of her on the screen.
Morley has also said that she had no intention of creating a factual Panorama style documentary - which is probably the one I would have preferred to see.
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andyfraser31
12 years ago
Having done some more research since yesterday, I think I'd have like to see a more Panorama style documentary too but I acknowledge the difficulties faced by Carol. She was completely at the mercy of the people who came forward and agreed to be filmed. I know she made a few decisions not to present certain information to protect Joyce's family and respect Joyce's privacy and we may not agree with those decisions.
This documentary was certainly good enough to get me to watch all of it and left enough questions unanswered that I wanted to do some of my own research. Maybe someone will make a more fact-based documentary in the future.
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urban_coyote
12 years ago
I think the most crucial part of this was that she was living in refuge accommodation. As Mrs Mills stated, because of this she was unlikely to have given her address to anyone, so I do think people would have been wondering where she was, but would have no way of getting in touch. Assuming she was still in her cleaning job at the time, her employer would certainly have tried to get in touch, and the Christmas presents, this was evidence that there were people in her life. It would be interesting to know about telephone calls...did she get any? Who from? Lots of missing pieces as already stated by others.
I also wouldnt be surprised if more people who knew her hadnt come forward as a result of this film.
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megawhoosits
12 years ago
It's a documentary. Not a mystery novel or a news report.
Documentaries are not required to be unbiased- in fact, most of the time they're a statement by the filmmaker.
While I was curious about a lot of things too, I still really like the film. It cuts out the sensationalism in favour of making us ask questions of our own lives.
So many stories like this focus on the 'dirty details'. This film focuses on the important parts- who she was, and what she meant to people.
Honestly, even if I died like that, there are still a lot of details about MY life I certainly wouldn't want aired in a documentary.
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Slogutis
11 years ago
Cool, then lets never make a documentary about anyone ever in order to keep their "privacy".
If the creator suddenly started feeling like she shouldn't reveal certain facts she should have just scraped this project all together. This is not good story telling. This is not good fact finding. Therefore, it is not a good documentary.
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Husskade
11 years ago
I think she was running from something or someone and that's why ties were cut or blunted.
It's a sad reflection on so called 'communities' that she wasn't found or missed.
Unfortunately,it happens far more often than we realise but it just isn't news to the media so we never hear of it.
Sad.
Mal,they are starting to damage my calm!
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