Ian Curtis (played by Sam Riley) was frontman of Manchester rock ensemble Joy Division from 1976-80. Despite struggling with epilepsy and guilt induced depression, Curtis led the band to breakout success. Then, just as Joy Division were poised to break America, the young singer’s inner demons consumed him for good.
Control is based on the book ‘Touching From a Distance’ written by Ian Curtis’s wife Deborah.
They say:
Empire: "The very best rock movies are hardly about rock music at all, and in this respect Control is up there with Performance and Last Days."
Variety: "It makes a fitting eulogy not just for Curtis, but for his ill fated marriage to Deborah Curtis."
Sky Movies: "Truthful, tragic and utterly compelling, Control is a must for any film or music fan."
We say:
You get a different audience with this type of film. They frown on popcorn and dillydallying to find your seat. People who go to see Control might think they are watching an art film, but the truth is director Anton Corbijn has moulded a conventionally paced snapshot of a talented artist consumed by his conscience.
Sam Riley’s honest portrayal of Ian Curtis is enigmatic, if occasionally limp. It's Samantha Morton as Curtis’s loyal wife who steals the show. She wears Deborah like a second skin, while never undermining the performance of her lead. Riley deserves praise for his depiction of a man Pete Doherty could only ever wish to be (he also looks a lot like him), but Morton should become the breakout star. For a career already spanning many films and a whole lot of TV, it would be about time.
Control will inevitably draw comparisons to British ‘Kitchen Sink’ dramas of the 1960s, though it is far too glossy a pastiche to compare. Corbijn’s black and white portrait of smoky haunts and dismal Northern streets is an ostensibly middle class interpretation intended for those who have never been there.
Fifty two year old, Dutch born Corbijn cut his teeth as a pop video director for U2 and electronica band Depeche Mode. This lengthy apprenticeship is apparent, but not overwhelming. Yet he does allow his perception of Curtis to bend towards pretentious, especially near the film’s start. The redundant voiceover adds nothing we cannot see for ourselves: Ian Curtis was a vain, selfish adulterer, though never a dreamer.
The cast played their musical cues ‘as live’, with New Order (formed by the remaining members of Joy Division in 1980) providing an occasional score. The sound is fresh and moving. In particular the spot on use of Love Will Tear Us Apart as it engulfs a doomed marriage's bleakest onscreen moment.
Not everything delivers. Following a fling, Curtis’s motivations for his continued affair are left surprisingly blank. Plus with most of Control’s intended audience already knowing its outcome, the protracted final scenes drain tension rather than build it. Small complaints though for such a painfully beautiful film.
Take along someone who knows little of Joy Division or Ian Curtis and they will reap even more. He was such an unfortunate man - just a boy really - whose existence was snuffed out by a lifestyle he could not possibly avoid.
Extras:
A tidy collection including a feature commentary by director Anton Corbijn, extended performance (singing) scenes, a twenty minute ‘making of’ documentary, photo gallery, trailer and a 1988 music video for Joy Division’s ’Atmosphere’ - also directed by Corbin. Look out too for Peter Saville and Chris Mathan’s celebrated album cover on the main menu screen.
It's a shame the documentary could not have been longer - the creative crew in particular raises some interesting points, such as screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh being a New Order obsessive, but barely knowing a note of Joy Division before coming on board. He knew their world though (smoky Manchester clubs, pubs, youth centres) - no arguments there.
The commentary is a smidgen of a disappointment because Dutch native Corbin is so difficult to understand. His accent is as thick as Dundee cake and it can be a real trial to make out anything he says. A pity this, because we would love to have known more about how he made Hull coast look even mildly enticing.
CAST
Sam Riley
Samantha Morton
Craig Parkinson
Joe Anderson
DIRECTOR
Anton Corbijn
TIME
122 mins
POSTED...
Mon 8 Oct 2007 at 11:19am
