Control
UK 2007
Starring : Sam Riley, Samantha Morton
Director : Anton Corbijn
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SUPERB Ian Curtis biopic Control is surely, barring some miracle, the British film of the year - indeed, one of the decade's finest. We first meet Curtis (Riley) as a teenage Macclesfield poet in 1973 - the momentous day he buys Bowie's Ziggy Stardust LP and meets his future wife Debbie (Morton) - and follow him through the rest of the decade, via the formation of doomy post-punk outfit Joy Division, and through the band's rapid success. All the while, however, lead-singer Curtis's personal problems (physical, psychological, romantic) are becoming increasingly insuperable...
Control has two immediately-obvious strong suits: shot in monochrome by cinematographer Martin Ruhe and director Corbijn (a remarkably confident first feature for this long-renowned Dutch photographer), it's consistently remarkable to look at, capturing in persuasive detail both the general atmosphere of northern Britain in the 1970s and also the particular aesthetic of Joy Division themselves. And then there's Riley. Though in the early stretches he resembles Pete Doherty as much as anyone else, as the film unfolds he simply - and eerily - becomes Ian Curtis before our eyes. The on-stage sequences which punctuate the narrative are hair-raising in their accuracy and intensity, but Riley's work (in what is, astonishingly, also his film debut) is much more than just a pitch-perfect impersonation.
He shows the human face behind the iconic Curtis image (an image which Corbijn's photographs helped create) - as a larkish, mop-haired schoolboy finds his voice and his metier, only to be rapidly overwhelmed by forces he can neither comprehend nor control. In the latter stages, indeed, he has the haunted look of a harrowed, whipped greyhound. While Curtis's story is inescapably tragic, Matt Greenhalgh's script (partly based on Debbie Curtis's book Touching From a Distance) ensures that proceedings aren't by any means the doom-and-gloom affair one might expect from the subject-matter alone. The dialogue is consistently marbled with an audacious streak of Mancunian humour - often darkly sardonic, occasionally flat-out hilarious - and it's Greenhalgh and Corbijn's ever-so-careful modulation of tone that proves crucial in making the inevitably shattering climax so very difficult to bear.
Neil Young
written for the current issue of Tribune magazine, based on Edinburgh Film Festival report
[Edited by MrPleasant]
7th October 2007 07:24 AM
caro
It got rave reviews here in France also. I'm very fond of Anton Corbijn's photographs, so I had high expectations & was a bit disappointed -- but it's a good film anyway.
BTW, I don't remember many discussions about Joy Division on RO - are there any fans ?
7th October 2007 08:55 AM
Angiegirl
I'm a fan. Not too fond of biopics though, usually the obvious acting bothers me. I will however go and see the movie, it comes out this week in Holland. Saw the trailer, and it seems ok. But I know it won't give me the same awestruck feeling as the first time I heard She's Lost Control did back then.
7th October 2007 12:09 PM
lotsajizz
I am a HUGE Joy Division fan and have been from when I first heard them in 1982 (I know, I was a latecomer, they weren't big in America).
8th October 2007 04:16 PM
purrcafe
Joy Division was a truly brilliant band, utterly unique to this day.
8th October 2007 08:18 PM
robpop
I totally agree with all of you. I have disks from all three of this bands stages (warsaw, Joy Division, New Order). Stephen Morris is an incredible drummer. Ian Curtis conveyed his personal pain into his music. Although he could not deal with the trials of life, he made some great music. Sometimes the pain of a person is the inspiration of great art.
Love Will Tear us Apart is one of the greatest songs ever IMO.
[Edited by robpop]
8th October 2007 08:21 PM
pdog
quote:robpop wrote:
Love Will Tear us Apart is one of the greatest songs ever IMO.
[Edited by robpop]
True. I really liked The Swans cover of it as well... I would go tell alot of todays Emo Scremo bands to go listen to Joy division, then rethink their genre.
8th October 2007 08:23 PM
robpop
quote:pdog wrote:
True. I really liked The Swans cover of it as well... I would go tell alot of todays Emo Scremo bands to go listen to Joy division, then rethink their genre.
No arguement here the Swans did that song justice.
8th October 2007 08:28 PM
robpop
MTV needs 120 minutes now more than ever!!!!
8th October 2007 08:32 PM
pdog
8th October 2007 08:33 PM
pdog
oops... I been beaten, damn these needy kids of mine.
8th October 2007 08:44 PM
robpop
quote:pdog wrote:
oops... I been beaten, damn these needy kids of mine.
HA!!! Play a Ramones boot for them. Kids love that punk stuff. My nephew knows the words to a ton of the shit from the day. My sister now only talks to me on holidays and funerals.
8th October 2007 08:52 PM
pdog
quote:robpop wrote:
HA!!! Play a Ramones boot for them. Kids love that punk stuff. My nephew knows the words to a ton of the shit from the day. My sister now only talks to me on holidays and funerals.
my kid gets The Ramones and Stones confused alot... not the music, just the name of the band when he sees a pic... BUT!!! He sings along to tons of Rancid, curses and all... Hopefully it works for him, like my dad letting me sing along to Bitch when i was 3 or 4....
My kid is most impressed by this clip... blows his mind...mine too!!!
8th October 2007 09:03 PM
robpop
quote:pdog wrote:
my kid gets The Ramones and Stones confused alot... not the music, just the name of the band when he sees a pic... BUT!!! He sings along to tons of Rancid, curses and all... Hopefully it works for him, like my dad letting me sing along to Bitch when i was 3 or 4....
My kid is most impressed by this clip... blows his mind...mine too!!!
Uncle Rob loved it. I'll try it tomorrow on the kid. Its our bowling day.
9th October 2007 05:03 PM
robpop
Corbijn interview in Dutch (subtitled in English) Also clips from the movie.
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