Amazon.com: In his elegiac debut, Anton Corbijn combines the music film with the social drama to stunning success. Based on Deborah Curtis's clear-eyed biography, Touching from a Distance, Control recounts the wrenching tale of a working-class lad about to hit the highest highs only to be waylaid by the lowest lows. Born and raised in Macclesfield, a suburban community outside Manchester, Ian Curtis (newcomer Sam Riley in a remarkable performance) dreams of fronting a band. Just out of high school in the mid-1970s, he finds three like minds with whom he forms post-punk quartet Warsaw--better known as Joy Division (Riley and castmates ably recreate their somber sound). All the while, he falls in love, marries, and fathers a child with Deborah (Samantha Morton, turning a thankless role into a triumph). While Curtis should be enjoying parenthood and newfound fame, he's plagued by seizures. A diagnosis of epilepsy leads to powerful medications with unpredictable side effects. Then, while on tour, he falls in love with another woman. His solution to these problems is a matter of public record, but Corbijn concentrates on Curtis's life rather than his death. Just as Control establishes a link between such disparate black and white works as fellow photographer Bruce Weber's Let's Get Lost and kitchen-sink classics like The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, the Dutch-born, UK-based director presents his subject not as some iconic T-shirt image, but as a deeply flawed--if massively talented--human being. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Description: Control tells the remarkable story of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the influential band Joy Division and one of the most enigmatic figures in all of rock music. Based on his wife's memoir, Control follows Curtis' humble Manchester origins and his rapid rise to fame, tormented battle with epilepsy, and struggles with love that led to his death at the age of 23.
Well done, with a few flaws ^ You know the story. Ian Curtis, lead singer/songwriter for Joy Division, tragically ends his young life just as one of the most influential post-punk UK bands from the late 70's begins their climb to fame.
This movie begged to be filmed in black and white, and thankfully Anton Corbijn had the good sense to do it. The cinematography, score (if you want to call it a "score" - it is mainly songs by other artists, such as Bowie, Lou Reed, and Kraftwerk, that influenced Curtis), and casting are all top notch. Sam Riley is uncanny as Ian Curtis, and Samantha Morton as Debbie Curtis and Alexandra Maria Lara as Annik Honore probably could not have been cast better either. Tony Kebbel is a kick to watch as Rob Gretton.
As long is one is aware the movie focuses primarily on Curtis's relationship with his wife and his affair with Annik Honore, all is well. And there is enough musical footage thrown in to satisfy most Joy Division fans, which, I might add, is as about as realistic as one could ever expect from a movie. There are however, two or three parts of the film of which I must be critical. The first is technical in nature but to me is huge. There is a scene in the studio when the engineer is taping "Isolation" - Ian is laying down the vocal track to the already existing band tracks. Why in God's name, after putting so much effort into getting Riley to sound like Curtis (which in 90% of the movie was amazingly successful), do they allow him to sing Isolation in a way which sounds nothing like Curtis at all? This scene mystifies me completely. Riley sounds like a sick choir boy, so I was expecting the engineer to say "Ian, what's wrong?"...but at the end of the song he tells him, essentially, "great job, that's a wrap". Sorry, no. That vocal track isn't even close to reality. The second issue is with the ending. Corbijn seems to be suggesting Ian took his life primarily as a result of his anguish over relationship issues, his love for Annik and guilt over what he had done to his wife. This is of course a distinct possibility, and no one will ever know the truth, but to those who know the history, the music, the lyrics, the environment, the epilepsy....this implication seems a little over-simplistic (although to be fair, since the movie was based on Debbie Curtis's book "Touching From a Distance", perhaps Corbijn was trying to stay true to what she had written, and I have not read that book). Also, Corbijn made it seem Curtis's suicide was almost a "last minute", or at best, a "last hour", decision. Again....maybe. But it didn't ring true to my sense of what was likely. Your mileage may vary. Finally, I was disappointed there was no mention of the album "Closer", even though we hear tracks from it. Odd to say the least.
Certainly a film worth seeing, but for the true Joy Division aficionado, get the documentary by Grant Gee. Superb.
Timing is All ^ Unable to tackle pillow problems, a young rising famous band singer had committed a suicide.
Indeed, an official commitment was unhealthy to a male having just school graduated.
Great movie ^ Touching bio of Ian Curtis of Joy Division, his music & relationships. Samantha Morton great as usual. Music is chilling!
"But if you could just see the beauty..." ^ 'Control' is an okay film, but the music of Joy Division transcends the script and storyline. Let's face it, 'Control' would be bleak and depressing if not for the beautiful music. I never understood why people think of Joy Division as some kind of morbid 'downer' group. Their music always moves me and inspires me...it is a fabric of light, wove from choking strands of sadness and confusion.
the life and death of yet another British rocker ^ Joy Division is a British working class rock band of the late 70's that have a very intense sound which is mostly based on the very personal lyric poetry of Ian Curtis. The film is a black and white biography based on his wife's book. Success means that he attracts more attention and a new groupie who begins to spoil his love based marriage while his epileptic fits get worse and less controlled. The pressures of his world seem to have been too much for this young poet. The movie has a very real honest feel to it that harks back to a better era of 50's British cinema.
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