Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson,
Joe Anderson, Nigel Harris, Nicola Harrison,
Toby Kebbell, Alexandra Maria Lara
Written by Deborah Curtis & Matt Greenhalgh
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £19.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 122 minutes
Directed by Anton Corbijn
You have to pat yourself on the back sometimes. I’m one of the first to have a go at the British film industry for the lame rom-com dross or OTT period melodramas that are force-fed to UK audiences. Then along comes a stark and exhilarating film like Control that reinforces one’s belief in the importance and value of cinema.
The film focuses on the formative years of Ian Curtis, lead singer and creative force behind the seminal band Joy Division. Curtis (Riley) is an introverted young man, who falls for his friends girl at a very young age. He marries Deborah (Morton) and quickly settles down but yearns for more… and eventually winds up being the lead singer with Joy Division. Following encouragement and arguments with local bigwig Tony Wilson, the charts and success beckon but Curtis is a fragile individual wary of the impending celebrity and the demands it will bring. While on tour he fall for a groupie but is still unable to control events around him, at first due to a sudden and violent epileptic fit and subsequently due to his own demons.
This is much more than a matter of fact biopic. The film gives us a number of great characters that are wonderfully realized and fresh even if they are already familiar to us (Tony Wilson... again). We’ve seen Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner over recent years, but here they are as lithe young musicians at the cutting edge of music. These side characters are important and drive the film along, most notably in the introduction of brash group manager Rob Gretton who is in equal parts maniacal genius and caring friend. These elements are necessary as the films real core is away from the stage and firmly on Ian Curtis’s crumbling state of mind.
Riley delivers a truly stunning performance. He embodies Curtis perfectly with a sense of fragility and intensity that we see in him both on stage and at home. The relationship between him and Morton is heartbreaking yet utterly realistic and devoid of over-sentimentality. The whole film, shot as it is in black and white, has a sense of simplicity that has been missed in the stylized ‘look at me’ efforts of other British directors. Anton Corbijn might be Dutch, but this is a British film about a British icon, and as good as a biopic can get.
EXTRAS *** Commentary with director Anton Corbijn, "making of" featurette, extended performance scenes (Transmission, Leaders Of Men and Candidate), Joy Division's Atmosphere '88 video, a photo gallery and the theatrical trailer.