Details
Movie Description
Based on the memoir TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE by Deborah Curtis, Anton Corbijn's CONTROL is as near perfect a filmic telling of the story of Joy Division and Ian Curtis as any fan could hope for. It's also a beautifully rendered piece of cinema about the crippling effects of love and regret, and the salvation we seek in art. Born out of England's post-Sex Pistols punk explosion, Joy Division played a dark, minimalist version of the nascent sound, and became cult heroes thanks in part to their brilliant yet disturbed frontman Ian Curtis (played by an eerily perfect Sam Riley). Corbijn does a wonderful job recreating the Manchester band's music and live show, cutting straight to the essence of Joy Division's unique appeal. Credit must also be given to the three actors who portray the rest of Joy Division. Playing all the instruments themselves, they perfectly capture the band's powerfully stoic presence, one that translates both live and on record into the sonic equivalent of an existential crisis.
CONTROL, however, is ultimately about Curtis's tumultuous marriage with his wife, Deborah (Samantha Morton), and the way that Joy Division became an aesthetic manifestation of his pain--one that was both physical (Curtis was an epileptic) and emotional. Corbijn evokes Curtis's hurt and isolation with both honesty and subtlety: a photographer originally, he frames each shot to look like a stark black-and-white photo from an album the audience was never meant to see, making Curtis's pain palpable and his eventual suicide that much more tragic. The overtones to the later suicide of Kurt Cobain are hard to avoid, but where Cobain's suicide has always been discussed in terms of the pressure he felt as a rock star, Curtis's, as rendered by Corbijn, is a pain anyone could potentially be forced to suffer through.
Industry Reviews
4 stars out of 5 -- "As touching a biopic as you'll see all year....Riley and the band excel, as Corbijn essays a mood both timeless and period-precise."
Total Film - Jonathan Dean (10/01/2007)
"CONTROL goes past the clichés of punk rock-god gloom to offer a snapshot of alienation that's shockingly humane." -- Grade: B+
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (10/12/2007)
4 stars out of 5 -- "CONTROL is a trenchant, intelligent exercise in stripping away the many myths surrounding both Curtis and the music world generally."
Uncut - Jonathan Romney (11/01/2007)
3 stars out of 4 -- "Rock photo guru Anton Corbijn hits all the right notes in his remarkable feature-directing debut."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (10/18/2007)
4 stars out of 5 -- "Playing live, the cast vividly recreate the band's jarring guitar sound....CONTROL is up there with PERFORMANCE and LAST DAYS."
Empire - Damon Wise (11/01/2007)
"Distinguished by its close connection to its subjects, coupled with unexpected flashes of irreverent humor, the film is as emotionally charged as the music it celebrates."
Box Office - Richard Mowe (11/01/2007)
"The actors playing Joy Division perform the music themselves in a spot-on recreation of the band's sound and dynamic."
Sight and Sound - Jonathan Romney (11/01/2007)
"CONTROL keeps you riveted...Samantha Morton again shows why she's one of her generation's best actors..."
Los Angeles Times - Gene Seymour (10/19/2007)
4 stars out of 5 -- "CONTROL is a potent and compelling film, carried by the two extraordinary performances of Riley and Samantha Morton..."
Mojo - Mojo Staff (03/01/2008)
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