CONTROL - The Ian Curtis biopic

Cafe Society
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Last night the fiancee and I had the chance to see Control, the biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

I went into the movie with only slight exposure to Joy Division’s music and Ian Curtis’ story (I knew the song “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, that he committed suicide right before JD’s US tour, and that the surviving members went on to form New Order), but let me tell you - you don’t have to be a big fan to enjoy this film. It’s really fantastic.

First of all, the actor that plays Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) is so perfect for the part. I’ve watched some videos of the band after seeing the movie and Riley nailed the performance. I’m talking Walk the Line good. He moves like Curtis on stage, sings like him, and is a dead ringer for him looks-wise.

Next, the music recreated for the film is dead on perfect. They play some actual JD tracks over the credits and you can hardly tell them apart from Riley’s singing in the film. It’s really really well done.

The film is shot quite nicely by first time director Anton Corbijn. It’s all done in black and white with a high contrast which gives the film a really cool, stark, look.

The highlight of the movie though, for me, was **Samantha Morton ** as Curtis’ wife Deborah. She’s amazing and I hope she gets some attention come awards time. She’s really really good.

The movie is actually based on a biography of Curtis written by Deborah Curtis. She’s also a producer on the film and worked towards getting this movie made since the late 90’s. I think she should be really proud with how it all came together.

I don’t think this has a very wide release right now… I saw it at The Music Box in Chicago in a 50-60 seat theater. I’m sure it’ll open wider at some point though, it’s packing them in on limited release. Go see it if you get the chance.

(also, it’s 89% fresh at Rotton Tomatoes for those who check into that sort of thing)

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Just a bump… Anyone else see this yet?

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Unfortunately, it didn’t get a very wide release over here either. I’d love to see it as I was a big JD fan, but I guess I’ll have to wait for the DVD.

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Never heard of it, but I will check to see if it’s in my area.

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It’s still showing twice daily at the Cameo, here, Struan, and I would guess in Glasgow as well.
But I have no idea where you are, so that might not be any use to you!

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I saw it last night and it is indeed a terrific film. Riley & Morton won’t get awards attention, but that’s because of the nature of the film (stark, unsentimental) and distribution (sparse, obscure) and not because they don’t deserve it.

My only previous exposure to JD was in the previous film 24-Hour Party People which was much more of a lark, although the part involving Curtis added some much-appreciated gravity to that film.

In Control, I like that Curtis remains somewhat inpenetrable. He is obviously haunted and damaged, and though he speaks of bad choices and we see emotional conflicts (largely with his two loves) and his own physical difficulties (his epilepsy, his drug regimen), nothing is really fully explained. Knowing what we know about his death, we slowly see his deterioration and it seems, while not quite inevitable, at least not completely unexpected when he takes his own life, but it still doesn’t compartmentalize his misery (or his musical legacy) into easy categories.

I still don’t know whether I’d actually buy any JD albums, but the recreation of the music by the four actors playing the band is truly remarkable–easily in the same league as the remarkable recreations by Gary Busey & co. in The Buddy Holly Story. But Holly was an American icon while Curtis never made more than a niche impact in this country, so I hope the film does well but I caught it last night because I don’t even expect it to last beyond Friday here (in SF). Still, well worth seeking out before it goes (although the sound mix will really work well for anyone with a home theater set-up once the film makes it to DVD).

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Ah, so it is, and it’s still bookable for this weekend. I’ll make a day of it, I think. Thanks Meurglys. Darkest Perthshire, btw.

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I thought it was great as well. The joke they did with the walk to the dole office was good. I couldn’t help feeling a bit anoraky in the first scene though, when Curtis walks past a hi-rise block of flats - all the windows were double glazed, which would not have been the case in the 1970s.

If you like ‘Control’ you should see ‘Radio On’ which was made around 1979. It is black and white, features a lot of alternative music from that time, and was clearly on the mind of ‘Control’s’ director. It has quite a dreamy feel to it and I was glad that my worries that ‘Control’ would spoil my memories of it were unfounded.

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Great that some of you have seen it. I’ve read Touching from a Distance, Deborah Curtis’ book. Ian was certainly an interesting figure, deeply troubled and ill but also loving. His condition clearly worsened before he died.

I’ve heard rave reviews from folks at neworderonline.com, and I can’t wait until it gets a wider release. There’s also a Joy Division documentary that’s received a cinematic release this year as well.

The BBC has put together a couple of docus, one on Manchester’s music scene in the 1970s, and one on Factory Records. Both discussed Joy Division quite a bit. The doc “The New Order Story” discusses the band but not very much. It’s amazing that the band (New Order) have only recently started to play JD songs and discuss Ian. (I say that in light of the fact that the band, for all purposes, seems to be dead.) They exhibit that Mancunian toughness, but it’s evident his death cast a long shadow on the group.

I remember arguing with people in high school that yes, the members of New Order were formerly in Joy Division (except Gillian). “But the singer is a different dude!” Uh, yes.

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Not that recently - they’ve played Love Will Tear Us Apart for a good few years, sometimes complete with an additional “Woooh! C’mon!” or two from Bernard. :stuck_out_tongue:

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LWTUA might be an exception, though. Songs like “Digital” and “Transmission” appeared on setlists in 2001 or so. :wink: Replete with Barney’s monkey dance.

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I’ve always intended to check out more of the old JD stuff, but never got around to it. Any of you fans want to recommend some tracks for me to check out? The only one I know is “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.

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I really like the song that the film takes its title from, “She’s Lost Control.” “Transmission” is also very good. I’m sure someone with more in depth experience w/ the band can recommend some deeper cuts though.

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These two plus “Shadowplay”, “Disorder”, “New Dawn Fades”,“Twenty-Four Hours”, “Atmosphere”. There’s only two proper studio albums though (“Unknown Pleasures”, “Closer”) and both are excellent.

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I am a Joy Division fan and will definitely try to catch the movie when/if it hits the cinemas around here. If it doesn’t I will most likely get the DVD.

Nice to hear that you people like it.

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I’ve heard good things about the movie, and definitely want to see it.

As for music recommendations, I’d hold off on buying the actual albums as I think they’re getting rereleased soon. I recommend the compilation “Substance” anyway. It has few songs from either of the two albums, so buying them later won’t be too redundant. It has some great songs and is a good introduction.

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Just saw that here in Chicago this movie has moved from the tiny Music Box to one of the main theaters downtown, River East AMC. It must be getting a little wider release this weekend.

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I saw this last night at that theater. I was surprised and pleased that it opened there, because I hate going to the Music Box. It won’t last long though. At a 10:20 Saturday night showing in one of their smallest theaters, the place was only a quarter full. I’ll bet it’s gone by Friday. That’s too bad, since I agree with all the good things said about it, especially the performances of Sam Riley and Samantha Morton.

That whole music scene passed me by, so while I recognized all the names of the various bands (Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Husker Du, etc.) I wasn’t familiar with them musically. I’d heard of Ian Curtis, but had never heard a Joy Division song. I not only enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the music too. I spent some time last night after I got home from the movie watching Joy Division clips on YouTube. I was on the one hand astonished at how closely Sam Riley captured the look and movements of Ian Curtis, but also, and JD fans are going to hate me, how much I liked, even preferred, the movie’s cover versions of JD songs. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate what other people heard in JD’s original versions. I can see how they were so hugely influential, something the movie didn’t touch on.

Now I have to see 24 Hour Party People, a movie that I’d been wanting to see, but that also passed me by, but now I’m very interested in seeing. Looking at the cast list on IMDB, I see that Sam Riley played Mark E. Smith in that movie, while Mark E. Smith himself is in the movie, playing someone else. That’s funny.

Speaking of MES, there’s a bit in Control, I believe after Ian has his first seizure onstage, when he and the manager guy are in the dressing room, the manager guy says something along the lines of ‘it could be worse, you could be the lead singer of The Fall’ and Ian smiles. What does that mean? Other than knowing that Mark E. Smith started The Fall, I’m pretty clueless about the group. I’m actually more familiar with his ex-wife Brix, because I liked her group Adult Net, and I met her once when she was with Nigel Kennedy.

A good movie. I’m so far away from its demographic it’s not even funny, but I’m glad I saw it.

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“Isolation” is also a good song.

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A simple Google image search should give you a clue! :stuck_out_tongue: