I recently had the good fortune to check out the film, “Control,” which documents the short lives of the band Joy Division and its singer, Ian Curtis. The film, directed by Anton Corbijn, who photographed Joy Division in 1979-80, is a dark, yet wonderful exposition of a man tomented by some inner monster which he just can’t locate and the effects that monster has on his band, his family and himself.
As I just stated, the film is dark. It has to be. For darkness, along with all of its wonderful cousins- the color grey, rain, nightclubs, steel and smoke, are at the core of Joy Division’s music. That music echoes and almost personifies where the band came from, the industrialized north of England. It is a place where the sun has to to fight a bitter battle each day to shine through the gloom of the factory smoke. There is one scene in the film where Ian tells Annik Honore, the Belgian fanzine writer with whom he’s having an affair, that his favorite color is “Man City Blue.” I believe that is the only time in the film that the audience gets any glimpse of color at all. But that is to the director’s credit and skill because Corbijn uses that darkness to paint this picture of the man whose monster was born of that darkness.
Sam Riley, making his big screen debut, briliantly captures the fated Ian Curtis. He is clearly a creative and loving person, but his monster slowly begins to tear him apart causing his family as well as his ability to perform, to degenerate. One would swear he is watching live footage of the band when Riley explodes into the nervous, jerky and poetically epileptic dance moves that were the hallmark of an Ian Curtis performance.
The film is actually based on a novel by Debbie Curits, Ian’s wife, and well-played by Samantha Morton. Other notable roles are that of the flamboyant Tony Wilson played by Craig Parkinson and Rob Gretton, Joy Division’s manager, played by Toby Kebbel.
“Control” is currently playing at one theater in New York City, but I’m sure its release on DVD will be forthcoming. If you are a fan of Joy Division, the film is mandatory. If you are a fan of the late seventies British music scene, the film is a must. And if you are a fan of the human condition, “Control” is highly reccommended.
