DVD: Control

DVD Reviewed by The Evil Dr Sanchez, Esq.

Editor's Rating:  

(8 /10)

Starring: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton

advertisement

The Mancunian band that became Joy Division formed their first incarnation, Warsaw, after a Sex Pistols gig in the mid-seventies. As Joy Division they achieved underground status within the indie/post punk scene. Since then, their status has risen to that of legend, somewhere near the heady heights of New Yorkers The Velvet Underground. To say that such an accolade was ‘all about the music (man)’, sadly, would only be telling part of the story.

Control is based on the life of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis and his wife Deborah’s autobiography, Touching From a Distance, about their life together. Ian suffered from epilepsy, a condition that causes seizures and calls for a quiet life, no alcohol or drugs and a bedtime more suited to a pensioner than a young man whose dreams are based on being the next Iggy Pop or David Bowie. As Iggy himself would say, ‘No Fun’. Still, Curtis refused to let his condition or his early marriage to Deborah get in the way of his stardom. This, of course, lead to some issues.

Ian Curtis is played with great attention to detail – down to Curtis’s manic dancing style – by relative newcomer Sam Riley. All big eyes, cheekbones and broody lips, Riley has won critical acclaim, not to mention several awards, for his portrayal of the music icon and there is a frightening resemblance between the two. Film veteran Samantha Morton (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), is similarly convincing as Deborah Curtis and the rest of the cast follows suit.

The film, for the most part, works due to the vision of first-time director and long time Joy Division collaborator Anton Corbijn. It is shot in stark black and white, recreating the atmosphere (no pun intended for anyone who got that reference) many of the pictures Corbijin himself shot of the band during their heyday. The stark contrast also builds the feeling of isolation and despair epitomised by the two major characters and yet it is beautiful to watch.

I must be honest; Control took me three viewings to warm up to. But being an indie music fanatic I knew the story as well as its outcome and was expecting a lot from it. After taking a step back I did actually enjoy it and wasn’t waiting for a certain record to be put on a turntable so I could go back to my life (you’ll see what I mean). As Corbijin recounts a French journalist suggesting to him, the main problem with the movie was that it was always going to be ‘a cult film before it was released’.

So if you know nothing about Joy Division, give Control a whirl. But if you are a fan of the band, don’t go in expecting any great revelations, just watch, even if just for the extras and the great cinematography.

Extras include: Cast and director interviews and a making of.

If you liked this you may also like: Joy Division (documentary), Last Days and 24 Hour Party People.