Film
Control
- Director
- Anton Corbijn
- Certificate
- 15
- Running Time
- 122 mins
Joy Division’s frontman Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) lived a short life that was more tragic than heroic, but he left behind and indelible cult reputation when he committed suicide in 1980, aged 23. It fits a certain kind of symmetry that photographer Anton Corbijn should return to his youthful passion for his feature film debut. Control is clearly a labour of love, shot in the starkly beautiful monochrome style which became his early signature. It’s based on Touching from a Distance, the memoir by the singer’s widow Debbie Curtis, who is played in the film by the great Samantha Morton. But it also shades in other viewpoints, including those of Annik Honore – the Other Woman. It was this bizarre love triangle, along with depression and epilepsy, that helped drive Curtis to suicide. Capturing the volatile charisma of a legendary rock performer on screen is notoriously difficult, but broody Riley is a revelation as Curtis. The script follows a low-key, linear, literal-minded arc that occasionally feels flat and televisual. But it also contains winning flashes of blunt Manc humour.
It’s back on screen in the ‘shed’s August Sunday brunch music biopic season to complement the release of England Is Mine.
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