Control

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Control

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Control

Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Alexandra Maria Lara, Joe Anderson, James Anthony Pearson, Harry Treadaway, Craig Parkinson, Toby Kebbell

Fighting a personal battle with epilepsy, romantic troubles with his wife and girlfriend, and the overwhelming success of the band, Ian Curtis, the enigmatic singer of Joy Division, commits suicide at...( read more  read more... ) the age of 23, the night before embarking on an American tour.

Id: 10888245

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Control Recent Reviews
  • 76Majikat
    July 30, 2009
    76Majikat
    A little slow moving, but this biopic of Joy Division?s front man Ian Curtis' life is realistic with some enjoyable performances.

    I don?t claim to be a Joy Division fan and therefore can?t comment on the accuracy shown by the Actors in this film. For me though Samantha Morto...( read more)n really stood out in this.

    Worth the watch, but fairly drawn out.
  • AgentLexi2132
    February 15, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''When you look at your life, in a strange new room, maybe drowning soon, is this the start of it all?''

    A profile of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic singer of Joy Division whose personal, professional, and romantic troubles led him to commit suicide at the age of 23.

    ...( read more)>Sam Riley: Ian Curtis

    Director of Control Anton Corbijn has finally joined the ranks of his contemporaries Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and Mark Romanek in directing his first full-length feature. No one could have been a better choice than this still photographer and music video director of cutting edge bands like Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnyman, and, of course, Joy Division themselves with the video for Atmosphere albeit eight years after the death of front-man Ian Curtis. Corbijn has the sensibilities to craft a gorgeous biographical study of a man on the verge of newly found greatness and the humanity of his soul, which keeps him from taking that next evolution beyond. The cinematography is glorious in its stark, high contrast, black and white, the performance scenes feel realistic and genuine, and he captures divine performances from every cast member.

    Joy Division's lead singer, as portrayed here: I will admit to knowing next to nothing about the band before viewing, possibly enhancing my pleasure as there were no trace of annoyance when something didn't mesh to reality, was not your run-of-the-mill rockstar. Ian Curtis was an everyman like you and me, a fallible creature, both confused and naive in his young age. Marrying so early in life, Curtis had a child, a day job, and a gig fronting one of the hottest bands of the time. What started as a way for expression, however, soon becomes another slice of trouble in his already crumbling life. When diagnosed with epilepsy, a condition for which he once tried to help afflicted gain employment, he begins a regiment of medication concoctions, hoping to find a combination to alleviate the suffering. Mixed with his late night shows and high alcohol consumption, both frowned upon by his doctor, Curtis maybe the only star I know to have fallen into his psychological descent from prescribed drug use. Ever more depressed as his love blossomed between his wife, child, and mistress, Curtis could never find the balance to deal with the fame and the fans. After all he gave in life and on-stage, they just had one answer for him...We want more.

    ''I wish I were a Warhol silk screen hanging on the wall. Or little Joe or maybe Lou. I'd love to be them all. All New York's broken hearts and secrets would be mine. I'd put you on a movie reel, and that would be just fine.''

    Truthfully, Sam Riley is quite a find. Whether his talent is real or just catered perfectly to this role, I'd like to believe the former...he is amazing. Totally embodying Curtis, Riley's face is never shown with a shred of "acting" noticeable. His blank stares, the weak smiles, the crying, and the pain of his seizures all come across as though we are viewing a documentary. Complete with Curtis' unique dance style, it is like watching history as it happens. Credit the rest of his band mates for adding to the realism in each performance sequence, as well as the supporting cast. I was a bit unimpressed at first with Samantha Morton as his wife Debbie, but that feeling quickly went away. What appeared juvenile and trying too hard to play 20 years old eventually came together as a pretty solid piece of work. Always great, Morton shines when the world begins dissolving around her, but her love for her husband never wavers behind the tears and anger. Besides her, mention also needs to be made for Toby Kebbell as manager Rob Gretton. Starting as comic relief, his character plays a tremendous role in Curtis' life. While the band seemed to be unable to deal with their singer's affliction, Kebbell stays by his side throughout, doing what he can to try and keep him together.

    The greatest praise I can give additionally to this film, above even the great performances from the cast, is that it feels like it was really made in the early 80s. It has a BBC2 clunky-kitchen-sink quality ('Come to bed Ian'), that I think may be accidental, but to someone like me who lived in the UK at the time, is more redolent of the era than the twin-tub, pay-phones, and Andrew's Liver Salts in the medicine cupboard combined. It took me to another era of film-going altogether.
    More plaudits for letting the actors perform the music themselves, adding authenticity to their roles and an evenness to the musical performances. Even more plaudits for having 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' as the only exception to this. Listening to Ian Curtis sing the words he wrote about the situation unfolding on screen before us in the sharpest of focus brings the pain he felt cutting clearly and directly into the hearts of everyone who watches this perfectly melancholy film.

    Control is a remarkable achievement that succeeds by adhering to the one aspect I like in biopics, keeping it simple. We are only shown a few years in his life, the meeting of his wife and band mates and the short-lived tenure of what was Joy Division. This capsule in time is allowed to evolve and flesh out all the emotions and turmoil that went on. From the highs to the lows, the comradery to the adultery, Curtis is always portrayed as the tragic hero he was. Everything his music did for its listeners, all the power and hope it instilled in the fans, came at a steep price. Draining himself of life and confidence and love, Curtis was never going to be able to keep the ride going into the US. Corbijn gets every moment correct, straight through to the inevitable conclusion. Never trying to shock us, he treats the ending with immense compassion and love. Subdued and heart-breaking, Curtis' demise is allowed to be as beautifully touching as the rest of his shortly spanning time among us, a candle blown out too early, too soon.

    ''So this is permanence; love-shattered pride. What once was innocence, has turned on its side.''
  • Sleaze
    November 20, 2008
    Sleaze
    Some strong performances and the superbly sparse B/W cinematography help give this sad tale more than a touch of palpable humanity. Recommended.
  • mistershinobi
    September 18, 2008
    mistershinobi
    One of the best movies you'll ever see.
    Not your regular biopic.

    *Review coming soon*
  • drago25
    July 10, 2008
    drago25
    I've been anticipating the release of this film since I heard of its conception, and I'm proud to report that Control is an almost perfect music biopic. The whole Ian Curtis story is very close to me; being a longtime fan of Joy Division and just being very affected by the trage...( read more)dy and its connection with the music. Unknown British actor Sam Riley takes on the massive responsibility of portraying Ian Curtis. This is a sensitive issue, being as Curtis was already almost a legend by the time he died at 23, and continues to have a lasting impact on the music industry and a massive following. Luckily, Riley handles the pressure very well and, in the process, delivers an astounding and completely truthful and honest performance. Riley will absolutely have a great future in the film industry; in my opinion, seeing how well he handled this loaded role, he should be able to handle much of anything (it doesn't hurt that he bears a striking resemblance to Curtis, either). In the tradition of many recent biopics, most of the music is re-recorded and performed by the actors themselves, all of which learned to play the songs for this film on their own. This is dangerous territory to enter considering the fanbase of Joy Division, but thankfully they do an excellent job and all the songs sound very fresh and worthy of their original counterparts. This is a first time directing a feature film for Anton Corbijn (being a music video director before) and he does a great job - the movie looks and sounds and feels fantastic. the black and white was a good choice, and Corbijn pulls some really interesting, striking shots out of his hat, and constructs an extremely solid film in the process. My hope is this film will serve not only to please the current Joy Division fanbase (as it did me), but will also introduce a new generation of music fans to the darkly beautiful and wonderfully bleak world of Joy Division, helmed by the iconic tragic figure of Ian Curtis.
  • Rossjm
    November 14, 2009
    Rossjm
    Fantastic film about Joy Division and, mostly, Joy Division's troubled lead singer Ian Curtis.

    This is not a bio-pic about Joy Division, more so Ian Curtis and this insight into his life is both interesting and touching. It follows him from the age of 16, signs of trouble alre...( read more)ady showing, skips a few years and finally shows his life before his tragic suicide.

    Shot in black and white by music video director (he did Atmosphere in 1988) and photography Anton Cobrjin, who had worked with Joy Divison a lot in his career, was the best chocie of director due to his understaning of the band and the leading man and it shows. He gets the emotion and the hardships perfect. Yet what he does with the most skill is portray Curtis's mind frame and mental issues, such as deep depression, which were obvious throughout most of Joy Division's song catalogue, often avoided because of the depressing nature but loved by genuine fans.

    Joy Division songs, actually performed vocally by Sam Riley, are editied in every now and again to show their significance and what they actually mirrored, which gives fans and people experiancing them for the first time an interesting back story to them as well as something to apply the songs to in future.

    The scene of his sucide is heart wrenching and extremly well shot which makes us feel maximum emotion at one of the most infamous deaths in music history.

    This is not an easy bio-pic to view. It is slow and metaculously lingers on certain points but if you have patiance and genuine interest, you will savour this film and understand it for what it really is.
  • Wanicola
    November 14, 2009
    Wanicola
    Gran band, grande musica e grandissimo film. In memoria di Ian Curtis
  • anoceandrowning
    October 8, 2009
    anoceandrowning
    Sam Riley gets Ian Curtis's stage presence right on the money, though the vocals don't seem to match. Really a fantastic film about a fantastic band. This really does a lot to explain the Curtis mythology.
  • allformat
    October 8, 2009
    allformat
    Nothing really struck me as amazing about this film other than the great music and quality acting. I think I fell asleep halfway through while watching it on a plane.
  • goriot
    September 23, 2009
    goriot
    I liked how Sam Riley plays the Ian Curtis
    I knew he commited suicide , but I did not know the details
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