Certificate
15
Number of Discs
1
Country/Region of Manufacture
United Kingdom
Reviews
The Times - Sam Riley is a revelation., Independent - The coolest British movie of 2007., Q - Believe the hype, it's an extraordinary film., Film Review - Sends shivers down the spine[...]spellbinding., The Observer - Samantha Morton is dynamite., Uncut - Magnificently evokes the intensity and invention of Joy Division., Guardian - The best film of the year., Total Film - As touching a biopic as you'll see all year[...]Riley and the band excel, as Corbijn essays a mood both timeless and period-precise., Empire - Playing live, the cast vividly recreate the band's jarring guitar sound[...] CONTROL is up there with PERFORMANCE and LAST DAYS., Film 2007 - Absorbing and visually striking... Exquisite, Sight And Sound - The actors playing Joy Division perform the music themselves in a spot-on recreation of the band's sound and dynamic.
Consumer Advice
Contains very strong language
Additional Information
Based on the memoir TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE by Deborah Curtis, Anton Corbijn's CONTROL is as near perfect a filmic telling of the story of Joy Division and Ian Curtis as any fan could hope for. It's also a beautifully rendered piece of cinema about the crippling effects of love and regret, and the salvation we seek in art. Born out of England's post-Sex Pistols punk explosion, Joy Division played a dark, minimalist version of the nascent sound, and became cult heroes thanks in part to their brilliant yet disturbed frontman Ian Curtis (played by an eerily perfect Sam Riley). Corbijn does a wonderful job recreating the Manchester band's music and live show, cutting straight to the essence of Joy Division's unique appeal. Credit must also be given to the three actors who portray the rest of Joy Division. Playing all the instruments themselves, they perfectly capture the band's powerfully stoic presence, one that translates both live and on record into the sonic equivalent of an existential crisis.
CONTROL, however, is ultimately about Curtis' tumultuous marriage to his wife, Deborah (Samantha Morton), and the way that Joy Division became an aesthetic manifestation of his pain--one that was both physical (Curtis was an epileptic) and emotional. Corbijn evokes Curtis' hurt and isolation with both honesty and subtlety; a photographer originally, he frames each shot to look like a stark black-and-white photo from an album the audience was never meant to see, making Curtis' pain palpable and his eventual suicide that much more tragic. The overtones to the later suicide of Kurt Cobain are hard to avoid, but where Cobain's suicide has always been discussed in terms of the pressure he felt as a rock star, Curtis', as rendered by Corbijn, is a pain anyone could potentially be forced to suffer through.
Movie/TV Title
Control
Sound source
Dolby Digital
Awards
Carl Foreman - Best Achievement By A British Writer or Producer In Their Debut Film 2008 -
Screenwriter
Matt Greenhalgh
