Control (2007) April 7, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Anton Corbijn
You’d be forgiven for thinking that British-made movies were entirely niche dependant these days, although the phrase ‘brit flick’ seems to have categorised them into a sub-set of their own in more recent times. Turn-of-the-century success for Guy Ritchie lead to a heightened awareness of London-set gangster flicks, and we’ve never stopped plugging away at the charming comedy bracket ever since Four Weddings and a Funeral broke through. But while we hit home in a specific genre every so often (The Descent, for example, was a fantastic horror movie), we’ve been anything but consistent. Expect in maybe one area. For a country with such an influential musical history if there’s one genre that shouldn’t pose a problem, if for nothing other than fascinating content, it’s the music biopic.
Control is the story of a small band from Macclesfield and specifically its lead singer, one Ian Curtis. Joy Division were part of a growing Manchester music scene spearheaded by the late Anthony Wilson, although the band’s troubled front man never really got a chance to achieve his full potential, seemingly held back by an early marriage and his unpredictable fits of epilepsy. Even after he begins a freeing affair while on tour, and with his lyrics and stage performances clearly influenced by his life condition, Curtis feels that the pressures of fame and performing may well be too much. As a result, Joy Division is divided way before its time.
Photographer and music video director Anton Corbijn attacks this film with his very own sense of visual flair, providing both a guiding hand for the look of the frame as well as a passion for the subject that belies his Netherlands origins. It is most notable for being entirely black and white, which is a bold decision and yet one that works in the film’s favour rather than as an unnecessary artistic choice. The lack of colour adds bleakness to what is, essentially, quite a bleak story, and presents Macclesfield to the audience in exactly the way Ian Curtis describes it: “grey”. Corbijn puts his music photography training to good use and drops in some fantastic compositions that resonate the most memorable images in the film.
Even with such visual distraction, the strongest element of this movie is still the disturbingly real central performance from Sam Riley. His short acting CV does no justice to the qualities he brings to Ian Curtis, making him both relatable and a youthful outsider. There are moments of soul-searching desperation that are captured without a hint of falsity, and it really adds weight to the film overall that Riley performs all the classic Joy Division songs himself. A fact that is true for the rest of the band too: Joe Anderson, James Anthony Pearson and Harry Treadaway all learnt to play their appropriate parts for each song. Supporting that cast are Samantha Morton as Ian’s long-suffering wife Debbie, Toby Kebbell playing the band’s mouthy manager Rob Gretton, and Craig Parkinson taking the role of Manchester’s music mogul, Tony Wilson.
The script was written by a newcomer to film, Matt Greenhalgh, and adapted from the events presented in Deborah Curtis’ autobiography “Touching from a Distance”, which relates the story of her late husband. Although the dialogue itself can be infrequent at times (Curtis wasn’t overly talkative), what is there does the job adequately. What is most prominent is how the increasing fame of Joy Division gets played down. We rarely see quite how successful they have become, although there are glimpses, like the shot of Curtis on the cover of NME magazine that is shown briefly in one scene. Furthermore, not only is fame not an issue, but the music scene in general is second fiddle to a story that shows how a musician’s lifestyle was the least of Ian’s problems, and that his greatest concerns were built-in (like his epilepsy), or a result of decisions made too young.
The praise lauded on Control is well deserved, although I think there’s a limit to what level some will enjoy it rooted in how much you revere Ian Curtis. Corbijn clearly does. For those who share his enthusiasm, this is a hard-hitting film and not one that is never overly dramatic or showy. For everyone else, it is still a moody and affecting biopic and even if it follows suit for the genre by telling another tragic tale of tortured musical genius, there are plenty of moments both visually and in the narrative, to keep you interested. If we’ve learnt nothing from this and 24 Hour Party People, it’s that Britain has a fascinating musical history that works absorbingly on film. So let’s ditch the lukewarm rom-coms and start making some real ‘brit flicks’ - one’s that are actually about Britons.
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