Control

First-time feature filmmaker Anton Corbijn, widely regarded as one of the most influential portrait photographers in the world, conjures up the music scene in the English Midlands in the late 1970s, as a young band named Warsaw, later to become Joy Division, was entering it. Focusing on enigmatic frontman Ian Curtis from shortly before he joined Warsaw until his suicide at age 23 (epilepsy and a conflicted personal life were leading factors), Control is also the first feature film from writer Matt Greenhalgh, adapted from the book Touching From a Distance by Curtis’ widow Deborah. Shot skillfully and handsomely in a high-contrast monochrome by Martin Ruhe (another feature debut), the audience is successfully transported into the mirthless milieu of Curtis’ short life. His home life, his work life (at an unemployment office), and his band life are all portrayed as rather somber and bleak. A sense of gloom pervades the entire film. One of the few times Ian Curtis smiles is on his wedding day to Debbie, and it’s not exactly an orgy of happiness.

Unfortunately, the film is wildly disappointing in that it never shows us what made Joy Division (whose name was derived from a brothel German soldiers visited during the war) the breakthrough band it became. For those familiar with the band it might be easier for them to plug in the real band as a substitute. For those of us who are mostly unfamiliar with it, this leap of faith is close to impossible to make. It’s also worth noting that while actor Sam Riley is a dead ringer for Ian Curtis, and though he hits the aforementioned enigmatic tone of the doomed singer, viewing this film doesn’t give you any real idea that Curtis was all that talented. Was he charismatic? If so, it isn’t successfully shown. And his “discovery,” as filmed, is not very believable. He was interested in music, but other than his posing in front of a mirror and wearing eyeliner (an influence of David Bowie) we never get the idea that he was even possibly a singer, much less the dynamic one that Curtis obviously was or became. We are mostly led to believe that he and the band are talented because we see people watching them perform who look like they’re excited about seeing the performance. Director Corbijn is quoted as saying he didn’t want to make a music film. I think I know what he means, but I still say “Huh?”

This project does represent a pure labor of love. As a young photographer, shortly after having moved from his native Holland to England, Corbijn shot an iconic photograph of Joy Division in a tube station, all of the band headed in the other direction with Curtis looking back at the camera. But he has made the decision not to include this important moment in his own life in the film. Having read about it in the press notes, prior to having seen Control, I was let down that it wasn’t there.

The performances are all rather good, but I was especially taken with the beautiful Alexandra Maria Lara who portrays Annik Honore, a Belgian lover of the married-with-child Curtis. Samantha Morton is fine as the mostly unhappy Debbie, Joe Anderson (currently also in Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe) portrays band member Hooky as the second most interesting band member, and Toby Kebbell scores big as the band’s cunning manager Rob Gretton. Only Craig Parkinson, in an obvious wig, as music entrepreneur Tony Wilson, comes off as a caricature.

Joy Division is said to have been an influence on such bands as The Smiths, U2, and more recently The Killers. I just wish this film didn’t make us totally take that fact on faith.

                                                           Jim Baldassare