Control (2007)

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.

Director:

Anton Corbijn

Writers:

Deborah Curtis (book), Matt Greenhalgh (screenplay)

Stars:

Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 31 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Riley	...	Ian Curtis
Samantha Morton	...	Debbie Curtis
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Annik Honore
Joe Anderson	...	Peter Hook aka Hooky
James Anthony Pearson	...	Bernard Sumner
Harry Treadaway	...	Steve Morris
Craig Parkinson	...	Tony Wilson
Toby Kebbell	...	Rob Gretton
Andrew Sheridan	...	Terry
Robert Shelly	...	Twinny
Richard Bremmer	...	Mr. Curtis - Ian's Father
Tanya Myers	...	Ian's Mother
Martha Myers Lowe	...	Ian's Sister (as Martha Myers-Lowe)
Matthew McNulty	...	Nick
David Whittington	...	Chemistry Teacher

Storyline

Ian Curtis is a quiet and rather sad lad who works for an employment agency and sings in a band called Warsaw. He meets a girl named Debbie whom he promptly marries and his band, of which the name in the meantime has been changed to Joy Division, gets more and more successful. Even though Debbie and he become parents, their relationship is going downhill rapidly and Ian starts an affair with Belgium Annik whom he met after one of the gigs and he's almost never at home. Ian also suffers from epilepsy and has no-good medication for it. He doesn't know how to handle the feelings he has for Debbie and Annik and the pressure the popularity of Joy Division and the energy performing costs him.

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Plot Keywords:

band | singer | employment agency | suicide | hypnosis | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Germany]

Country:

UK USA Australia Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Controle - A História de Ian Curtis

Filming Locations:

Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

€4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£252,426 (UK) (5 October 2007)

Gross:

$871,577 (USA) (25 January 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Becker Films, CINV, Claraflora

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Samantha Morton, the director mortgaged his house to raise finance for the film.

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Goofs

Ian Dury sits at home, watching the Werner Herzog film "Stroszek", opening a bottle of whiskey during a scene, where the mobile home of Stroszeks protagonists is auctioned off. In the next scene, presumably some time later, we see that Dury is visibly intoxicated and that the bottle is almost empty; however, in "Stroszek" barely two minutes have gone by.

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Quotes

Ian Curtis: 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.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 27 October 2007 (2007)

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Soundtracks

Warszawa
(David Bowie / Brian Eno)
Published by kind permission of Tintoretto Music/RZO Music Ltd/EMI Music Publishing Ltd/BMG Music Publishing Ltd © 1977
Performed by David Bowie
Courtesy of RZO Music

User Reviews

A strangely ordinary man

About a third of the way through watching Control, it occurred to me: if this film were about somebody who wasn't famous, it would be absolutely dull. As depicted in this film, Ian Curtis was a very uninteresting person. Besides being the lead singer of Joy Division (and I will take nothing away from the music) he did nothing extraordinary with his life. Nor was he an extraordinary person. He displayed no feats of courage, no wit, he didn't stand for anything, was indecisive, lacking in charm, passionless, an atrocious father, rarely smiled, and possessed no ambition. I can see why he killed himself.

So the question remains: why are we watching this film?

I have the feeling that there was a lot more to Ian Curtis than nice cheekbones, intense stage presence and epilepsy. And if not, then a point should be made of that. Is this the story of the shy kid who wanted to be David Bowie but then couldn't handle the fame? Was it just the pills that sent him spiraling? Is it a comment on just how normal he actually was? This film has no angle. The acting is excellent. The black and white photography is lovely. The sound design is superb. But all these components are masking the fact that this is simply an astonishingly banal script. There were scenes and dialogue that left me scratching my head, thinking why did we have that? It feels like a first draft. There is no drama in most scenes - for example, the exchanges Ian and Anook are incredibly lifeless.

In spite of all this, the film is utterly convincing. It's just also utterly uninspired. I think I will read a Curtis biography now and find out what really made him tick.