Directed my music video director, Anton Corbijn, this biopic shot in beautiful black and white, recounts the rise of the post-punk band, Joy Division, and specifically on its lead singer, Ian Curtis (played with perfection by newcomer Sam Riley). As a major Joy Division groupie in my own day, I was keen to see this film and watch the band's rise from the obscurity that was Macclesfield, England to the eve of their first US concert tour when, sadly, Curtis committed suicide at age twenty-three. The film is based on Deborah Curtis' (Ian's wife) novel Touching from a Distance, which is an apt starting point for understanding Curtis who was genuinely odd and kind but who had lost control as his success mounted, his young daughter grew-up, his epilepsy worsened, and the guilt of his extramarital affair buried itself deeper and deeper. Control is a fair recounting of a young man, the music he left us, and the demons he fought, and ultimately loss his life to.
My rating 8 out of 10.
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