📽 CONTROL [Anton Corbijn, 2007] - Movie review by Mandibil

mandibil (68)in #movies • 8 years ago (edited)

Corbijn is a photographer who is famous for shooting many of the biggest names in post punk rock, not least the British band Joy Division and their vocalist Ian Curtis. After more than 30 years in photography, he tries his luck in cinema and takes on a portrait of the dark world of the Joy Division front man, with the help of his widowed wife and her biography of their marriage. Though not a personal favorite of mine, the period from 1976 to 1980 is an extremely interesting and important period in British and world rock. It was the time when the new generation X went their own way from the old rock mentality that had become petrified and commercial. The kids were not alright until The Sex Pistols opened the floodgates for a "new wave" and bands like Joy Division rode the wave better than most.

The movie focuses on the life of Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) from early 1970´s until his suicide in 1980. We do get a few indications of early musical influences like David Bowie and The Doors. Ian marry Deborah (Samantha Morton) in 1975 and soon there after the Sex Pistols break through and opens his poetic and musical creativity. He does not have any real outlet for it, but after attending a live gig with the Pistols, with some friends who are starting a band, he offers be the singer.

They start out as a sort tuned down version of the sex pistols and call themselves Warsaw. There is a clear reference to a fascination with nazi Germany, not in the neofascist but the reflective, philosophical way. I think that the more or less brainwashed the youth that had been pounded with the fairy tale of the heroic fight against Nazism and the propaganda of the socialism infected post war Britain, has had a backfire effect on generation X. They have realize that society is what has been corrupted to carry out something like Nazism, and not the crazy leaders. The band name itself refers to wartime German concentration camp brothels.

Corbijn makes sure not to make this into a music video but a cohesive portrait of Ian Curtis. The difficulty with a movie like this is always to balance the representation of the music and the personality of the main character. We do need to get to know all the people around him, including managers and band mates. But we never really get to know them so mostly they are fillers to create a social environment for Ian. He suffered from epilepsy and he also developed a depression from a feeling of not being in control of his life, that was only enhanced by the medikaments he took and the fact that he was being dragged around by band management and also his wife and child´s demands.

His developing epilepsy also made him almost unable to hold his child and off course made him insecure on stage as he knew that an attack could hit him any time. The loss of control is the center theme in the movie, hence the title, and it is fairly well depicted. The sad face and depressive state of mind is also quite well presented by the the actor and there are a few scenes that are really deeply heartfelt emotional. But at the same time, overall, i have a hard time really getting into his persona. The storytelling is encumbered by the need to always switching between telling the musical story and the personal story. The music of Joy Division is used to bridge the gap but it does not really get to me that much. Maybe it is because i am not the biggest JD fan, but i feel there is a lack of ability in the directors ability to connect the music and the personality of Ian.

The sad situation of Ian Curtis is that you feel rather early on that this is going to end badly. He is not really able to make good decisions for himself, in the situations he is in. He needs guidance to stand firm in life but have never received it so he does not know how to live. He is an escapist introvert who tends to turn inward to his poetry or his music in stead of facing life. He thinks that a family with kids will be a safe harbor, but it evolves into a ball and chain as he detaches himself emotionally from his wife and the rest of the world.

He is a lost kid who does not understand the world or understand himself. He feels completely out of control and he can see no way out of this situation, except ending his life. There are nobody to help in fact those around him are rather sucking him dry. This inevitability feels quite strong throughout the film and is its greatest positive trait in my opinion. Though the actor does a very solid job, gapping the bridge between the music and his personality holds it back and you are left with mostly an unfulfilled feeling that this could be any likely lost kid of the seventies. So why is it important to make it Ian Curtis?

I would have liked some references to his childhood and to schools and parents. They must have had a large influence on hwy he turned out the way he and other kids of the time turned out. There are no answers to why anywhere and the story does not lend itself to try to understand him or how he became what he became. It feels fractured like a series of photographs that tries to create a flow of a story.

The choice of black and white is off course obvious. The gloomy personality, the cover arts, the greyness of the environment and so on are all enhanced by this. And there are some truly great scenes where we really sense that the man behind the camera is not som amateur photographer. He knows how to keep the dark feeling throughout by finding the right amount of darkness in the shot. At the end of the movie, when we know that he is deep in depression and suicidal thoughts he is almost reduced to a silhouette. He has lost the spark of life and has become a shadow. This is brilliant cinematography.

I expected a deeper depiction of his personality and specifically with relation to his music and the lyrics. It seems clear that the director is a fan, but does not know the english "spirit" well enough and the connection between the singers personality and his lyrics. There is too much emphasis on following the chronology and the expected fan service. It is better than the average music biography, but still leaves something to be desired