Control

I finally watched Anton Corbijn’s Control last night. It was better than I expected. At the end of the day, I would put it in the same category as other biopics like Ray or Walk The Line-probably putting it ahead of those two pictures, actually-but not much in terms of actually learning anything new about Ian Curtis or Joy Division.
Not that I expected the movie to teach me anything, but I wanted to get into the head of Curtis a bit more, even if it was a fictionalized account. Instead, it took the path of least resistance in the hopes of using two elements of Curtis’ short life-his relationship with his wife Deborah and his mistress Annik and his epilepsy-and created it into an easy to follow movie that can be enjoyed by non-fans.
Deborah Curtis’ autobiography Touching From A Distance is obviously used as the movie’s blueprint. I have the book and it was not an enjoyable read for me. It provided a lot of insight into Debbie and how much of an asshole Ian was, but it offered little sympathy into her husband’s genius. There’s an air of bitterness throughout Touching From A Distance and a little of it permeated into the film. Indeed, my wife’s first reaction to Ian Curtis was to think of him as a “jerk” and to completely overlook the talent that he had. She is not familiar with Joy Division’s work, whereas I was able to overlook some of the man’s fidelity issues because his work is complete genius.
The other focal point is Curtis’ epilepsy. It’s strange to consider that just thirty years ago there was a strong stigma attached to such ailments, to the point where they would present such a devastating event to the person it impacts. Control seems to suggest that Curtis’ “fits” were of such embarrassment that the mental recovery took longer than the physical. It also suggests that immediately before his suicide, Curtis experience a seizure that contributed to his decision to end his own life.
Of course, these are the liberties that a fictionalized account can take on a project like this. Joy Division drummer Stephen Morris acknowledged the discrepancy between the truth and Control, but admitted that the truth was probably too boring for film anyway.
Looking at the film from that perspective-an enjoyable piece of visual art-Control wins. Filmed in black and white, Corbijn has created a visually stunning piece of work. He has a keen eye and there are scenes where you see his talent as a photographer clearly at work. It’s his first feature film and Corbijn has entered the arena with a winner.
Sam Riley’s depiction of Ian Curtis is simply amazing. With little-to-no interview footage of Curtis available, Riley studied Joy Division’s performances from archival material and melded it with his interpretation of how the man presented himself off stage. At no point in time did I not believe his performance. I could not say the same thing about Joaquin Phoenix’s role as Johnny Cash or Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Ray Charles.
Then there are the music performances. Corbijn had Riley and the rest of the fictional Joy Division learn the music and perform live, understanding how the chemistry of becoming a band would not only build credibility to their performance, but build a relationship between each other. The end result is an impressive working unit that adds just enough reality to make even a hard-line Joy Division fan like me to not get sidetracked into fixating on the fact that we’re watching nothing more than a Joy Division cover band.
With no new information provided, questionable source material, and a penchant for the more dramatic parts of Curtis’ life as focal points, Control is not to replace any true documentaries on the band. When you understand that-and you will after a few minutes into the film-Control becomes an enjoyable night at the movies that ranks ahead of similarly crafted films. The only real problem isn’t one with the film, but how you know it’s going to end.