I thought there was at least a post about this but damned if I can find it. Anyway, Control is a semi-fictional account of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division (based on a memoir by Curtis’ wife). It covers the period from 1973 to Curtis’ suicide at the age of 23 in 1980. The depiction of Curtis’ personal life, his doubts, epilepsy and depression, is fairly run-of-the-mill. The movie mostly avoids melodrama and relies instead on the haunted expression that almost never leaves the face of Sam Riley, who portrays Curtis. Little moments such as when he comes home and his eyes take in the drying diapers and bottles of baby formula; nothing is said but you know this will not end well. Samantha Morton, as Debbie Curtis, gets first billing (presumably because Riley is unknown) and she plays the loving but bewildered wife well, but she is not given a great deal to do.
The revelation comes whenever the band is on stage. Joy Division’s songs are performed by the actors, with Riley’s voice standing in for that of Curtis. Riley stands clutching the mic, looking like a somewhat manic Harry Potter, and completely inhabits Curtis. I saw Joy Division live in some grimy dance hall back when I was in school, and I was mesmerized by Curtis then, and mesmerized again by Riley in this movie. That voice was Joy Division, and even New Order at its best could never come close to the hypnotic trance induced by Curtis’ vocals. There is a wonderful scene in a sound studio when Riley is laying down the vocal track to ‘Isolation’ and the studio is packed with people but nobody is paying attention to Riley and behind the soundproof glass he is indeed completely isolated. Highly recommended.
First, you saw Joy Division! That’s monumentally cool. I too liked Riley very much (he steals every frame), but the film felt like a warmed over “angry young men” narrative with a more formal visual aesthetic thrown in for good measure (smartly framed compositions; richly toned black-and-white photography). Did Curtis “study” David Byrne at all? As Riley channels him, I could swear he and Byrne could be twin sons of different mothers. Throw in Brian Eno and you have a “woulda, coulda, shoulda” hat trick.
Damn epilepsy!
Some props must go to James Anthony Pearson for his take on Bernard Sumner. It certainly isn’t a sexy performance, but I thought he did some fine work etching out the other side of that band’s continuum. And, yeah, Joy Division does induce a hypnotic trance or two when you listen to them, but give me “Power, Corruption and Lies” any day. That’s one hell of an album.
Good album. I arrived in the US in fall 1983 to start graduate school, and a new friend invited me to New York for the weekend. We ate in Chinatown and ended up in someone’s apartment at 3.00 in the morning and I heard ‘Blue Monday’ for the first time. The great Satan didn’t seem so bad. But I’d still take ‘Unknown Pleasures’ over PC&L.