“I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight... razor... and surviving.”
-- Colonel Walter E. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now
“Most of all, I love Manchester. The crumbling warehouses, the railway arches, the cheap abundant drugs. That's what did it in the end. Not the money, not the music, not even the guns.”
-- Tony Wilson from 24 Hour Party People
Anton Corbijn strips away the mythology behind Ian Curtis and Joy Division to make one of the most engrossing and possibly best films of the year. Control is a triumph on every level. It won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The film is based on Deborah Curtis’ autobiography, Touching From A Distance. To be very honest, I have never seen anything like it. This is a very different kind of band biopic-- the antithesis of films like Ray and Walk The Line. This is not Oliver Stone’s The Doors-- a fine film, but a film that says more about the mythology of Oliver Stone. The film differs from Alex Cox’s brilliant, but morbid Sid And Nancy. Some will want to rush out and compare it to Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, but I would advise against it. Last Days was inspired by Kurt Cobain’s life; Michael Pitt’s Blake is an interesting take on that life, but the film has very little life in it. Control on the other hand, has so much vitality in it. While it may not possess the manic energy of Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People, it possesses its own kinetic flow. 24 Hour Party People was a tour de force for Steve Coogan. Coogan’s Tony Wilson is the life of the party. Manchester and the Factory Records scene of the 1970’s through the early 1990’s are portrayed with the excitement of the era. Control traces Curtis’ life from age seventeen to his suicide on May 18th, 1980 at the age of 23.
The main reason Control works so well is because it gives us a fully fleshed out portrait of a troubled human being. Sam Riley gives a career defining performance as Ian Curtis. Forget the fact that he has an eerie resemblance to Curtis, he becomes Curtis. I have only seen Riley as Mark E. Smith in 24 Hour Party People, but he leaves a vivid impression as Curtis. To say it is stunning is not fair; there are no words I know of to describe Riley’s portrayal in the film. It has to be seen to be believed. Riley plays Curtis as a very tortured soul. He is of two worlds. There is the domestic life which he so wants to keep, but then there is the band life. The film opens in 1974 when Ian is seventeen years old. He lives in a tower block of flats in Macclesfield with his parents. He writes poetry and works part time in a record store. His poetry will lead him to date his best friend’s girlfriend, Debbie Woodruff (Samantha Morton). They grow fond of each other and marry. It is at a Sex Pistols concert in 1976 where Ian will meet the members of the Stiff Kittens. They are having problems with their lead singer; Ian convinces them that he should be their lead singer. The new band is called Warsaw which transforms into Joy Division. The rest, as they say, is history.
It is Ian’s marriage to Deborah that serves as the core of the film. There is no doubt that he loves Deborah very much and wants to be a devoted family man. When Deborah becomes pregnant, he has a civil service job that he keeps while he is the lead singer for the band. One day as he is interviewing a job applicant, she has an epileptic fit. His witnessing this fit leads him to write the lyrics for “She’s Lost Control.” This serves as a foreshadowing of his life. He will be diagnosed with epilepsy and have seizures. He will be put on medications that will make him drowsy and tired. His late nights touring with the band will not help improve health. The illness is another thorn in his side. While he wants to be a good husband and father, married life does not seem to suit him. He locks himself in his room to write poetry and lyrics. He keeps Deborah and the band separate. Morton gives one of her deepest and moving performances as Deborah Curtis. Samantha Morton has not been this good since In America, Enduring Love and Morvern Callar. Her Deborah is shut out of the band’s existence just as Diane Keaton’s Kay Adams was shut out Michael Corleone’s business in the Godfather films. It is as though Ian could never reconcile the two worlds; he could never find the right balance. When the infamous Tony Wilson (Craig Parkinson) tells Ian what a great man he is, Ian cannot agree with him. He thinks less of himself. He does not think of himself as a great father to his daughter. At a gig in London, Curtis meets Annik Honore (Alexandra Maria Lara), who wishes to interview him for a Belgian fanzine. He will have an affair with her. This acts as a powder keg to his already fragile life.
It is no accident that Curtis is blown away by Marlon Brando’s performance in Apocalypse Now. Ian is moved by Brando’s portrayal of Kurtz in the film. When Kurtz recites Eliot’s The Hollow Men, Curtis is very moved. It makes sense to the audience watching Riley’s performance. His Curtis is very much like Kurtz and Corbijn has given us some Kurtz like moments throughout the film. Early on, we see the books that inspire Curtis and his songs for Joy Division. We see J.G. Ballard titles on his bookshelf in his parent’s home. This reminded me of the scene in Apocalypse Now where we see the books in Kurtz’s library-- Goethe, the Bible, From Ritual To Romance, The Golden Bough and The Collected Poems of T.S. Eliot. I could not help but make this connection early in the film. Manchester and Macclesfield serve as substitutes for the Belgian Congo and Southeast Asia. His poetry shares some of Kurtz’s intensity from the film and from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The decision to shoot the film in black and white highlights the terminal grayness of the local atmosphere. It was a great way to express Joy Division’s feeling and the mood of the times. Do the film’s final frames show the only way to truly escape the bleakness?
Something should be said about some of the supporting performances. Craig Parkinson does a very good as Tony Wilson. It is hard to follow in Steve Coogan’s footsteps and Parkinson never tries to top Coogan. Parkinson’s Wilson is just right. It is a pleasure to watch him interact with the band. Toby Kebbell steals most of the scenes he is in as the band’s manager, Rob Gretton. Paddy Considine played him in 24 Hour Party People. Kebbell is very funny as he swears throughout the whole film. The film serves as an excellent counterpart to Michael Winterbottom’s film.
Anton Corbijn was the right person to make this film. Control is his feature film debut. He is a very accomplished still photographer who photographed the bands U2 and R.E.M. He has directed videos for Nirvana, Metallica and Depeche Mode. He has been a devout Joy Division fan since their early days. As a fan, he has made a very user friendly film. Before 24 Hour Party People, I was a casual Joy Division fan, but that wonderful film opened my eyes up to the whole music scene of that era. It made me dig deeper than ever. In high school, one group of friends who adored the band and the music of that era. I was too busy listening to all types of heavy metal, but later in life I finally understood. This film is a stunning testament to the era. The film’s soundtrack sparkles with Joy Division and other bands of the times. You do not have to be a fan to enjoy it; you will be moved by the story and the performances. Corbijn has made their story accessible to all and it is a far deeper film than I could have ever imagined. If you are not a fan before you see the film; you may be one after watching it. Few films live up to their hype, but Control easily lives up to it! From now on, an Anton Corbijn film will be an event.
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