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Mood:
- GloomyBittersweetAtmosphericSentimental
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Plot:
- Musician's LifeLifestyleUnfulfillmentMusic BandTragic HeroRise and FallAmbitionArtists and Showbiz more...
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Genres:
- DramaMusic
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Time/Period:
- 20th Century70s
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Place:
- EnglandEurope
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Praise:
- Award WinnerCritically Acclaimed
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Based on:
- Based on BookBiographyBased on True Story
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Attitudes:
- SeriousRealistic
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Score:
- PunkRockAlternative
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Look:
- B&W
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Flag:
- Profanity
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Control, 2007
English
UK, USA, Australia, Japan
Profile of Control
Control can be described as bittersweet, gloomy, and atmospheric. The plot revolves around the life of a musician, themes of unfulfillment, and lifestyle. The main genre is drama. In approach, Control is serious and realistic. It is located in England. It takes place in the 20th century. Visually, Control is black and white. The soundtrack is alternative, punk, and rock. It is drawn from a biography, originally a true story, and based on a book. Control has received attention for being an award winner and critically acclaimed. Note that it involves profanity.
Summary of Control
Based on the memoir TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE by Deborah Curtis, Anton Corbijn's CONTROL is as near perfect a filmic telling of the story of Joy Division and Ian Curtis as any fan could hope for. It's also a beautifully rendered piece of cinema about the crippling effects of love and regret, and the salvation we seek in art. Born out of England's post-Sex Pistols punk explosion, Joy Division played a dark, minimalist version of the nascent sound, and became cult heroes thanks in part to their brilliant yet disturbed frontman Ian Curtis (played by an eerily perfect Sam Riley). Corbijn does a wonderful job recreating the Manchester band's music and live show, cutting straight to the essence of Joy Division's unique appeal. Credit must also be given to the three actors who portray the rest of Joy Division. Playing all the instruments themselves, they perfectly capture the band's powerfully stoic presence, one that translates both live and on record into the sonic equivalent of an existential crisis.
CONTROL, however, is ultimately about Curtis's tumultuous marriage with his wife, Deborah (Samantha Morton), and the way that Joy Division became an aesthetic manifestation of his pain--one that was both physical (Curtis was an epileptic) and emotional. Corbijn evokes Curtis's hurt and isolation with both honesty and subtlety: a photographer originally, he frames each shot to look like a stark black-and-white photo from an album the audience was never meant to see, making Curtis's pain palpable and his eventual suicide that much more tragic. The overtones to the later suicide of Kurt Cobain are hard to avoid, but where Cobain's suicide has always been discussed in terms of the pressure he felt as a rock star, Curtis's, as rendered by Corbijn, is a pain anyone could potentially be forced to suffer through.
Details
| Language: | English |
| Country: | UK, USA, Australia, Japan |
| Release date: | October 2007 |
| Runtime: | 122 min |
Cast and Crew
as Deborah Curtis
as Ian Curtis
Photos
Clips
Critics Reviews
Rolling Stone
- |
- by: Peter Travers
The New York Times
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- by: A.O. Scott
Users Reviews
- 21.January.2010
- |
- by: Stephen
- Stephen rated this movie
10/10Must See
- 10.October.2009
- |
- by: Chucky
- Chucky rated this movie
0/10
