Control directed by Anton Corbijn; released in 2007

Before I watch this film I always remember the great music that Joy Division created, just so I can go into the film thinking of something happy. I do this to help with the depressed feel that the director, Anton Corbijn, applies to the cruel and short life of Ian Curtis (Sam Riley). The film, shot in black and white, is a well crafted biopic that shows the love Ian had for two different women (Samantha Morton and Alexandra Maria Lara), the trouble he had performing and writing beautiful music and finally the difficult relationships that occured with his friends (band members, manager and record label). The film is shot so well that each scene can make you laugh and cry at the same time and from watching the ‘Making Of’ documentary on the DVD of the film, the director and screenwriter each put their heart and soul into making it so. A lot of research went into making this film as accurate as possible; Sam Riley spoke of how Ian’s actual house was used and how emotional it was being in the same kitchen where he hung himself, this again is echoed in the incredibly dark feel to scenes where Ian is by himself drinking, smoking and dealing with epilepsy. The film, even though at some points, is incredibly hard to watch tells a great story and is a very good film, to people who haven’t heard of Joy Division or Ian Curtis will still find it tough to watch and enjoy how the music is used to echo a scenes feelings and emotions. The only way to describe this film would to mix the music and joy of ‘Almost Famous’ (Cameron Crowe, 2000) and the distinct emotional life of ‘Malcolm X’ (Spike Lee, 1992). Looking back on the  music that was created by the post-punk bands of the 70’s and 80’s, this film is great homage to the feel and look of the time, you really believe the scenes could have actually happened, as some may bend the truth to help the films overall feel and also to increase the sadness needed to propel it towards its known shocking climax. Anton Corbijn does amazingly to not make the final scene of the film, Ian’s suicide, not seem corny or too gory, it is done in a way that would put a smile to the face of Ian himself, an isolated event that shouldn’t be seen by everyone, just by the one he really loved, his wife Deborah, who would agree, she should be the last one to see him before he took the choice to end it all. If you choose to watch this film, remember how much of an icon Ian Curtis was and then sit through it see to see how much of a nice person he was and not just a troubled soul, as he brought not only incredible lyrics to the great music made by Joy Division but also a smile to all people who knew him so well. I recommend this film to fans of Joy Division, 80’s styles and also film biopics.

8/10