Control (2007)

Directed By: Anton Corbijn
Starring: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson, Peter Hook, Tony Kebbell, Alexandra Maria Lara, Matthew McNulty, Ben Naylor, James Anthony Pearson

Joy Division’s potential was never really fulfilled. The tragic end to the life of one of British Music greatest talents robbed them of that. Anton Corbijn’s new film is the story of this talent. One Ian Curtis. Lead singer of the hugely brilliant Joy Division. So it goes without saying that the soundtrack to this film is something special. But what makes the film so incredibly engrossing and heart rendering is that this is the story of a tragic hero. A hero who couldn’t come to terms with his fears of losing control. It’s a testament that Corbijn doesn’t allow the film to become too distracted. There are no real sequences exploring the politics of the band. No reference to the success or critical plaudits they achieved. Instead what Control presents is one of the most acutely well observed films you will see this year, and arguably the best British film of the year.

Sam Riley, plays Curtis, and instils in him the genius and insecurity of a young man who found trouble weighing up his talent and success with his epilepsy and the marriage he entered to young. Riley makes Curtis instantly likeable from his humble Macclesfield school days and that empathy is there right until those final fateful moments. But what makes this portrayal so convincing and ultimately tragic is that Curtis is not idolised by either Riley or Corbijn. Instead he’s a bit of a bastard, particularly to his wife (the stunningly evocative Samantha Morton) and spends most of the time with the adolescent indecision usually reserved for ordinary young adults, not a genius like Curtis. This performance therefore makes him instantly recognisable. His humble beginnings working for an employment agency to the heights of Joy Division and the loneliness and isolation such brilliance inevitably brings. All this might seem familiar but nothing about this feels clichéd. You are only ever convinced that this is how it happened. That his troubled marriage, compounded by his desire to leave Macclesfield behind, something he sees in Belgian beauty Anika (Alexandra Maria Lara), and Deb’s (Morton) content love of the city.

Curtis was a talent discovered too late in many ways, or to put it another, he had already set out his stall before the road of stardom was revealed to him. Riley plays these elements to a tee and you never once doubt the love he has for Debbie or Anika. It’s just he is too young and immature to take the responsible attitude. This highlights Curtis’ loss of control. It’s a development of adult life most fail to foresee. Suddenly our emotions are stronger and more powerful than we could have imagined. Also events of adult life have more of an unpredictable and uncontrollable nature than childhood. Curtis’ epilepsy being a perfect example. Once Curtis’ learns that his illness could kill him he ensnared on a path of fate which will only ever lead to his death. A troubling scene where Curtis visits the doctor after his first attack and is prescribed drugs, then to be told the seemingly endless list of side affects, and the fact that his drug taking will be a trial and error, becomes incredibly difficult to watch as the doctor fails to empathise or console him. It these scenes, the quiet contemplative, self reflexive scenes where Riley shines most. He may the accent and singing voice down to perfect, but it’s the eyes which tell the tale, give an insight into this tortured soul.

Not to lavish too much credit on the star, his supporting cast is also brilliant. Samantha Morton gives depth and strength to a character is almost impossible to render fully. Most of her scenes show Debbie as a needy, possessive women who is completely out of his life in the band, and she spends her time raising a child he never sees, clinging to the love they once had. This could have come across as 2 dimensional and ended up being distracting allowing his affair a degree of plausibility. Instead Morton gives her a round complete character. A woman who is completely in love and under no illusion as to what that should entail; complete devotion. In fact so good in Morton’s performance that it leaves you with mixed feelings about Curtis. A genuine talent, who seems easily swayed with Anike and lacking the commitment and maturity to stay faithful.

Corbijn and cinematographer Martin Ruhe, do an incredible job of rendering the North in the 1970’s. The locations and settings given a mythic yet realistic feel. It’s also no surprise that Corbijn was once a photographer. The film feels in one way like a long flick through a photo book, the frame and composition is so brilliant. It’s hard to think of a better shot film having been released all year. One shot in particular, shortly after Curtis’ tragic end, the rest of the band sit alone around a table in the pub. No one moves, frozen by the shock, three pints, untouched sit on the table. The single shot conveying more emotion and feeling than any dialogue ever could. It encapsulates not only the huge sense of nothingness which was left by Curtis’ death but also the films style which is so intrinsically linked to the narrative.

Anton Corbijn’s directorial debut showcases his keen photographic eye but also an ability to craft a character study about one of the most important and tragic musicians In British rock. Sam Riley gives a career defining role as the tortured genius and Samantha Morton follows suit with a sublime turn as the singer’s wife.