Music and the Internal Struggle

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2010)

After the 70s punk movement, new bands that were influenced by great bands like the Clash, The Buzzcocks and The Ramones. This new movement was post-punk, that combined punk and rock with other types of music, like Dub and Funk. Many bands were apart of it, like New Order and The Cure. One of the most famous was Joy Division, a band that only made 2 albums but it's influence still exist, influencing modern indie music.
Control tells the story of Joy Division's lead singer, Ian Curtis (Sam Reilly). Curtis was an intelligence man, reading a lot of classic novels and poetry and a writes a lot of his own stuff. He was a fan of a lot of the music from the era, like David Bowie. Early on he meets his girlfriend, Debbie (Samantha Morton), a young woman attached to his intelligence and artistic nature. Soon after he left the school, he worked at his local Employment Exchange, which he was good at, but singing and writing gets him into a new band. Joy Division quickly becomes successful and famous followed. But Curtis' life is not simple, having to battle with epilepsy, an extramarital affair and his own personal depression.
Control is a wonderful told story, with great acting and direction behind it. Reilly was an extremely talented actor and an excellent pick for the role, showing all the traits of Curtis, his intelligence, internal conflict, depression and his quite passion. Morton too was excellent, giving a low-key, natural performance as the shy girl who falls for Curtis. Toby Kebbell plays Rob Gretton, the band's manager, who offers a little bit of comic relief with his clever put downs and colourful use of the English, but still kept as a realistic level. Alexandra Maria Lara too is a good as Annik Honoré, Curtis' girlfriend. She too gives a natural performance as a young woman who falls for Curtis because of his artistic and musical talent. She was handled in an evenhanded manner consider this film was based on Deborah Curtis' diaries.
Director Anton Corbijn's background was in photography (it was good enough start for Stanley Kubrick) and music videos. Control was his feature debut and well, it was a hell of a debut. He gave the film a black-and-white, artistic look, possibly an influence from his photography: it looked good and effective, matching the grounded, sombre tone of the film. The film focuses on the characters, and Corbijn slows the film down long enough to allow the audience to absorb the drama on the screen. Corbijn makes sure that there is a down-to-Earth tone through the film. Characters are allowed to grow organically, the gig scenes are treated in a normal manner and Corbijn avoids any over-the-top music clichés about characters or the art. The band did not make loads of money, they did not live the high live and they had to travel in a beat up car. Corbijn also knew how to organise a set piece, from an excellent steady cam shot of Curtis going to work, making the mundane interesting and the gig scenes were real, like real gigs are, in small, packed areas with the tightness of a mosh pit. There is an well constructed scene when a gig crowd gets restless, feeling the tension in the air. Plus Corbijn and the writer Matt Greenhalgh treat the subject of Curtis' depression and internal artistic struggle with great sensitivity. They understand that people don't moat around and go 'I'm depress.' They are people who try keep going regardless and usually keep their issues to themselves until it is too late.
Finally, they is an excellent soundtrack, which is what you would expect from a film like this.
A must see film and you don't have to be a Joy Division fan to understand it.