A Modern Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2008)

I can't stop thinking about this film. From the great use of suspense and minimalist dialogue, to the amazing camera work such that every single frame of this modern masterpiece (yes masterpiece) could be taken and hung on a wall in an art gallery, I love everything about it. It has been criticised for focusing too heavily on Annik Honoré and Deborah Curtis as the sources for Ian's spiralling depression, and in that sense only gives us a narrow snapshot of his short life, but I think Corbijn never strove for more than that. To me one of the superb merits of this picture is its sense of isolation which is created by such a very selective approach to its content. I feel certain, given Corbijn's access to Curtis's wife and Tony Wilson as co-producers, that Control could have told us the full, unabridged tale of Curtis's demise, yet Corbijn didn't and it is this exercise in restraint that renders his riveting film so artistically pleasing. Moreover, Riley's uncanny resemblance to the great man himself (and I feel, rather eerily, to Pete Doherty) makes it simply impossible to tear your eyes away from the screen. Jaw-droppingly good.