CONTROL (Anton Corbijn, 2007) ***

Rating: 7/10 (13 March 2009)

The haunting music of Joy Division transcended the band's minimal output and modest cult status among British indie bands to become a highly influential sound. Shot in color but desaturized to be shown in black-and- white, CONTROL is a carefully-made biopic of their troubled singer Ian Curtis who, at just 23 years of age, tragically took his own life to become rock's first celebrity suicide. Although I had thought that this fateful decision was taken mainly on account of his debilitating epileptic condition, the film reveals that this had more to do with the fact that Curtis, being clearly unwilling to embark on Joy Division's impending first U.S. tour, had lost control of the band he fronted for (hence the title) and, more importantly, was deeply conflicted about the two relationships he had going on at the same time  with his wife Deborah back home (who had also borne him a daughter) and a Belgian amateur journalist/groupie that followed him around when performing. Based on Mrs. Curtis' memoirs, the film by necessity concentrates more on his personal than creative life; besides, director Corbijn, a former music video helmer, knew the band members personally and creates a remarkably straightforward and affectionate portrayal of Curtis' life and times. Apart from Samantha Morton (as Deborah), the cast is virtually made up of unknowns: at first, Sam Riley did not seem to me to look much like the real Ian Curtis but, before long, he had effectively inhabited the character (down to his awkward moves during Joy Division's stage act); the lovely Alexandra Maria Lara (whom I had actually already watched in DOWNFALL [2004] and YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH [2007] as Curtis' Belgian girlfriend, Annik Honore') and Toby Kebbell (as the band's overzealous manager Rob Gretton) also score in the acting stakes. Furthermore, the extraneous music is well-chosen: apart from the well-documented fact of Curtis having watched Werner Herzog's STROSZEK (1977) and listened to Iggy Pop's "The Idiot" (1977) just before hanging himself, we also have The Velvet Underground (another band whose musical legacy ran a similar course to Joy Division's), David Bowie (ironically, Curtis is seen listening to the chameleon artist's own crossover album "Aladdin Sane" [1973], written during his first U.S. tour!), Roxy Music and The Sex Pistols.