Good but doesn't really get inside the focal point of the film in the way it needed to

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2008)

Ian Curtis works at an employment exchange in Manchester where he deals all day with the unemployed and perhaps unemployable. An off-beat and quite cold character, he does have a creative side and it is this that ultimately leads him to become the lead singer for a band called Warsaw. This happens at just the right time as local television presenter Tony Wilson starts promoting local music and a local promoter becomes the group's manager. Joy Division (as they are now called) are born, sign to Factory Records and start getting bigger locally and nationally. However Ian's challenges with depression and epilepsy become greater as he feels his life slipping out of control.
I came to this film with two conflicting things in mind. Firstly that Control had been praised by most reviewers but then, secondly, I don't know much about Joy Division as my age put this just on the wrong side of my interest in music and popular culture. So in some ways I was perhaps protected from some of the criticism of the film but then conversely I was not exposed to weaknesses in the material that I would not have known. When it came to watching the film itself I found myself perhaps shielded in this regard because I didn't feel the lack of parts of Curtis' life mainly because I was not informed enough to spot omissions. However there is no denying that there are omissions and that perhaps the film doesn't deliver that well even within the bounds that it sets itself.
For me everything I know about the period and the band has come from documentaries on Factory Records and from 24 Hour Party People so for me I didn't really want or need another film that covers the period, hence my interest in Control. So focusing on Curtis himself was a good move but it does then mean that the film needs to engage simply on a character that will be real to some viewers but not to others. For me I found enough of interest but never really felt like I had gotten to the heart of Curtis in regards his conflicting and contrasting character traits of needing but yet pushing away, depression, fan pressure and creativity. It does well at certain points but mostly we are on the outside, seeing Curtis as difficult without really getting past that. The music adds appeal to this approach while the character of Deborah adds passion and emotion that is surprisingly lacking in much of it.
The city of Manchester has been noted as being absent but again, having never been there, this wasn't an issue for me as it was for others. On the contrary I thought the locations were fine even if I didn't really get a sense of period (although all the right cars were sitting around the streets). The cinematography blesses it all with a crisp black and white look and Corbijn's direction was solid without being particularly flashy. Since Riley has already been praised there is no pressure on me to heap it on him as well. He is convincing (speaking as someone seeing his character as just that  a character) but I never got inside his head. Morton for me is better mainly because of how much of a lift she gives the film  her performance injects energy and gave me somewhere to put my emotional interest in the story. The supporting cast are good with turns from Kebbell, Parkinson, Naylor and others all solid and enjoyable.
So as a fresh pair of eyes Control is both strong and weak. Without any knowledge of Curtis beyond documentaries I was less protective or critical of a portrayal but yet I was left on the outside of his character  which is a problem considering he is the film. The events around Curtis, the period and the emotional core in Deborah help carry it, allowing the good aspects of the portrayal to come out but not to the point where the weaknesses were totally covered. A good film, but perhaps not as brilliant as the British media (understandably) hyped it to be.