No thanks

Rating: Null/10 (5 October 2007)

I thought this was a dreadful film but then I've never liked Bio-Pics because they can never capture the charisma of the original performers. I did like the Glenn Miller one and the Buddy Holly Story but even with that, Holly's wife said their courtship was laughably inaccurate in its portrayal. So what's the point? Is this social realist/ kitchen sink drama? In which case, why all the inaccuracies? I remember us all listening to that EP where Joy Division first appear (I think as Warsaw.) We kept playing the opening: "You all remember Rudolf Hess?" over and over again as it sounded so dodgy, what with the band's alleged "reputation". I'm pretty sure the song that follows is "A Later Date", not "Leaders of Men." But maybe that wasn't the case in reality. And I seem to remember the bassist telling the story of how Rob Gretton became their manager and it was nothing like the macho confrontation depicted. Just the opposite, to an amusing degree. And the band confessed the "blood letter" was apocryphal. Does any of this matter? Well, according to the critics you would think "Control" is the second coming of Tarkovsky. But there is no such poetry here as the director is a photographer turned director. Film is another discipline altogether, and the crucial failing is that Joy Division arguably have that mysterious mojo called "artistic talent", while the director's lack of it sticks out like a sore thumb on the screen. Why did he want to make this film? I was left none the wiser, and I heard yawns around me.
Do we need art? Is it in any way essential? Maybe the film is not interested in the question. The really uncomfortable aspect of "Control" is we know the outcome, and the songs are merely box after box to be ticked as they bring you ever closer to that event. Really quite dreadful to sit through. The whole minute by minute depiction of the tragedy was unpleasant and unnecessary, at least to me. Yes, it was sad but is this helping?
The final shot was particularly repulsive and seemed to allude to the controversy of their name and image, hardly touched upon in the film itself. Sadly, this is a trite little film and definitely made by a fan.