Control | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Anton Corbijn |
Screenplay by | Matt Greenhalgh |
Based on | Touching from a Distance by Deborah Curtis |
Produced by | Anton Corbijn Todd Eckert Orian Williams Iain Canning Peter Heslop Tony Wilson Deborah Curtis |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Martin Ruhe |
Edited by | Andrew Hulme |
Music by | New Order |
Distributed by | Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom) The Weinstein Company (United States) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6.4 million [1] |
Box office | $8.9 million [1] |
Control is a 2007 biographical film about the life of Ian Curtis, singer of the late-1970s English post-punk band Joy Division. It is the first feature film directed by Anton Corbijn, who had worked with Joy Division as a photographer. The screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, was based on the biography Touching from a Distance by Curtis's widow Deborah, who served as a co-producer on the film. Tony Wilson, who released Joy Division's records through his Factory Records label, also served as a co-producer. Curtis' bandmates Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris provided incidental music for the soundtrack via their post-Joy Division incarnation New Order. Control was filmed partly on location in Nottingham, Manchester, and Macclesfield, including areas where Curtis lived, and was shot in colour and then printed to black-and-white. Its title comes from the Joy Division song "She's Lost Control", and alludes to the fact that much of the plot deals with the notion that Curtis tried to remain in control of his own life, and yet had no control over his epilepsy and pharmaceutical side effects. [2]
Samantha Morton and Sam Riley star as Deborah and Ian Curtis, and the film portrays the events of the couple's lives from 1973 to 1980, focusing on their marriage, the formation and career of Joy Division, Ian's struggle with epilepsy, his extramarital affair with Belgian journalist Annik Honoré, and culminates with Ian's suicide in May, 1980. Alexandra Maria Lara plays Honoré, while James Anthony Pearson, Joe Anderson, and Harry Treadaway play Sumner, Hook, and Morris, respectively. The film also features Toby Kebbell as band manager Rob Gretton and Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson.
Control premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007 where it won several awards including the Director's Fortnight, the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the Regards Jeunes Prize for best first/second directed feature film, and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar. It also received a special mention for the Caméra d'Or prize for best debut feature film. [3] [4] It went on to win five British Independent Film Awards including Best Film, Best Director for Corbijn, Most Promising Newcomer for Riley, and Best Supporting Actor for Kebbell. [5] It was named Best Film at the 2007 Evening Standard British Film Awards, and Greenhalgh was given the Carl Foreman award for outstanding achievement in his first feature film at the 61st British Academy Film Awards. [6]
In 1975, Ian Curtis and Debbie Woodruff marry in their home town of Macclesfield, south of Manchester, England, at ages 19 and 18 respectively. Ian retreats from domestic life, preferring to write poetry in solitude. On 4 June 1976 they attend a Sex Pistols concert with Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Terry Mason, who are starting a band. Mesmerized by the concert, Ian volunteers to be their singer. They name themselves Warsaw, and Terry moves into a managerial role with the addition of drummer Stephen Morris. The band debuts on 19 May 1977 and soon rename themselves Joy Division. At year's end, Ian and Debbie finance the group's first EP, An Ideal for Living .
During his job as an employment agent, Ian witnesses his client Corinne Lewis suffering an epileptic seizure. Unsatisfied with the brief mention Joy Division receives from television host Tony Wilson, Ian demands that he put the band on his programme. In April 1978 Joy Division plays a battle of bands, impressing Tony and Rob Gretton, who becomes their new manager. They perform "Transmission" on Tony's programme and sign to his Factory Records label; Tony signs the contract using his blood.
In December 1978 Ian suffers a seizure on the way back from the band's first London gig. He is diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed medications that leave him drowsy and moody. Learning that Corinne has died of a seizure, he writes "She's Lost Control" about her. He begins to neglect Debbie, who gives birth to their daughter Natalie in April 1979. Ian quits his job to go on tour, leaving Debbie to work and care for the baby.
Ian admits to Belgian journalist Annik Honoré that he is miserable at home and considers his marriage a mistake. The two begin having an affair during Joy Division's January 1980 European tour. On returning home, Ian tells Debbie he is unsure if he still loves her. During the rehearsing of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Rob informs the band that they will be departing 19 May for a tour of the United States. Debbie finds evidence of Ian's infidelity and confronts him. He promises that the affair is over but continues to see Annik during the recording of Closer in Islington.
Ian suffers a seizure mid-performance and is comforted by Annik, who admits she is falling in love with him. He attempts suicide by overdosing on phenobarbital but doctors save his life. He continues to perform but is exhausted by the strain and overwhelmed by the audience's expectations. At a performance at Bury's Derby Hall the stress proves too much and he is only briefly able to go onstage. The audience riots when Alan Hempstall of Crispy Ambulance steps in to cover for Ian and the gig is ruined. Ian tells Tony that he believes everyone hates him and that it is all his fault. When Debbie learns that Ian is still seeing Annik, she demands a divorce. Bernard attempts to use hypnotherapy on Ian, who then goes to stay with his parents. He writes to Annik admitting his fear that his epilepsy will eventually kill him and confesses that he loves her.
On 17 May 1980, two nights before Joy Division is due to depart for America, Ian returns home and begs Debbie not to divorce him. When she refuses, he angrily orders her out of the house. After drinking alone and writing Debbie a letter, he has another seizure. Regaining consciousness the following morning, he hangs himself from the Sheila Maid in the kitchen. Debbie discovers his body and staggers into the street, crying for help. The news of Ian's death leaves the remaining Joy Division members stunned, while Tony consoles Annik. The group gather in a café with Gillian Gilbert, foreshadowing the future of the band. Ian's body is cremated.
In addition: Ben Naylor appears as Factory Records co-founder Martin Hannett; performance poet John Cooper Clarke appears as himself, performing his poem "Evidently Chickentown" in a re-creation of a 1970s concert; Lotti Closs plays Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris' girlfriend, and future member of New Order; Richard Bremmer and Mary Jo Randle appear as Ian's father and Deborah's mother, respectively.
Corbijn had been a devout Joy Division fan since the band's early days in the late 1970s. After moving to England, he befriended the band and shot several pictures for NME , which boosted his career as a photographer. Some of his pictures taken are featured in the film. He also directed the music video for the 1988 rerelease of "Atmosphere". He said that the film overlapped with his own life in some ways. "I had moved to England to be close to that music at the time, and I was very into Joy Division. I worked with them, took pictures of them that became synonymous with their music, and I was forever linked. Then eight years after [Ian Curtis'] death, I did the video for "Atmosphere." So in other people's eyes I was always connected with them." [9]
Control is Corbijn's debut as a film director, and he paid half of the €4.5 million budget out of his own pocket. [10] The film was shot on colour stock and printed to black and white to "reflect the atmosphere of Joy Division and the mood of the era". [11] Todd Eckert and Orian Williams are the producers. Deborah Curtis, Ian Curtis' widow, is a co-producer, along with music mogul Tony Wilson, who died months before the film's release. It was Wilson who gave Joy Division their TV break on the local magazine programme Granada Reports, and he also founded Factory Records, which released most of Joy Division's work. [12]
After the script for the film was finished in May 2005, the film was shot at the former Carlton studios in Nottingham, and on location in Nottingham, Manchester and Macclesfield, England, as well as other European venues. Filming began on 3 July 2006 and lasted for seven weeks. Filming in and around Barton Street (where Curtis lived and died), Macclesfield took place on 11 and 12 July 2006. EM Media, the Regional Screen Agency for the East Midlands, invested £250,000 of European Regional Development Funds into the production of Control and supported the film throughout the shoot. [13]
Ian Curtis' daughter, Natalie, was in the crowd as an extra for the Derby Hall gig. [14]
The final scene of the film is shot in the exact position where Ian Curtis's memorial stone is located in Macclesfield with the camera panning out to reveal the crematorium which can be seen directly from his memorial.
The Weinstein Company secured the rights to release the film in North America after its success at Cannes. [15] The DVD was released in the UK on 11 February 2008, followed by the Australian DVD on 12 March 2008, and the North American DVD on 3 June 2008.
The film grossed $8.9 million worldwide. [1]
Peter Bradshaw, the chief film reviewer for The Guardian , described Control as "the best film of the year: a tender, bleakly funny and superbly acted biopic of Curtis". [16] Prominent American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a three and a half stars rating, out of four, and wrote that "The extraordinary achievement of Control is that it works simultaneously as a musical biopic and the story of a life." [17]
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 88% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10 based on 118 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Control is a work of art, thanks to its evocative black and white cinematography and sensational performances from Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. Even those not familiar with Joy Division can still appreciate the beauty of the film." [18] Metacritic reports the film as having an average score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, claiming the film had "generally favourable reviews". [19]
However, some reviewers have rated the film poorly. Ray Bennett from Reuters described Control to be a "disappointment" and said the film "features lots of music from that time and has decent performances, but it fails to make the case for its fallen star". [20]
Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, two of the founding members of Joy Division, generally praised the film. Morris disputed its accuracy, saying "[n]one of it's true really", but acknowledged the need to bend facts because "the truth is too boring." Hook criticised the preview audience's reaction, saying how at the end of the film "it really hurt and everybody started clapping. It would've been nice to have a dignified silence". [21] Hook also remarked that "Control is a hell of a lot more accurate than 24 Hour Party People . You can tell that Anton knew us, and he knew us well and he took the original script, which was very English and quite subtly he made it deeper and have a broader appeal so that it would not just make sense to an English audience but to an international audience". [22] After viewing the film at Cannes, Hook said he "knew it was a great film and that it would be very well received because, even though it's two hours long, only two people went to the toilet the whole time. In fact, one of them was [Sumner]. The other one was a 70-year-old woman". [22]
Music From The Motion Picture Control | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album | |
Released | 30 October 2007 |
Genre | Post-punk, punk rock, glam rock |
Label | Warner Bros., Rhino |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Killers cover the 1979 Joy Division song "Shadowplay" on the soundtrack. [24] However, all live Joy Division performances in the film are performed by the actors. The actors contribute a cover of an original Joy Division song ("Transmission") to the soundtrack. Incidental tracks by 1970s artists including David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Buzzcocks are the original recordings. New Order provided the original incidental music for the soundtrack.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Exit" | Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris | New Order | 1:14 |
2. | "What Goes On" (from The Velvet Underground , 1969) | Lou Reed | The Velvet Underground | 5:07 |
3. | "Shadowplay" (originally performed by Joy Division) | Ian Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner | The Killers | 4:11 |
4. | "Boredom" (live; from Live at the Roxy Club April '77, 1989) | Howard Devoto, Pete Shelley | Buzzcocks | 3:07 |
5. | "Dead Souls" (from "Atmosphere", 1980) | Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner | Joy Division | 4:51 |
6. | "She Was Naked" (1970 single) | Robert Jan Stips | Supersister | 3:53 |
7. | "Sister Midnight" (from The Idiot , 1977) | Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Carlos Alomar | Iggy Pop | 4:18 |
8. | "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (1980 single) | Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner | Joy Division | 3:26 |
9. | "Hypnosis" | Sumner, Hook, Morris | New Order | 1:35 |
10. | "Drive-In Saturday" (from Aladdin Sane , 1973) | Bowie | David Bowie | 4:31 |
11. | "Evidently Chickentown" (live) | John Cooper Clarke | John Cooper Clarke | 0:31 |
12. | "2HB" (from Roxy Music , 1972) | Bryan Ferry | Roxy Music | 4:29 |
13. | "Transmission" (originally performed by Joy Division) | Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner | Joe Anderson, James Anthony Pearson, Sam Riley, and Harry Treadaway | 3:02 |
14. | "Autobahn" (from Autobahn , 1974) | Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult | Kraftwerk | 11:23 |
15. | "Atmosphere" (1980 single) | Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner | Joy Division | 4:33 |
16. | "Warszawa" (from Low , 1977) | Bowie, Brian Eno | David Bowie | 6:21 |
17. | "Get Out" | Sumner, Hook, Morris | New Order | 2:42 |
Joy Division were an English post-punk band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was best known as the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the Goth band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). He was noted for his distinct on-stage behaviour and unique dancing style influenced by his experiences with epilepsy, as well as his dark baritone voice. Retrospectively viewed as "one of the finest songwriters of his generation," his intensely introspective and dark lyricism has provoked "visceral and raw emotions" among fans.
Closer is the second and final studio album by the English rock band Joy Division, released on 18 July 1980 by Factory Records. Produced by Martin Hannett, it was released two months after the suicide of the band's lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis. The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at No. 3 in New Zealand in September 1981. Closer was also named NME Album of the Year. It was remastered and re-released in 2007.
Peter Hook is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings with a signature heavy chorus effect. In New Order, he would do this, leaving the actual basslines to keyboards or sequencers.
Bernard Sumner is an English musician. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, Electronic, and Bad Lieutenant. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post-punk, synth-pop, and techno music scenes, as well as their various related genres, and was an early influence on the Manchester music scene that presaged the Madchester movement of the late 1980s centred on Factory Records and The Haçienda club in Manchester.
Unknown Pleasures is the debut studio album by the English rock band Joy Division, released on 15 June 1979, by Factory Records. The album was recorded and mixed over three successive weekends at Stockport's Strawberry Studios in April 1979, with producer Martin Hannett contributing a number of unconventional recording techniques to the group's sound. The cover artwork was designed by artist Peter Saville, using a data plot of signals from a radio pulsar. It is the only Joy Division album released during lead singer Ian Curtis's lifetime.
Gillian Lesley Gilbert is an English musician and singer, best known as the keyboardist and guitarist of the band New Order.
Stephen Paul David Morris is an English drummer who is best known for his work with the rock band New Order and, previously, Joy Division. He also wrote and performed in The Other Two, a band consisting of Morris and his girlfriend and later wife, Gillian Gilbert. Morris also participated in the New Order spin-off band Bad Lieutenant.
Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2, having handled the principal promotion and sleeve photography for both bands over three decades. His music videos include Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" (1990), U2's "One" (1991), Bryan Adams' "Do I Have to Say the Words?", Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" (1993), and Coldplay's "Talk" (2005). He directed the films "Viva la Vida" (2008); the Ian Curtis biographical film Control (2007), The American (2010); A Most Wanted Man (2014), based on John le Carré's 2008 novel of the same name; and Life (2015), after the friendship between Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock and James Dean.
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by English rock band Joy Division, released in June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis's marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was released the month after his suicide.
"She's Lost Control" is a song by British post-punk band Joy Division. Released on their 1979 debut album, Unknown Pleasures, "She's Lost Control" was first performed live by the band in June 1978 and draws primary lyrical inspiration from a young woman experiencing a violent epileptic seizure.
Robert Leo Gretton was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of Factory Records and a founding partner of The Haçienda. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ran his own label, Rob's Records.
"Transmission" is a song by English post-punk band Joy Division. Originally recorded in 1978 for the band's aborted self-titled album, it was later re-recorded the following year at a faster tempo and released by record label Factory as the band's debut single.
Touching from a Distance is a biography written by Deborah Curtis. It details her life and marriage with Ian Curtis, lead singer of the 1970s British post-punk band Joy Division. In the book, Deborah Curtis speaks of Ian's infidelity, their troubled marriage, Ian's volatile and sometimes troubled personality, and his health problems that likely led to his suicide in 1980, on the eve of Joy Division's first United States tour. The foreword was written by the music journalist Jon Savage.
"Atmosphere" is a song by the English post-punk band Joy Division. It was originally released in March 1980 by the Sordide Sentimental label as the "Licht und Blindheit" package, a France-only limited edition single featuring the track "Dead Souls" as the B-side. Following Ian Curtis's death in May, it was re-released as a 12" single by Factory Records in August with "She's Lost Control" as the B-side.
Joy Division is a 2007 British documentary film on the British post-punk band Joy Division, directed by Grant Gee.
Tobias Alistair Patrick Kebbell is an English actor. He is known for his roles in films such as Dead Man's Shoes (2004), Control (2007), RocknRolla (2008), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), War Horse (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Fantastic Four (2015), Warcraft (2016), A Monster Calls (2016), Ben-Hur (2016), and Gold (2016). He is also known for his work in the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You" (2011) and starred in the second film of the MonsterVerse film series, Kong: Skull Island (2017) and the Apple TV+ series Servant (2019–2023) and For All Mankind (2023–2024).
Peter Hook & The Light are an English post-punk band, formed in May 2010 by bassist and vocalist Peter Hook, formerly of the influential post-punk bands Joy Division and New Order. The band also features Hook's son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums), who both played with Hook as part of Monaco, one of Hook's previous groups. From the first gigs in May 2010, Nat Wason was the group's guitarist, however in July 2013 he was replaced by David Potts, another former member of Monaco.
Annik Honoré was a Belgian journalist and music promoter best known for her association with Ian Curtis, the former lead singer and lyricist of Joy Division. She co-founded record labels Les Disques du Crépuscule and Factory Benelux.