Control

Control (drama, biography, music)Directed by Anton CorbijnStarring Sam Riley, Samantha Morton and Alexandra Maria LaraAlliance | 2007 | 122 min | Rated R | Released Mar 08, 2011Video:Video codec: MPEG-4 AVCVideo resolution: 1080pAspect ratio: 2.35:1Audio:English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1English: Dolby Digital 5.1French: Dolby Digital 5.1Subtitles:NoneDiscs:50GB Blu-ray DiscDVD copyControl won 25 awards, including three at Cannes, and was nominated for two BAFTA awards in the UK. The film is yet to receive a Blu-ray release in the US, but has been released in Germany and Canada. This review covers the Canadian version, which is locked to Region A.The film made just under $8 million worldwide owing to the dark subject matter and the fact that Joy Division's music still isn't widely known. That's a shame because Corbijn (The American) has made a wonderful film.This is the story of Ian Curtis who was the lead singer for Joy Division until his suicide in 1980. He died on May 18, so it was 31 years ago today at the time of writing.I wanted to see the film because Joy Division is still one of my Top 5 bands 30 years later. I know who made me the tape so that I could hear debut album Unknown Pleasures for the first time and I remember who I was with and where I was when the news leaked that Curtis was dead.It wasn't easy to find a theater which was showing the film when it was released so I ended up hunting down an obscure run-down cinema in downtown Toronto to even see it. About six other people showed up. Every single one appeared deeply moved and on the verge of tears after the film. I'm happy to finally own it on Blu-ray.The main problem I have with this review is that I went in loving the band and knowing most of the story. Did it work for me because of that, or is it truly a great story that will appeal to people who know nothing about Curtis or Joy Division? It partly depends on whether you like the dark, brooding music, but it works for some people who don't like the band at all.The film is bleak. It appears in black and white and is set in a northern town in England (Macclesfield). The houses are small, the streets are narrow and it rains often. This is all true. It's a depressing part of the country. The dreary setting matches the atmosphere of the music and the band's tale. The film shows how the band came into existence and their early successes such as recording, getting a recording contract and appearing on TV, but this isn't a true biopic.Although I knew the lyrics and understood what the words meant before I saw the film, I didn't know the origin of those lyrics. The film ties together some of the events in the life of Curtis with the origin of the songs. When you see what She's Lost Control is really about, it adds new layers of meaning. If you think Love Will Tear Us Apart sounds like a pop song, it takes on a more sinister tone when you understand why he wrote it.The actors rehearsed together to get the songs right so that they could play them in the film rather than miming. Corbijn never intended to include real performances of the music, but the "band" convinced him. The first time I heard the first note of the first song played in the film, I felt a huge surge of emotion.Sam Riley manages to look very similar to Curtis and must have spent a long time studying the few examples of Curtis performing the songs. He mimics the actions perfectly and sounds like him too. It was almost like stepping back in time and experiencing a Joy Division concert. Samantha Morton gives a strong performance, managing to look like a young girl and then his wife and the mother of his child.There's a lot of truth in this film too. Deborah Curtis (his wife) wrote the book Touching From A Distance which tells what really happened. The screenplay was adapted from that book and the details are as true as possible. Corbijn shot some of the iconic photographs of Curtis and the band while working as a photographer for the New Musical Express in England. This was a labor of love.The result is a moving drama detailing the final few years of Curtis' life. It doesn't hold much back, showing his faults as well as his redeeming qualities. It's the story of a young man (23 when he died) who was in a situation he couldn't control. Loving and hating two different women, a parent at a young age, success at a level that was hard to imagine and all the while dealing with epilepsy. His character says in the film that the audience didn't realize how much he gave during a performance, or how draining it was and how painful to access the emotions to perform those songs. To the audience, they were songs. To Curtis, they were hideous parts of his life.I found the film incredibly moving, haunting, captivating, happy and sad. I'm glad that Curtis will be introduced to new audiences through this film. Joy Division is important to me and Control is one of the most prized Blu-rays in my collection.Video Quality 4.5/5The film was shot in color and transferred to black and white and the images suit the mood of the film perfectly. Detail is sharp throughout and the print is clean and natural in appearance. I have also seen the German release and the presentation is similar. It's hard to imagine the film looking any better.Audio Quality 5/5The sound is the best I have ever heard where music is concerned. It's as good as listening to a CD on high quality equipment. The songs have a lot of depth and range and it's easy to pick out individual instruments. The dialogue is also clear.Special Features 4/5Audio commentary with director Anton Corbijn.Making of Control, featuring interviews with Corbijn, the writer and some of the actors (24 minutes).Extended live performances from the film:TransmissionLeaders of MenCandidateMusic Videos:Atmosphere - Joy DivisionTransmission - Joy DivisionShadowplay - The KillersTwo theatrical trailers.Joy Division's music isn't for everyone, but this is an interesting look at the life of Ian Curtis whether you are a fan or not. The presentation from Alliance is superb and I would recommend it to anyone capable of viewing Region A material. The actors do a wonderful job and the music sounds authentic. It will send shivers down your spine.Overall score 5/5

This is a must see film for any admirer of the seminal band Joy Division. The influence of Ian Curtis has been undeniable throughout the years since Ian left us, and it's a given that Joy Division will continue to garner fans for as many years as people are capable of being moved by sincere, meaningful, and personal music.The aspect of the film that I didn't fully appreciate until the second viewing is the sympathy that the script and the director elicit in the viewer for the character of Deborah Curtis, Ian's wife. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering that the book from which the film gathers much of its material is a biography that Deborah wrote. I trust that living with a man so introspective, so talented, so conflicted, and so unwell would have been difficult for the best woman. The woman depicted in the film is not the best woman, but she's a woman who cares about and seems to love Ian, who wants Ian to care for himself responsibly and to not suffer, and who isn't able to understand why he's interested in another woman -- a woman who is portrayed as desiring a man whom she can idolize without having to notice his warts. Deborah does considerably more in the film than ask Ian what are his favorite color and favorite movie. The performance by Samantha Morton is compelling. The final shot of her pleading for someone to help her and Ian's daughter while the other characters console themselves, perhaps disregarding her because she had needed to stay home and therefore hadn't been able to attend as many Joy Division concerts, suggests that she may have often been taken for granted despite the fact that she likely knew Ian more intimately than they did.Sam Riley's performance as Ian is astonishing. In some shots, he looks like Ian's spitting image. His imitation of Ian's mannerisms and vocals, his onstage "dancing," and his enactment of the epileptic seizures are captivating. It's evident that Mr. Riley performed a lot of research. The problem that I have with the script is that it seems at times to suggest that it's aware of what Ian was thinking during moments that he spent alone; I have to believe that only Ian knew what he was thinking during those moments. For 39 years I've listened to Ian's lyrics, and for me his words have accumulated greater depth the older that I've gotten. How can any film suggest what may have been going through the mind of a poet who thought so profoundly? I'm grateful that the script didn't attempt to romanticize Ian but rather presented him as a complex person, poet, and entertainer.This film succeeds in capturing a time when anything could have happened in music. That four young men formed a band that summarized so eloquently and rivetingly what few of us would have dared express served to enrich the lives of those who were fortunate to live then. This film is a tribute both to that era and to the reality that artists sometimes grow up in unexpected places -- not all artists come from big cities. If you opt to purchase this film, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

the songs

I don't usually review books and movies at Amazon (at least not to date), but I felt I had to weigh in on this one. I expected a good film based on reviews, but Control surpassed my expectations and that rarely happens anymore. That is, more films disappoint than surprise in terms of quality.The movie feels like a documentary. Sam Riley's portrayal of Ian Curtis is uncanny. The tone of the movie captures the feel of the times just as I remember it. And it also has the air of something remembered that is hard for me to explain here. The acting is uniformly excellent, with the actors fully inhabiting their roles and never falling into caricature. One of the most interesting things about the movie is how the director, Anton Corbijn, maintains the proper degree of tension for each character's story, subtly shifting perspective to make each person whole, and sympathetic.This is a great movie, regardless of the viewer's knowledge of Joy Division. For those unfamiliar with their work, this film is likely to lead them to the music. The film bears watching over and over and it should be near the top of any list of music films, documentary or otherwise.

Et la musique de joy division, évidemment

Great movie looking into the life and tragic death of a very talented artist.

One of my favourite movies.A must see ... highly recommended.Was inexpensive and delivered in a timely manner.

Incluye tanto DVD como bluray por un bajo precio. La película es muy buena, me gusta mucho. También decir que es en blanco y negro para darle más ambientación de la época. Recomiendo su compra para los amantes de Joy Division.

I've now seen this story played out 3 times, twice at the cinema in the last 2 days and once as a 15 year old Northern lad. In the true spirit of the "Kitchen Sink" genre, it begins like a modern day "A kind of loving" and has a touch of " Room at the top" (the wedding car scene). Sam Riley is outstanding, portraying Curtis in a way that does not show him as the icon he became posthumously but as a somewhat immature 20+ year old man. This of course is countered by a soundtrack that reminds us of his musical genius played by the actors in a very authentic "Garagey way". A portrait of a man torn between his old and new life complicated by the onset of an illness he was struggling to come to terms with.If that wasn't enough the photography is glorious, every other shot could be hung on the wall, it never looked so good when I was a lad! I understand that Corbijn was trying to shoot the film like a sequence of music videos and with his massive experience as a still photographer it all works beautifully. He sank a large amount of his own money into this project, and you can tell that making it was important to him as a fan and aquaintance of the band You can see his passion and committment to the film throughout. The sequence in the kitchen towards the end of the film was electric, an incredibly haunting dramatic shot. This Film demands the biggest screen that you can find.I read a review that said you don't watch this film you live it, the first time I saw Control I was angry at the futility of it all, the second I wept tears for lost youth, his and mine. My advice ? Get yourself a really big telly and a really big box of tissues and enjoy what must be considered the best music film of all time. There's no getting away from the end, like Ian's all too short life it comes too soon in this film and there ain't gonna be a sequel, but buy the DVD and enjoy watching it over and over again. A Classic........