Ryan McNeil
I’ve started and stopped writing this piece about six times already, because I find it difficult to talk about this movie without sounding like a complete fanboy. Upon asking the advice of a writer I trust, I was given the advice of “go with your one general feeling”. So here it is, that line that you would hear quoted in ads and TV spots (a blogger can dream right?). CONTROL is one this year’s best movies, and one of the best music movies I’ve ever seen.
CONTROL is the story of Ian Curtis (Sam Riley), lead singer of the band Joy Division. He has grown up in Manchester in the 70’s, a time and place that people only ever dreamt of leaving. He listens to Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop, and lives a fairly average existence. One evening in 1976, he and his wife go to a show that changes their lives. The gig is a sparsely attended concert by The Sex Pistols, and it has an immediate effect since outside he asks three friends who have started a band if they are still looking for a lead singer. He is given the job, and Joy Division is born.
At the time, the music scene in Manchester all funneled back to one man: Tony Wilson (Craig Parkinson). TV show host, nightclub manager, journalist, and eventual owner of Factory Records. The band don’t impress them selves upon Wilson, they get his attention by a virtual slap in the face. The slap works, and Wilson immediately takes them under his wing. As Joy Division start to take off, Curtis struggles to keep control of his own life. After a sudden seizure, he discovers he’s an epileptic. And after a conversation with a young journalist, he begins an affair. In between, he and Joy Division become one of the most influential modern rock bands to date.
Normal people aren’t supposed to be rock stars. Rock stars are supposed to be larger than life. They are supposed to be lost boys who never want to grow up. They are supposed to be people that live a life of excess and epitomize their fans wildest dreams of a famous life.
Ian Curtis of Joy Division might just have been a little too grounded as a normal person to embrace the rock star life. He married young, he kept a day job for a while, and he got consumed by the guilt of the extramarital antics that come with being a rock star. He didn’t even look like a star was supposed to look – he wore his dress clothes on stage like he was performing during a church talent show.
You could stand Curtis next to the neighbourhood mailman and have trouble picking out the star – that said, I could surround Feist and Rob Thomas with four Starbucks baristas, and I have a hunch you’d have a hard time picking out the stars in that line.
The movie is the first feature directed by photographer Anton Corbijn. He has made a name for himself photographing Joy Division, U2, David Bowie, R.E.M. and Depeche Mode. Since Corbijn is such a gifted photographer, it’s no surprise that the film is absolutely stunning. Shot completely in black & white, the film manages to make a downtrodden place like Manchester look picturesque.
There were at least two dozen moments during the film, where I wanted to stop the movie, clip the print and frame it on my wall. Seemingly ordinary moments like Ian and Deborah Curtis walking down the street, or Ian making a call in a phone booth as the rain pelts the glass, are shot with such rich elegance, that the everyday moment becomes something extraordinary to see.
Since watching the film, I’ve come to learn more about Joy Division through other sources (including a fantastic documentary titled JOY DIVISION). Upon discovering more about the band, I’m increasingly impressed with CONTROL’s attention to detail and accuracy, along with how close actor Sam Riley resembles Curtis. His mannerisms, the way he performs, the way he dances.
Riley claims he knew precious little about Joy Division when he got the role, and if that’s true then he certainly must have done his homework in between. The only minor complaint I have about Riley’s performance is that when he sings, he’s a tad too on-key (Curtis’ voice, low and brooding, usually tiptoed toward being flat). It’s a minor detail in an otherwise amazing performance.
CONTROL is a reference to the Joy Division song “She’s Lost Control”, but really it’s a reference to the entire life of a rock star. You grow up with complete control over your own life, until you decide to turn your life into something bigger. As soon as that entity starts to work its way out to the masses, it gains a life of its own – a perception that everyone wants a piece of.
As soon as that happens, control is an illusion at the best of times, and completely lost at the worst of times. The mark of a successful rock star, is to live in this new reality and not have it destroy them. Mick Jagger is a rock star. Alice Cooper is a rock star. Tommy Lee is a rock star. People like Ian Curtis should never be rock stars – they put too much value on control.
I was surprized I missed this one in my TIFF 07 picks, but I’m thrilled it’s out now. I am really looking forward to seeing it.