Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Arts & Society

Media Credit: Manchester Evening News Sam Riley stars as Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis in, "Control." Alexandra Maria Lara costars as Curtis's Swedish girlfriend, Annik Honoré.

This year, director Anton Corbijn and actor Sam Riley make their feature film debut with, "Control," the tragic story of Ian Curtis, the front man of Joy Division.

For those not aware, Joy Division was a band in the post-punk era from Macclesfield, England, who established themselves on the English music scene in the late 70s under the name Warsaw. Their Goth-rock styles differed greatly from their British counterparts such as the Buzzcocks and Sex Pistols.

Curtis's tragic suicide ended the band prematurely, before worldwide success. Ian's life would initially appear to be one of the stereotypical rock star- rebellion, band formation, drug experimentation, and death. However, his life was different. He was a lost soul, a hopeless romantic and a man searching for something. This modest biopic doesn't possess the typical "band movie" qualities like Oliver Stone's, "The Doors" or James Mangold's, "Walk the Line." If you're expecting an uplifting story about making it big and following your dream, then you're definitely going to be disappointed, and most likely depressed. "Control" is the grim story of a lost soul. The title of the movie is a direct reference to the Joy Division song "She Lost Control," about Ian Curtis's distant wife, but more importantly about his inability to control his own life.

Near the end of the movie, when Ian writes a somber letter to his Swedish girlfriend, Annik (Alexandra Maria Lara), he admits that he has lost control, a foreshadowing of his suicide.

This movie wasn't made as an inspiring tale, but more a lesson. Corbijn, who photographed Joy Division only a few months before Curtis's death, presents Ian's story as a sort of warning. He was a modest young family man, unprepared for the lifestyle of a rock star. Corbijn used the black and white film and the somber music of Joy Division, David Bowie, and the Velvet Underground to help exemplify the depressing undertones.

Like in many modern biopic music films, the actors playing the band members were forced to learn how to play all the songs for the movie. Riley did a wonderful job emulating, but not directly copying, the voice of Ian Curtis. It was apparent that he attacked the music with some of his own style. Riley's na've, quiet mannerisms allow a raw representation of Ian Curtis's life but also hint at Riley's acting dexterity, which I think we will see much more of in the future. Ian Curtis's wife, Deborah (who wrote "Touching From a Distance," the biography that is based on their marriage) is played by Samantha Morton, clearly depicting a warm, lighthearted woman who wants nothing but love and support from her detached husband.

Ian had immense love for his wife and daughter but was unable to grasp the tools to express it. Deborah Curtis's seven-year "life" with him was mostly one-sided. Curtis got married right as Joy Division recorded their first album. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and took a combination of medicines that made him fatigued, dried out, and perhaps depressed. That with a combination of "super stardom" led to Ian's loss of control.

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