Control (2007 film)

Control
Directed by	Anton Corbijn
Written by	Matt Greenhalgh Deborah Curtis
Produced by	Tony Wilson Deborah Curtis Todd Eckert Orian Williams Iain Canning Peter Heslop
Starring	Sam Riley Samantha Morton Alexandra Maria Lara
Cinematography	Martin Ruhe John Watson
Music by	Joy Division New Order
Distributed by	Claraflora (UK) The Weinstein Company (US)
Release dates	October 5, 2007
Language	English

Control is a biopic film about the late Ian Curtis (1956-1980), lead singer of the post-punk rock band Joy Division. The screenplay is based on the book Touching From a Distance, by Curtis' wife, Deborah, who is also a co-producer of the film.

The film details the life of the troubled young musician, who forged a new kind of music out of the punk rock scene of 1970s Britain, and the band Joy Division, which he headed from 1977 to 1980. It also deals with his rocky marriage and extramarital affair, as well as his increasingly frequent seizures, which were thought to contribute to the circumstances that led to his suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first U.S. tour.

The title is a reference to one of Joy Division's more memorable songs, "She's Lost Control". The song title is believed to be a reference to an epileptic girl Curtis befriended while working at a rehabilitation center in Manchester. The girl died during a seizure and thus inspired the title.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, on 17 May 2007 (coincidentally one day prior to the anniversary of Curtis' suicide), where it was received well by the critics, especially for Sam Riley's performance. Although shown outside the Palme d'Or competition, Control was the big winner of the Director's Fortnight winning the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the "Regards Jeunes" Prize award for best first or second directed feature film and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar.

Plot

The films starts in 1974 where 17 year old Ian Curtis is living in a tower block of flats in Macclesfield with his parents and his sister whist he is at 6th form and working part time in a record store. It is here where he meets Debbie Woodruff who is dating his best friend Kevin. Here Debbie finds out that Ian is into poetry and writes poems. After school one day Ian and Kevin visit an elderly persons house where they obtain some perscribed drugs. Both high, they visit Debbie where Ian recites poetry and they realise they are fond of each other. They then attend a David Bowie concert and go for a walk in the fields where Ian proposes and Debbie accepts. They are married and move to their house on Barton Street, Macclesfield where married life does not appear to be going well as Ian locks himself in a room writing poetry as Debbie decorates the house (this trend continues throughout the film, especially when Debbie is going to bed and asks Ian to join her).

The film then follows Ian and Debbie attending a Sex Pistols gig in 1976 where he meets Stiff Kittens band members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Terry Mason. All 3 members criticize their lead singer which leads Ian to approach the band at the end of the concert to suggest he becomes the lead vocalist. This then leads the band to become Warsaw and recruit Stephen Morris on drums with Mason taking over managerial duties. This leads to the band playing their first gig (although extremely nervous)

At this time Ian is currently working as a civil servant in Macclesfield and is given the opportunity to record a demo of the band to perform. This results in Ian and Debbie paying £400 to have the demo recorded but now under the new name Joy Division. The demo EP was recorded (entitled "an Ideal for Living") and sent to local music mogul Tony Wilson. As the band watch television round Ian's house, they notice Tony give a less than impressive mention of the EP in his show. This leaves the band angry and upset. However Joy Division then attend a battle of the bands event at a bar where they impress everyone including Wilson and DJ Rob Gretton who offers his services to manage the band and thinks he can do a great job as he knows all the big music names in this area.

Tony Wilson then agrees to let the band perform on their TV show (as long as they don't swear or he will cut them off). The band perform Transmission with Ian's parents, sister and wife watching at home. This performance then leads to Tony signing the band - signing the contract in his own blood.

The band then start to tour with Ian starting to neglect his now pregnant wife. Ian also keeps his job as a civil servant but as he's interviewing a job seeker, she has an epileptic fit (which she later dies from), this leads him to write the lyrics for "She's Lost Control". Shortly after this, Ian suffers a similar fit whilst travelling from a gig. Whilst in the hospital it is revealed that he has epilepsy which means he has to take medication that makes him drowsy and moody. The Doctor also recommends to Ian that he gets plenty of early nights (something which Ian ignores). Due to the medication and the late nights, Ian is becoming extremely tired at work and after a chat with his supervisor (who advises him he cannot do both at the same time) he decides to resign from his role (despite a more steady income) and follow his dreams of become a successful musician. During this time, Debbie gives birth to a baby girl called Natalie and is forced to take up work to make up the wages Ian has lost with his resignation.

Joy Division then travel to London for a gig where the ban meets Annik Honore, who wishes to interview the band for a Belgian music fanzine. After the rest of the band fall asleep Ian and Annik talk and Ian admits that he has been trying to leave his home town for a while and that his marriage was a mistake. The band then travel to France to do a tour where Ian and Annik start an affair. Debbie is initially unaware of the affair but becomes suspicious when Ian admits he's unsure if he loves Debbie any more. Whilst Ian is shooting the video for Love Will Tear Us Apart Debbie searches through the house for clues as to whether Ian is having an affair. She finds Annik's telephone number and calls her. Annik confesses all. Debbie confronts Ian who vows to break up the affair (which he doesn't do). It is at this point that Rob informs the band that they will be touring America

During a gig Ian has another epileptic fit. He is carried off stage and is comforted by Annik. With the pressure of his family, his affair the band and his epilepsy, Ian takes an overdose and collapses in his house. Before his collapse he writes a letter to Debbie saying that he loves Annik. Ian is then rushed to hospital and released a few day later. Joy Division are then due to perform a concert and Bury's "Derby Hall" where Ian is clearly unwell and walks off stage. Rob Gretton asks then lead of the support group (Alan Hempsall of Crispy Ambulance) to cover. Hempsall agrees, but this leads to a riot on stage. After the riot Ian says to Tony that he feels everyone hates him and its all his own fault.

Having left the marital home Ian is forced to stay at various people's homes. Initially he stays at Rob's (with Annik in tow). Rob informs Debbie of Ian's whereabouts and Debbie tells Rob to let Ian know she wants a divorce). He then stays at Bernard's who tries hypnotherapy on Ian to see if this helps his thinking. Eventually he returns to his parents home and agrees to stay there until the American tour.

Two nights before the tour he decides to return home to talk to Debbie. He arrives home and watches Stroszek on television before Debbie arrives home. He begs Debbie to take him back and promises he will end the affair as it's her chasing him not the other way round. Debbie brushes it off and then Ian orders her out of the house until the following day where he will be gone. Alone in the house, Ian drinks large glasses of whiskey and plays Iggy Pop's The Idiot whilst writing a letter to Debbie. As he places it on the mantelpiece he has another epileptic, collapses and become unconscious. He regains consciousness early the following morning. He then walks into the kitchen where he sees the clothesline. He decides to end his misery once and for all and to take his own life by hanging himself.

Later that day Debbie returns home and walks into the house. She then discovers Ian's body hung in the kitchen and runs out of the house hysterical, holding Natalie as she cries "can someone help me". As Atmosphere plays we see Rob Gretton, the remaining members of Joy Division and Stephen's girlfriend Gillian Gilbert in a pub staring silently, Tony Wilson and his wife Lindsay console Annik at a train station and church bells ring with smoke rising to the air with the message "Ian Kevin Curtis died 18th May 1980, he was 23 years old" appearing on the screen. The screen then fades to black with Atmosphere still playing.

Cast

• Sam Riley as Ian Curtis
• Samantha Morton as Deborah Curtis
• Alexandra Maria Lara as Annik Honore
• Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson
• Joe Anderson as Peter Hook
• Toby Kebbell as Rob Gretton
• James Anthony Pearson as Bernard Sumner
• Harry Treadaway as Stephen Morris
• Andrew Sheridan as Terry Mason
• Ben Naylor as Martin Hannett
• Phil Hasted as The 'Ace Face'
• John Cooper Clarke as himself

Production

Anton Corbijn, the film's director, had been a devout Joy Division fan since the band's early days in the late 1970s. He directed the music video for the 1988 rerelease of "Atmosphere" long after the band's demise, and has since gone on to direct music videos for such bands as Depeche Mode, Nirvana and U2. Control marks Corbijn's debut as a movie director, and he paid half of the €4.5million budget out of his own pocket. The film was shot in black and white to "reflect the atmosphere of Joy Division and the mood of the era." Todd Eckert and Orian Williams, based out of Los Angeles, are the producers. Deborah Curtis, Ian Curtis' widow, is a co-producer, along with British music mogul Tony Wilson. Wilson was the one who gave Joy Division their TV break on the rock music programme So It Goes, and he also founded Factory Records, which released most of Joy Division's work.

After the script for the film was finished in May of 2005, the movie was filmed on location in Nottingham, Manchester and Macclesfield, England, as well as other European venues. Filming began on July 3, 2006 and lasted for seven weeks.

Filming in and around Barton Street (where Curtis lived and died), Macclesfield took place on July 11th & 12th, 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. Samantha Morton (Deborah Curtis) and Toby Kebbell (Rob Gretton) both studied at the Junior TV Workshop in Nottingham. Kebbell starred opposite Paddy Considine (who played Gretton in 24 Hour Party People) in Shane Meadows' Dead Man's Shoes.

Trivia

• When Tony Wilson introduces Joy Division on the show, the dialogue is exactly the same as when the real incident happened on Granada Reports in 1978. The only difference is that in the film, Transmission is performed, where on Granada, the band played Shadowplay

• The exact house that Ian Curtis lived on Barton Street, Macclesfield was used for the movie

• John Cooper Clarke, played himself in the film instead of using an actor, despite having aged 30 years since the events depicted in the movie

Release

Joy Division Central reports that the film will be released in the US on October 19th.

The Weinstein Company secured the rights to release the film in North America after its success at Cannes.. It is currently slated for a limited US release on October 10th, 2007.

Reception

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."

Soundtrack

The Killers cover the 1979 Joy Division song Shadowplay on the soundtrack. 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 like David Bowie and the Sex Pistols are the original recordings. New Order provided the original incidental music for the soundtrack.

1. New Order - "Exit"
2. The Velvet Underground - "What Goes On"
3. The Killers - "Shadowplay" (Joy Division Cover)
4. Buzzcocks - "Boredom (Live)"
5. Joy Division - "Dead Souls"
6. Supersister - "She Was Naked"
7. Iggy Pop - "Sister Midnight"
8. Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
9. Sex Pistols - "Problems (Live)"
10. New Order - "Hypnosis"
11. David Bowie - "Drive In Saturday"
12. John Cooper Clarke - "Evidently Chickentown"
13. Roxy Music - "2H.B."
14. Joy Division - "Transmission" (Performed by the cast)
15. Kraftwerk - "Autobahn"
16. Joy Division - "Atmosphere"
17. David Bowie - "Warszawa"
18. New Order - "Get Out"

External links

• Controlthemovie.com - Official Control Movie Website
• Control at IMDb
• Control Movie Unofficial Website - frequently updated with official and unofficial information and photos.
• IanCurtis.org - Ian Curtis fan club website, with updates on the movie.
• A divided joy: seeing my father on film by Natalie Curtis, The Guardian, September 30, 2007