Control
Portrait of Ian Curtis (Sam Riley), the enigmatic singer of Joy Division whose personal, professional, and romantic troubles led to suicide at the age of 23. Story takes us from Curtis' schooldays in Macclesfield in 1973 where the shy Bowie fan daydreamed in class and married his best friend’s girl Deborah (Samantha Morton), up to his suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first American tour. Based on the memoirs of Deborah Curtis, the film focuses on Joy Division’s mounting success and the chaos of Curtis' personal life.
Label Europa Cinemas, Prix Regards Jeune and Golden Camera - Special Mention awards, Cannes 2007.
2007Rating: R16, contains violence, offensive language, sex scenes & content that may disturb119 minsUnited Kingdom
DramaMusicTrue Story & Biography
- Director:
- Anton Corbijn (feature debut, music videos for U2, Depeche Mode, ex-photographer for NME music magazine)
- Writer:
- Matt Greenhalgh
- Cast:
- Sam RileySamantha MortonAlexandra Maria LaraToby KebbellCraig ParkinsonJames Anthony Pearson
Control / Reviews
Rolling Stone
It's Corbijn, shooting with a poet's eye in a harshly stunning black-and-white, who cuts to the soul of Ian's life and music. You don't watch this movie, you live it...
Full review
Premiere Magazine
It's also that he's really, honest-to-God, got one of those movie faces that doesn't even come along once every generation. It's astonishing...
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Empire Magazine
A film about creative and emotional burn-out that says more about the fragility of the soul than any montage of ticket sales and ‘sold out’ signs could ever muster...
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Dominion Post
The pin-sharp black and white photography, the stunning sound track – with Bowie's Aladdin Sane front and centre, the witty and down-beat script, even the funereal march through the last twenty minutes of this film: it all conspires to make Control a small but achingly well formed highlight of the year...
Full reviewDominion Post
The pin-sharp black and white photography, the stunning sound track – with Bowie's Aladdin Sane front and centre, the witty and down-beat script, even the funereal march through the last twenty minutes of this film: it all conspires to make Control a small but achingly well formed highlight of the year...
Full review
BBC
It's rare that a biopic really gets into the head of its subject: real-life characters can be hard to penetrate, and many screenplays play it safe. Not Control. Curtis' wife co-produced the film - based on her own book - and helps provide a fascinating, intimate insight into the mind of her husband...
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