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Control
Directed by	Anton Corbijn
Written by	Matt Greenhalgh Deborah Curtis
Produced by	Anton Corbijn Todd Eckert Orian Williams Iain Canning Peter Heslop Tony Wilson Deborah Curtis
Starring	Sam Riley Samantha Morton Toby Kebbell Alexandra Maria Lara
Cinematography	Martin Ruhe
Music by	Joy Division New Order
Distributed by	Momentum (UK) The Weinstein Company (US)
Release dates	United Kingdom 5 October 2007
Running time	122 minutes
Countries	Template:FilmUK Template:FilmUS
Language	English

Control is a 2007 black-and-white biopic film about Ian Curtis (1956–1980), lead singer of post-punk band Joy Division. The screenplay written by Matt Greenhalgh is based on the book Touching from a Distance, by Curtis's widow, Deborah, who is also a co-producer of the film. The film was directed by Dutch director Anton Corbijn. In the film, Ian Curtis is played by previously little-known actor Sam Riley. Samantha Morton plays Deborah, while Alexandra Maria Lara plays Annik, the woman with whom Curtis had an extramarital affair.

The film details the life of the troubled young musician, who forged a new kind of music out of the punk rock scene of the United Kingdom in the 1970s, and the band Joy Division, which he headed from 1977 to 1980. It also deals with his rocky marriage and extramarital affairs, as well as his increasingly frequent seizures, which were thought to contribute to the circumstances leading to his suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first U.S. tour. The title is a reference to the Joy Division song, "She's Lost Control"—believed to be a reference to an epileptic client befriended by Curtis while employed at a Job Centre in Macclesfield, who later died during a seizure. The film covers some of the same time as the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which is a biopic about Tony Wilson, the founder of the band's record label, Factory Records.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, on 17 May 2007 where it was well received by critics, especially for Riley's performance. The film was winner of the Director's Fortnight, the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the Regards Jeunes Prize for best first/second directed feature film and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar. It won five awards in the British Independent Film Awards, including "Best British Independent Film", "Best Director of a British Independent Film" for Corbijn, "Most Promising Newcomer" for Riley and "Best Supporting Actor" for Toby Kebbell. It also won Best Film award in the Evening Standard British Film Awards for 2007. In 2008, writer Matt Greenhalgh won BAFTA's "Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film".

Plot

In 1973, Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) is living in Macclesfield with his family. He develops an attraction to Debbie Woodruff (Samantha Morton), who is dating his friend Nick (Matthew McNulty), and experiences an absence seizure for several seconds during a chemistry class. Ian and Debbie begin dating after attending a David Bowie concert together, and Ian proposes not long after. They are married on August 23, 1975 at the ages of 19 and 18, respectively. Ian shows little interest in domestic life, preferring to retreat to the solitude of his room and write poetry.

Ian meets with Bernard Sumner (James Anthony Pearson), Peter Hook (Joe Anderson), and Terry Mason (Andrew Sheridan), who have started a band but are dissatisfied with their lead singer. They attend a Sex Pistols concert at the Free Trade Hall, after which Ian approaches the three musicians about becoming their new singer. Calling themselves Warsaw, the band soon coalesces with drummer Stephen Morris (Harry Treadaway) replacing Terry, who moves into a managerial role. They make their debut at the Electric Circus on May 19, 1977 following John Cooper Clarke (himself), leading off with "Leaders of Men". They soon change their name to Joy Division, and Ian and Debbie finance the recording of their first EP, An Ideal for Living.

During his job as a civil servant at the Employment Exchange, Ian witness a seizure suffered by a girl named Corinne Lewis (Nicola Harrison). Dissatisfied with the brief mention that An Ideal for Living receives from Tony Wilson (Craig Parkinson) on Granada Reports, Ian confronts the television host and demands that he put Joy Division on his program. In April 1978 Joy Division plays a battle of bands at Rafters, impressing Tony as well as Rob Gretton (Toby Kebbell), who becomes their new manager. They perform "Transmission" on Tony's program and sign to his Factory Records label; Tony signs the recording contract using his own blood. Ian suffers a seizure during the drive home from the band's first London gig in December 1978; He is diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed carbamazepine and phenytoin, which leave him drowsy and moody. He learns that Corinne Lewis has died of a seizure, and pens "She's Lost Control" about her. He begins to neglect Debbie, who gives birth to their daughter, Natalie, on April 16, 1979. Ian quits his job to tour with Joy Division, leaving Debbie to work and take care of the baby.

Following a London gig Ian meets Belgian fanzine journalist Annik Honoré (Alexandra Maria Lara). He admits to her that he finds Macclesfield miserable and longs to escape it, and that he considers his marriage a mistake. In the midst of having sex with Debbie, he breaks down and cries. During a January 1980 European tour with Joy Division, he begins having an affair with Annik. Back in Macclesfield, he admits to Debbie that he is unsure if he loves her anymore. She searches his room and finds a copy of Siouxsie and the Banshees' Join Hands with Annik's name and telephone number written on it; she calls the number and speaks to Annik. Rob interrupts the band's recording of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" to announce that they will be departing May 19 for a two-week tour of the United States. When Debbie confronts Ian about his infidelity, he promises her that it is over. Nontheless, he continues his affair during the recording of Closer in Islington, lying to Debbie over the phone that he has broken off his relationship with Annik.

When Ian suffers a bad seizure in the middle of a performance, Annik is there to comfort him, and confesses that she is falling in love with him. He attempts suicide upon returning home by overdosing on phenobarbital, leaving a suicide note addressed to Debbie asking her to "give my love to Annik." Doctors save Ian's life and he continues to perform with Joy Division, but is exhausted by the strain and overwhelmed by the expectations of the band's audience, feeling that he no longer has control over his own life. At a performance at the Derby Hall the stress proves too much and he is unable to go onstage; Alan Hempstall (Joseph Marshall) of Crispy Ambulance steps in for the opening of "Disorder", but is heckled by the crowd until Ian takes the stage, only to walk off again after one verse. The crowd erupts into a riot when Alan retakes the microphone, and the gig is ruined. Ian tells Tony that he believes everyone hates him and that it is all his own fault. He goes to Rob's aparment with Annik, and when Debbie calls Rob informs her that the Ian and Annik are there. Debbie declares that she wants a divorce. Ian stays with Bernard, who attempts to use hypnotherapy on him. Eventually Ian returns to live with his parents and writes a letter to Annik admitting his fear that his epilepsy will eventually kill him, and confessing that he loves her.

Two nights before the band's departure for their American tour, Ian returns home to talk to Debbie. Finding the house empty, he watches Stroszek on television until she returns, then begs her not to divorce him. When she refuses, he becomes angry and orders her out of the house until morning. Left alone, Ian drinks whiskey while listening to Iggy Pop's The Idiot and writing a letter to Debbie. As he places the letter on the mantlepiece he has another seizure and loses consciousness. Awakening the following morning, he hangs himself from the clothes line in the kitchen. Debbie discovers his body on her return and staggers into the street, crying for help. Upon hearing the news, Bernard, Peter, Stephen, Rob, and Stephen's girlfriend Gillian Gilbert (Lotti Closs) sit in stunned silence at a pub, while Tony and his wife console Annik at a train station. Ian's body is cremated, and the film ends with black smoke rising from the crematorium and the words "Ian Curtis died May 18, 1980. He was 23 years old".

Cast

• Sam Riley as Ian Curtis, the main figure in the film and the vocalist of Joy Division. Riley was relatively unknown before the film, and the director initially considered Cillian Murphy for the role, but later changed his mind because he viewed Murphy as "a little shorter than Ian".
• Samantha Morton as Deborah Curtis, wife of Ian Curtis, whom she marries at a very young age but later in the film develops discord with her husband due to his affair with Annik. The film itself is based on Deborah's memoir on the experience with Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Though Morton dislikes biopics, she said Control was different in that she was personally a fan of Joy Division, and likes Deborah's book as well as Corbijn's photography.
• Alexandra Maria Lara as Annik Honoré, a journalist from Belgium and employee of the Belgian embassy. She has an affair with Ian Curtis after interviewing the band, exacerbating the tension between Ian and Deborah.
• Toby Kebbell as Rob Gretton, the manager of the band, succeeding Terry Mason. Kebbell provides humour and a lighter angle to the film.
• Joe Anderson as Peter Hook, the bass player of Joy Division.
• Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson, the owner of the Factory Records company that distributes Joy Division's recordings.
• James Anthony Pearson as Bernard Sumner, the band's guitarist and keyboardist.
• Harry Treadaway as Stephen Morris, the drummer and percussionist of Joy Division.
• Andrew Sheridan as Terry Mason, the manager of the band before the arrival of Rob Gretton. (However, he still stays tour manager)
• Robert Shelly as Twinny, the roadie of the band.
• Matthew McNulty as Nick Jackson
• Ben Naylor as Martin Hannett, producer and co-founder of Factory Records with Tony Wilson.
• John Cooper Clarke as himself, a British performance poet who composes punk style works. In the film he performed his poem "Evidently Chickentown" in a re-creation of a 1970s concert.
• Lotti Closs as Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris' girlfriend and occasional live guitarist for Joy Division.
• Nicola Harrison as Corinne Lewis, a girl with epilepsy Ian Curtis met working in a job centre who inspired the song "She's Lost Control".
• Herbert Grönemeyer portrays a Public GP in a cameo.

Production

Corbijn had been a devout Joy Division fan since the band's early days in the late 1970s. After moving to England, he met the band and shot several pictures for NME, which boosted his career as a photographer. Some of his pictures taken are featured in the movie. He also directed the music video for the 1988 rerelease of "Atmosphere". He said that the film overlapped with his own life in some ways. "I had moved to England to be close to that music at the time, and I was very into Joy Division. I worked with them, took pictures of them that became synonymous with their music, and I was forever linked. Then eight years after death, I did the video for "Atmosphere." So in other people's eyes I was always connected with them."

Control marks Corbijn's debut as a movie director, and he paid half of the €4.5 million budget out of his own pocket. The film was shot on colour stock and printed to black and white to "reflect the atmosphere of Joy Division and the mood of the era". Todd Eckert and Orian Williams are the producers. Deborah Curtis, Ian Curtis' widow, is a co-producer, along with music mogul Tony Wilson, who died months before the film's release. It had been Wilson who had given Joy Division their TV break on the local magazine programme Granada Reports, and he also founded Factory Records, which released most of Joy Division's work.

After the script for the film was finished in May 2005, the film was shot at the former Carlton studios in Nottingham, and on location in Nottingham, Manchester and Macclesfield, England, as well as other European venues. Filming began on 3 July 2006 and lasted for seven weeks. Filming in and around Barton Street (where Curtis lived and died), Macclesfield took place on July 11 and 12 July 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.

Ian Curtis' daughter, Natalie, was in the crowd as an extra for the Derby Hall gig.

At one point in the film, after Curtis suffers from an epileptic fit, the actor portraying Rob Gretton (Toby Kebbell) comments to him "It could be worse; You could be the lead singer in The Fall. Sam Riley had played Mark E. Smith, lead singer of The Fall, in the film 24 Hour Party People.

Release

The Weinstein Company secured the rights to release the film in North America after its success at Cannes. The DVD was released in the U.K. on 11 February 2008, followed by the Australian DVD on 12 March 2008, and the North American DVD on 3 June 2008.

Box office

The film grossed box office of $7,824,260, with 89% of its revenue from countries outside of the U.K.. It ranks 28th in terms of box office not adjusted for inflation among biopics, below 24 Hour Party People and above Stoned.

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". Prominent American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a three and a half stars rating, out of four, and wrote that "The extraordinary achievement of Control is that it works simultaneously as a musical biopic and the story of a life."

Film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes rated Control as "certified fresh" in its T-metric section, based on a wide array of critics, in which 86 of 98 critics reviewed the film positively. Metacritic reports the film as having an average score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, claiming the film had "generally favourable reviews".

However, some reviewers have disagreed and commented on the film negatively. Ray Bennett from Reuters remarked Control to be a "disappointment" and said the film "features lots of music from that time and has decent performances, but it fails to make the case for its fallen star".

Reaction from band members

Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, two of the founding members of Joy Division, generally praised the film. However, Morris has disputed its accuracy, saying "None of it's true really" but acknowledged the need to bend facts because "the truth is too boring". Hook criticised the preview audience's reaction, saying how at the end of the film "it really hurt and everybody started clapping. It would've been nice to have a dignified silence".

Hook also remarked that "Control is a hell of a lot more accurate than 24 Hour Party People. You can tell that Anton knew us, and he knew us well and he took the original script, which was very English and quite subtly he made it deeper and have a broader appeal so that it would not just make sense to an English audience but to an international audience."

After viewing the film at Cannes, Hook said he "knew it was a great film and that it would be very well received because, even though it's two hours long, only two people went to the toilet the whole time. In fact, one of them was Bernard. The other one was a 70-year-old woman."

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 Buzzcocks are the original recordings. New Order provided the original incidental music for the soundtrack. The Sex Pistols' track was omitted from the US version.

Tracklisting

Notes

• The drawing made for the demo EP (An Ideal for Living) has two images. The first is of a Hitler Youth drummer boy, possibly inspired by the film Triumph of the Will. The second shows a German soldier and a small boy with arms raised. This image derives from a famous photo of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

References

1. Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again: PostPunk 1978–1984. New York: Penguin Books. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. "Critics applaud Joy Division film". BBC News. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
3. "'Control' tops Directors' Fortnight nods". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
4. "BIFA Winners 2007". British Independent Film Awards. 2007-11-28. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
5. "Bafta Film Awards 2008: The winners". BBC. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
6. Endelman, Michael (2006-02-24). "The Deal Report". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-06-28. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
7. Mclean, Craig (2007-09-23), "Samantha Morton: Why does our boldest film actress feel so persecuted for her loyalty to British indie cinema?", The Independent, retrieved 2008-06-28{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
8. Tewksbury, Drew (2007-10-08). "Losing 'Control'". Drew Tewksbury: Multimedia Journalist. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
9. Anton Corbijn et al. (2006). Interview with Anton Corbijn about the film Control (Television). Dutch TV. {{cite AV media}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |authors= (help)
10. "Control: The Ian Curtis film". Joy Division Central. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-02-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
11. "Obituaries -- Tony Wilson", The Independent, 2007-08-13, retrieved 2008-08-10{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
12. "EM Media-backed films sweep the board at the BIFAs" (PDF) (Press release). EM Media. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
13. "Suddenly the reality hit me (Interview with Natalie Curtis)", The Guardian, 2007-09-22, retrieved 2008-06-26{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
14. "Sam Riley filmography". IMDB. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
15. "Control Picked up for North American Distribution". Hollywood Reporter. NewOrderOnline.com. 2006-06-02. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
16. "Control - Box Office Mojo". Retrieved 2008-06-24. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
17. Bradshaw, Peter (2007-10-05), "Control", The Guardian, retrieved 2008-06-25{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
18. Ebert, Roger (2007-10-26), "Control", Chicago Sun-Times, retrieved 2008-06-25{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
19. "Control - Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved 2008-06-25. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
20. "Control - Metacritic". Retrieved 2008-09-20. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
21. Bennett, Ray (2007-05-29). "Joy Division movie "Control" a disappointment". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-06-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
22. "Joy Division biopic 'not true' say band". NME News. 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
23. ^ Morley, Paul (2008). Joy Division: Piece By Piece. London: Plexus Publishing Limited. 349-350.
24. "The Killers cover Shadowplay". NME. 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2007-08-02. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• Controlthemovie.com - Official website
• The official website in Canada
• Control at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• Control at Rotten Tomatoes
• IONCINEMA.com interview with Anton for Control
• Control Movie Unofficial website - frequently updated with official and unofficial information and photos.
• A divided joy: seeing my father on film by Natalie Curtis, The Guardian, 30 September 2007
• Photos from the German premiere in Berlin on AEDT.de
• Best of British: 2007 Evening Standard film awards, Judges' assessments

• 2007 films
• 2000s drama films
• BAFTA winners (films)
• Biographical films
• British drama films
• Films about music and musicians
• Films set in England
• Films set in the 1970s
• Films set in the 1980s
• Joy Division
• Punk films
• Fiction narrated by a dead person