Control - The Life Of Ian Curtis (Joy Division)

[Wolfboy]

Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s.

Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis (vocals and occasional guitar), Bernard Sumner (guitar and keyboards), Peter Hook (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Stephen Morris (drums and percussion).

After the death of Ian Curtis, the remaining members reformed as New Order, achieving critical and commercial success.



Control (2007) is a black-and-white biographical film about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. Matt Greenhalgh wrote the screenplay based on the book Touching from a Distance, written by Curtis' widow Deborah who co-produced the film.
Directed by Anton Corbijn (a Dutch photographer, music video and film director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2) Control stars Sam Riley as Ian, Samantha Morton as Deborah, and Alexandra Maria Lara as Annik Honoré. It also stars James Anthony Pearson, Joe Anderson, and Harry Treadaway as Joy Division members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, respectively, as well as Toby Kebbell as band manager Rob Gretton and Craig Parkinson as Factory Records head Tony Wilson.

The film follows Ian Curtis' life from 1973 to 1980, focusing on his marriage to Deborah, the formation and rise of Joy Division, his struggle with epilepsy, and his extramarital affair with Annik, culminating in his May 1980 suicide. The film's title derives from the Joy Division song "She's Lost Control".

Featuring a great soundtrack:

New Order - "Exit"
The Velvet Underground - "What Goes On"
The Killers - "Shadowplay" (Joy Division cover)
Buzzcocks - "Boredom (Live)"
Joy Division - "Dead Souls"
Supersister - "She Was Naked"
Iggy Pop - "Sister Midnight"
Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
Sex Pistols - "Problems (Live)"
New Order - "Hypnosis"
David Bowie - "Drive In Saturday"
John Cooper Clarke - "Evidently Chickentown"
Roxy Music - "2H.B."
Joy Division - "Transmission" (played by the cast)
Kraftwerk - "Autobahn"
Joy Division - "Atmosphere"
David Bowie - "Warszawa"
New Order - "Get Out"

Control is a must see biographical film for all Music lovers!
It is one of my all time favorites and i would love to know if anybody of you already seen it and what you think of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2_B_cWK_M#normal

[Sik]

My girlfriend is one big fan of Joy Division! ^^

So we watched that movie together, it was really good!

[Steggsaurus]

I thought it was a great film and a perfect companion piece to the Tony Wilson biopic 24-hour Party People, which also touches on the time when Joy Division were part of Factory Records and the period around Ian Curtis's suicide (if you haven't seen that one, the sequence where they are recording the song Transmission is worth the rest of the film alone).

I was also pleased that it didn't glamourise Ian at all or make him out to be a martyr or anything like that - there's a tendency with dead rock stars to make out that they were "too good for this world" but Control shows how difficult and infuriating Ian Curtis could be to those who loved him.

I recommend reading, if you haven't, Touching From A Distance, the biography of Ian Curtis written by Deborah Curtis and contributed to by the surviving members of Joy Division; you are left with no doubt that he was something special as an artist and lyricist, but also a selfish and deeply flawed man who was capable of treating his friends and loved ones appallingly.

[Daft]

I saw it movie in theather...sad, sad movie. Anton Corbjin did a great job.