Despite their short career, Joy Division have exerted a wide-reaching influence. The singer released two albums with the band in 1979’s Unknown Pleasures and 1980’s Closer with their music going on to have a huge influence. You could be the singer for the Fall." That brief, almost throwaway exchange, in essence, captures the enduring dark beauty of Joy Division's music and muse: It's a miserable world all right, but at least we're in a band. It is 40 years to the day since Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis died by suicide at the age of just 23. "Everything feels wrong," an exhausted Curtis murmurs, his head on Annik's lap, to which band manager Rob Gretton (Kebbell) offers: "Cheer up. As was the case throughout the life of Joy Division, Control is not without its own sense of gallows humor.
In the span of about 2 hours, the movie examines the life of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the band Joy Division. The women – Curtis' wife, Deborah, and his lover, Annik (Lara) – come to his aid repeatedly, but Curtis only ever seems truly alive when he's performing with his bandmates (Anderson, Pearson, and Treadaway, who, along with Riley, perform all of Joy Division's songs with astonishing fidelity). I’ll play film critic here and examine the movie Control, filmed in 2007, but looks and feels like a much older movie because of it’s late 70’s setting and it’s black and white filming. Curtis suffered from epilepsy and may have been manic-depressive, but Matt Greenhalgh's script doles out enough lifeline to make the doomed singer less a ticking time bomb than a heartsick, often physically ill young man torn between two women and one band. Corbijn, who had the good fortune to photograph Joy Division back in the day, wisely never makes the mistake of overexplaining his subject. Shot in crisp black and white (by Martin Ruhe) that mirrors the band's grim downbeats and Manchester's grimy brick-and-cobble avenues and alleyways, Control is easily one of the finest films ever made about the collision of music, madness, and the human heart. Even though we're aware of the tragic trajectory of the singer's life, for a while it almost seems as if reality got it wrong and Curtis might just squeak past the reaper's scythe with no more than a shave and a haircut. Remarkable in temper and tone, poise and performance, Control transcends its punk and post-punk biographical underpinnings (you don't have to know who Tony Wilson was to appreciate the film or why Manchester, UK, is to this day the birthing ground of so many genius musicians) by virtue of its sullenly hopeful narrative. He was 23 years old, and Joy Division, later to reincarnate as the far less gloom-struck band New Order, was on the eve of its first American tour. Curtis, stricken by panic attacks and epilepsy, would have none of it, however much he thought he wanted it he hung himself from the wash-line in the kitchen of the flat he shared with his estranged wife, Deborah (Morton). If you don’t like Joy Division, this movie is still a must see.As Ian Curtis, the singer and emotional epicenter for doomy Brit post-punkers Joy Division, Riley is like some splintery, spastic matchstick man, all knees and elbows and rolling eyes, permanently singed by unknown pleasures, flaring to life only when onstage in front of an ever-burgeoning crowd. If you like Joy Division, this movie is a must see. Of course, there were also many Joy Division songs featured in the movie.
It even made references to some other great bands, such as David Bowie and the Buzzcocks. Overall, the movie had few flaws and was successful in it’s accurate portrayal of the Brittish rock and roll scene of the time (from what I know of it at least). Ironically, Joy Division began to rapidly gain some traction after Curtis’ death, making his life somewhat Picasso-esque. He had been dealing with epilepsy, a hectic touring schedule, and a struggling marriage to top it off.
As many musicians are, Curtis was deeply troubled and eventually turned to suicide, although only 23 years young. I’ll play film critic here and examine the movie “ Control“, filmed in 2007, but looks and feels like a much older movie because of it’s late 70’s setting and it’s black and white filming.