CONTROL Film Review - 27/1/08

For any fan of Joy Division Anton Corbijn's "Control" is a must! The stark black & white photography transferred to film evokes the haunting sounds of the music and the crumbling state of the late 70's in Britain as Warsaw then becoming Joy Division burst out onto the music scene. Based on Deborah Curtis's own autobiography "Touching From A Distance" we get Sam Riley playing Ian Curtis with a great evocation of the period. The tragic suicide of Curtis beset with epilepsy and emotional problems, amongst the strain of touring and the pressures of his home life force something to give. It's a hard and painful film to watch and you will be pretty choked up by the end of it. You'll probably want to get out a copy of "Still" one of Joy Division's finest works and have a fag to calm yourself down from the emotional high that this film takes you on. Toby Kebbell plays Rob Gretton the band's manager and Samantha Morton gives an angst-ridden wrenching performance as Debbie Curtis in this semi-biopic of Ian Curtis's life & times. The actual live performances ain't half bad as the actors cover a stretch of songs from the bands catalogue. Extremely sad and very hard not to like.

"Control" will be available on Region 2 (UK) DVD as a Special Edition that also comes with Deborah Curtis's book "Touching From A Distance" on 11/2/08 as pictured below from Amazon UK. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Control-Touching-Distance-Exclusive-Amazon-co-uk/dp/B0011F1TGC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1201444717&sr=1-1