Ian Curtis was a coward, a poet, a hero and lonely. His legacy is Joy Division, a band he left by killing himself as the band was due to start their debut American tour. As the remnants of the band reformed as New Order, Curtis is personally mostly known through Deborah Curtis’ – his wife – book, “Touching From A Distance”. Through this film, Anton Corbijn has left his signature visual effects behind to reach further than before, thus allowing this film growth. Filmed in black-and-white, Manchester is portrayed as a gritty town where Thatcher’s reign is firmly at hand, and the musical scene is emerging thanks to bands like the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks. Joy Division differed a lot. Curtis personal lyrics and deep voice stamped a deathly human touch upon the band’s sound, and the film stamps the same upon his personal life, erasing the line between the two. This is a harrowing tale of a haunted individual who created some of the very best lyrics of the decade. The cinematography is brilliantly executed, the soundtrack is (of course) gleaming and the actors very good: not employing any stars was a good thing by Corbijn, I say. There is a tantamount number of scenes that stay engraved in my mind from this film, which can help resurrecting the kitchen sink-genre. See it. It is human.

Superb photography in this one. The black and white film and terrific lighting call attention to the shots themselves, which is sometimes a sign of “over-production”. Here, the cinematography feels like it’s daring you scene after scene to think of this bleak, sometimes comedic movie as anything but beautiful.

I went to see the midnight showing of Control at the famous Music Box theater in Chicago. The real interesting people come out for a midnight show . . . it was an amazing and moving experience. I had a family membered who suffered from epilepsy in the late 70s and had many problems with all the medication as well so I found this movie quite painful on a personal level. I could really understand some of what Ian Curtis was going through and how no one else understood his issues.

In Anton Corbijn’s biography of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, Control, he tells the story in a subtle and visually gorgeous fashion. Shot in black and white, the film works much in the way that a photograph evokes more than is within the frame. Instead of providing a comprehensive examination of a life, we see significant moments along the way and are left to piece the story together ourselves. With great performances by Sam Riley as Ian Curtis and Samantha Morton as Deborah Curtis, it’s compelling to watch with the music filling some of the gaps and connecting themes together. A remarkable feature-film debut from Corbijn.