With the Cannes Film Festival well underway, it seems that one small English film is emerging to be surprisingly well received. Control is music video director Anton Corbijn’s debut feature, and rather than firing out something kooky like most music directors, this movie is a very sombre affair.

Control is a biopic of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the influential post-punk group Joy Division, who committed suicide at the age of 23, due to depression, epilepsy, and a marriage that was being torn apart by Curtis’s own infidelity.  Critics are praising the film, such as Variety who called it a “riveting, visually arresting portrait of a soul in torment”.

Personally, I have my doubts.  I’m a huge fan of Joy Division’s music, but I find that Curtis’s life does not warrent a sufficient narrative. Sure, there’s infidelity, drugs, depression, and sickness, but you can find all of these elements in an English soap opera. Curtis’s life had already been documented perfectly in Michael Winterbottom’s excellent 24 Hour Party People, which dedicated its first 30 minutes to Joy Division, and these scnenes were both poignant and playful. I suspect that Control will end up a dour portrayal that will be drawn out and ultimately pointless. It’s a problem most biopics face, where simple life tracing is prioritised, and a central theme is neglected (Walk the Line, The Aviator, etc). Such a film could reduce one of modern music’s greatest figures to mere melodrama.

Popularity: 1% [?]