Sex, drugs, and rock & roll. At least that's what's standard in Hollywood biopic's these days. The only thing missing from Corbijn's biopic about Joy Division would be the dance numbers.
Writing this, Ian Curtis sings the lines "Where would it end?" which strikes a funny chord. If there's anything left for a mystery, it would be the death of whom the film is about. Curtis's fate was sealed early on in the film; his depression, failing health, sudden success & fame and deteriorating marriage. Corbijn's spends a good part of the movie speculating on the factors that lead to his suicide.
The obsessive "Why?" plagues Control as much as they do for any film. The answers to these questions are subjective and complicated; never really a subject that lends itself well to the space of film. It's hard enough to make a good action flick, but to sum a person's life in two hours just seems like injustice to the subject.
-nms
Another review of Control by Natalie Curtis (linky: Gaurdian).
aka. Cig #4
Rating: 3/5
