{"id":1017,"date":"2008-08-29T21:44:57","date_gmt":"2008-08-30T01:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=1017"},"modified":"2022-10-14T10:34:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T14:34:48","slug":"control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/control\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Will Tear Us Apart: Anton Corbijn’s Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Control<\/em> is one of the very few rare musical biopics to ever appeal to me, even though I am only passingly familiar with the music of Joy Division, and even less so of the history of its tragically doomed lead singer Ian Curtis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To testify to the film’s power, I immediately purchased The Best of Joy Division<\/em> compilation. Listening more deeply to them for the first time, I’m struck by how much influence they obviously had, most obviously Interpol but also no less than U2 (especially their first three albums, and in Adam Clayton’s bass playing particularly).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sam
Transmission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Control<\/em> begins with Curtis (Sam Riley) as a young lad in 1970s Manchester, absorbing all the rock star lessons that are there to be heard in David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane<\/em>. He applies androgynous glam-rock makeup modeled after Bowie and Brian Eno, pops pills (ironic, considering the wide cocktail of drugs he’s later legitimately prescribed when his epilepsy manifests), writes anguished poetry, and sees the Sex Pistols live in their prime: “they were crap.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were crap.<\/p>Ian Curtis, on Joy Division, in Control<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But his own band Joy Division creates a genuine new sound, a world apart from glam or punk. They seize the attention of Manchester music scene maven Tony Wilson (Craig Parkinson) with a hand-scrawled note reading “JOY DIVISION YOU CUNT,” hand-delivered immediately before a scorchingly intense live set. Wilson, himself immortalized by Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom’s brilliant biopic 24 Hour Party People<\/em>, becomes their greatest advocate, literally signing their contract to Factory Records in his own blood (there I go, praising two music biopics at once; I guess they’re not all bad).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sam
Love Will Tear Us Apart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curtis’ fame came before the comforts of money. He found himself on the covers of magazines, offered a tour of America, and desired by exotic women while still reliant on a depressing desk job and tortured by his own ambivalence towards his young family. Samantha Morton plays his wife Deborah as a shy, overly trusting girl. The real Deborah was later to write her autobiography and co-produce this film with Tony Wilson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Anton Corbijn<\/a> is most famous for his music videos and portraits, including the iconic The Joshua Tree<\/em> sleeve<\/a> for U2. Even though this is his first feature film, he is intimately experienced with the art of capturing rock (and rock stars) on film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Control is one of the very few rare musical biopics to ever appeal to me, even though I am only passingly familiar with the music of Joy Division, and even less so of the history of its tragically doomed lead singer Ian Curtis. To testify to the film’s power, I immediately purchased The Best of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[107,102,101,179,73,104],"class_list":["post-1017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-movies","tag-anton-corbijn","tag-ian-curtis","tag-joy-division","tag-sam-riley","tag-samantha-morton","tag-tony-wilson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/control-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sa9lhB-control","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1439,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/joy-division\/","url_meta":{"origin":1017,"position":0},"title":"There’s Nothing Pretty: Grant Gee’s Joy Division","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Grant Gee's documentary Joy Division covers the all-too-brief history of the eponymous post-punk band from Manchester. Joy Division was tragically short-lived, only completing two albums before lead singer Ian Curtis' suicide in 1980, but disproportionately influential. Their sound is all over the early U2 albums Boy and October, and Interpol\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Joy Division","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/joy-division-kevin-cummins.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5172,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/trading-places-1983-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":1017,"position":1},"title":"Trading Places: The prince’s nurture vs. the pauper’s nature","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"John Landis' Trading Places is remarkably unafraid to take a cold hard look at racism, privilege, and inequality. It still retains the power to incite gasps and raise eyebrows, decades after release. With two major caveats, Trading Places is one of my personal favorite comedies. Caveat one: for a movie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trading Places","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trading-places.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trading-places.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trading-places.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trading-places.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trading-places.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5743,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-smothers-all-hope-and-wonder\/","url_meta":{"origin":1017,"position":2},"title":"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker smothers all hope and wonder","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"My brilliant wife had the following absolutely perfect appraisal of the first two entries in the new Star Wars trilogy, which I will paraphrase here: \"Most of the criticism of The Force Awakens was absolutely correct, but I loved it anyway. Most of the criticism of The Last Jedi was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2065,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/apocalypse-on-wheels-death-race\/","url_meta":{"origin":1017,"position":3},"title":"Apocalypse on Wheels: Death Race","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race evidences a cynical, shallow, indiscriminate outrage at... everything. In this future dystopia, the U.S. economy collapsed in 2012, followed by soaring unemployment, crime, and incarceration. Echoing Rollerball and Running Man, professional sport has merged with the penal system, providing both televised entertainment and a justice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "1 Star"","block_context":{"text":"1 Star","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/1-star\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/death-race.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/death-race.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/death-race.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/death-race.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/death-race.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1777,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/star-trek\/","url_meta":{"origin":1017,"position":4},"title":"Set Phasers to Awesome: J.J. Abrams reboots Star Trek","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Like the 1966 Corvette a reckless young James Tiberius Kirk commandeers in an early sequence, the new Star Trek is precision-crafted for speed, sex appeal, and total awesomeness. Kirk launches that beautiful machine off a cliff, but thankfully director J.J. Abrams never does the same with the movie. Star Trek\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Star Trek","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/star-trek-2009-spaceport.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/star-trek-2009-spaceport.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/star-trek-2009-spaceport.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/star-trek-2009-spaceport.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/star-trek-2009-spaceport.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":877,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/sweet-hereafter\/","url_meta":{"origin":1017,"position":5},"title":"The Pied Piper takes a generation away in Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Lest the brevity of this post indicate otherwise, The Sweet Hereafter is one of my favorite films. Although I've read the original novel by Russell Banks and seen Atom Egoyan's film several times, I feel ill-equipped to \"review\" it. It is quietly heartbreaking and devastating, and difficult to capture in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Sweet Hereafter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/sweet-hereafter-family.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/sweet-hereafter-family.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/sweet-hereafter-family.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/sweet-hereafter-family.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/sweet-hereafter-family.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1017"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6359,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions\/6359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}