A review

Grappling with a legend- Control

[303 words]

Biographical movies based on the lives of music stars are more difficult to make than any
other kind of movies. Mainly because its easy to fall into pathos and director has to tell a
story that most people know in a new, revealing way.
Control is a partial documentary about the life of Ian Curtis. The movie constitutes a fresh
take on the legend of Joy Division. The script is based on the book Touching from a
distance by his wife Debbie Curtis. The movie concentrates on the life of Ian Curtis and tries
to understand his problems and decisions. This black and white documentary is not a hymn of
praise for Ian Curtis and Joy Division but tries to show their story in an objective way.
The main plot of the movie is Ians life. It shows his youth in Macclesfield, his first
experiments with intoxicants and moments with friends. It brings the history of building the
bands image from scratch closer to the audience. This documentary successfully catches the
dichotomy of Ians life- the band and home and the changes in his psyche caused by the onset
of epilepsy. His character is shown without glorification and viewers are confronted with
incomprehensible behaviour, moodiness depressive nature and hypersensivity.
Control is a perfect movie about a music legend. Attention is paid to details, such as
reconstruction of his house, music clubs, Debbies car, Ians room, recording studios and his
extraordinary clothes.
Control can serve as a model of a good music biography for other directors. It was widely
appreciated and awarded the best British independent film in 2007. What makes it as unusual
is that it is not sugar coated and the ending, which everybody knows, still makes an
impression on viewers.