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| Available at Amazon.com |
In an era when punk bands looked like cartoons on stage, Joy Division stood apart. They didn’t dress up in torn clothes held together with safety pins. They had normal haircuts instead of Technicolor topiary clips. They looked like four guys who had left their office jobs and wandered onto the spotlight. Instead of singing about rebellion and the dole, Ian Curtis unleashed bleak songs that would never work as prom themes. Very quickly this group that created such a tragic musical atmosphere ended with a shocking act. Control dramatically captures their rise and demise based on Deborah Curtis’ memoir of her late husband. Joy Division is a documentary that gives us the band’s history through the stories of the surviving members. It’s a double feature for a band that only released two albums.
Control presents the life of Ian Curtis in stark black and white images. The city of Manchester seems on the edge of collapse as an urban wasteland. We meet Curtis (Sam Riley) as a high school kid. He’s a big geek with a love of J.G. Ballard novels and Glam rock stars like Roxy Music and David Bowie. He successfully woos his friend’s gal (Samantha Morton). He gets a depressing job at a job placement center. Most of his clients have special needs. While finding slots for others, he squeezes his way into the singer role for a band called Warsaw. They gain a following around the city and change their name to Joy Division. He takes out a bank loan designated for living room furniture to pay for their first EP. The risk pays off. They sign with an indie label that gives them more control than the evil major music corporations. They hook up with Martin Hannett to create their two masterpiece albums (Unknown Pleasures and Closer) and a classic single (“Love Will Tear Us Apart”). Ian becomes enough of a cult star in Europe that he gets groupie action from a Belgian woman who works for the embassy. But this isn’t a cheerful biopic. His domestic life isn’t working right. He can’t juggle being the king of gloom rock with being a dad. He can’t juggle his lover with his wife. After being noted for shaking violently onstage, Ian develops epilepsy. The fits become more frequent. His life is tumbling down on him. Don’t expect the big salvation moment found in Ray and Walk the Line.
The theme to Control can be found in Saint Teresa of Ávila’s classic quote, “Answered prayers cause more tears than those that remain unanswered.” Curtis gets what he wants. He wants to be in a rock band as cool as his idols David Bowie and Bryan Ferry; he does it. He wants his friend’s girlfriend to fall in love with him; she does. He wants to be seduced by an exotic woman; it happens. But at his core, he’s not big enough of a jerk to be able to survive the rock star life. He can’t be cold to his wife or cut it off with his lover. He’s helpless to the world around him. This movie is not a feel good rock biopic. You will not be dancing around the room at the end. The final image puts the black and white cinematography to full effect.
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| Available at Amazon.com |
Joy Division goes beyond the average VH1: Behind the Music episode. The documentary truly blends the music with the human drama. A lot of angles not covered in Control get exposed in the documentary. The biggest dramatic oversight is the role of producer Martin Hennett in the development of the band’s sound. He’s the fifth member of the band. A vintage interview has him talk about how they were ideal for working with him since they didn’t question his demands from the booth. It was his playing with the instruments’ sounds that put Joy Division beyond their punk peers. They weren’t a garage band thrashing around with three chords.
There’s plenty of vintage footage and photographs of the band and their neighborhood. They even visit the locations to show how things have improved in 21st century Manchester. We’re given a full presentation of what Manchester meant to the band and what they mean to Manchester. This isn’t a parade of talking heads. Several live clips of the band playing on TV shows prove what a force Ian was on stage. There is a happier ending to the documentary as it illustrates how the surviving members of Joy Division became New Order. The new band transformed their dark depressing music into the Euro-dance hit “Blue Monday.”
Control and Joy Division are a both truthful and respectful of Ian Curtis’ legacy. Neither film goes completely with the myth. Neither doesn’t dismiss his importance because of his fate. This is not a cautionary tale. There’s compassion on the screen for his plight instead of second guessing and judgment. As a longtime fan of Joy Division, this is a double feature worthy of the band.
The video on Control is 2.35:1 anamorphic. Joy Division is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The transfers on both films are sharp. Because of the vintage footage used on Joy Division, there’s occasionally dirt in the frame. The audio on Control is Dolby Digital 5.1. There’s a French dub. Director Anton Corbijn contributes a commentary track. The audio on Joy Division is Dolby Digital 5.1. The subtitles are in English and Spanish.
On Control
The Making of Control (23:18) is a special about how the production happened. The biggest revelation is that they shot in Ian Curtis’ last apartment.
A Conversation with Anton Corbijn (12:53) focuses on the director’s relationship with the Joy Division. Their music struck him so hard that he moved from Holland to Manchester to take photos of them.
Extended Live Performances from the Film (9:11) contains “Transmission,” “Leaders of Men” and “Candidate.” The actors played live during the shoot and didn’t mime the numbers. They really should have had them do a mini-tour of America to promote the film.
“Transmission” by Joy Division (3:22) is taken from the BBC’s “Something Else” program that ran in Sept., 1979. Gives you a really good idea of how well the actors were able to pull off being the band.
“Atmosphere” by Joy Division (4:34) is a video directed by Anton Corbijn in 1988. The piece was done to promote the band’s “Substance” record. It received a bit of airplay on MTV’s “120 Minutes” with the black and whited hooded monks roaming the desert sand.
“Showdowplay” by the Killers (4:15) reminds me why this band isn’t in my CD player. It’s a cheesy sound that should be on a B-52s tribute album.
Still Gallery features dozens of black and white stills from the set.
Promotional Materials includes two trailers along with quick plugs for the soundtrack, Corbijn’s set diary, Ian Curtis biography written by his wife, the remastered Joy Division CDs and the Epilepsy Foundation.
On Joy Division
Additional Interviews (1:15:02) covers topics that didn’t work within the narrative of the documentary.
“Transmission” by Joy Division (3:22) is the same footage used in Control‘s bonus features.
Control and Joy Division give true images to the sounds from their albums. We see what inspired Ian Curtis to write the lyrics of “She Lost Control” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Control doesn’t attempt to create an “up” ending like the recent spate of Music Biopics. These are much better than any VH1 produced special. After watching these films, you’ll get a deeper appreciation for the man and his music.
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The Weinstein Company Home Video presents Joy Division. Directed by: Grant Gee. Written by: Jon Savage. Running time: 95 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: June 17, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
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The Weinstein Company Home Video presents Control. Directed by: Anton Corbijn. Starring: Sam Riley & Samantha Morton. Written by: Matt Greenhalgh. Running time: 122 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: June 3, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
About Joe Corey
