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Control

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Control (2007)

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Reviews Counted:104

Fresh:90

Rotten:14

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Control is a work of art, thanks to its evocative black and white cinematography and sensational performances from Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. Even those not familiar with Joy Division can still appreciate the beauty of the film.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and brief sexuality.

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:Oct 10, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $801,112

Synopsis: Based on the memoir TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE by Deborah Curtis, Anton Corbijn's CONTROL is as near perfect a filmic telling of the story of Joy Division and Ian Curtis as any fan could hope for.... Based on the memoir TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE by Deborah Curtis, Anton Corbijn's CONTROL is as near perfect a filmic telling of the story of Joy Division and Ian Curtis as any fan could hope for. It's also a beautifully rendered piece of cinema about the crippling effects of love and regret, and the salvation we seek in art. Born out of England's post-Sex Pistols punk explosion, Joy Division played a dark, minimalist version of the nascent sound, and became cult heroes thanks in part to their brilliant yet disturbed frontman Ian Curtis (played by an eerily perfect Sam Riley). Corbijn does a wonderful job recreating the Manchester band's music and live show, cutting straight to the essence of Joy Division's unique appeal. Credit must also be given to the three actors who portray the rest of Joy Division. Playing all the instruments themselves, they perfectly capture the band's powerfully stoic presence, one that translates both live and on record into the sonic equivalent of an existential crisis. CONTROL, however, is ultimately about Curtis's tumultuous marriage with his wife, Deborah (Samantha Morton), and the way that Joy Division became an aesthetic manifestation of his pain--one that was both physical (Curtis was an epileptic) and emotional. Corbijn evokes Curtis's hurt and isolation with both honesty and subtlety: a photographer originally, he frames each shot to look like a stark black-and-white photo from an album the audience was never meant to see, making Curtis's pain palpable and his eventual suicide that much more tragic. The overtones to the later suicide of Kurt Cobain are hard to avoid, but where Cobain's suicide has always been discussed in terms of the pressure he felt as a rock star, Curtis's, as rendered by Corbijn, is a pain anyone could potentially be forced to suffer through. [More]

Starring: Samantha Morton, Sam Riley, Alexandra Maria Lara, Joe Anderson

Starring: Samantha Morton, Sam Riley, Alexandra Maria Lara, Joe Anderson, Toby Kebbell, Harry Treadaway

Director: Anton Corbijn

Director: Anton Corbijn
Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh
Producer: Orian Williams, Peter Heslop, Deborah Curtis
Composer: New Order
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Release:

Jun 3, 2008

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Reviews for Control

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Film %u0107e stoga biti shvatljiv samo onim gledateljima koji detalje povijesti "Joy Divisiona" i Curtisovog %u017Eivota imaju u malom prstu, a to su, dakako, najokorjeliji fanovi.

Full Review Source: Index.hr | comment Comment
07/15/09
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
Index.hr

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/13/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

Control does justice to Curtis' legacy but fails to make any further grasps for significance.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
07/31/08
Sean Gandert
Sean Gandert
Paste Magazine

Um filme repleto de planos magnificamente compostos e que se tornam ainda mais impactantes graças à impecável fotografia em preto-e-branco de Martin Ruhe.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
05/26/08
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

(Curtis) was such an unfortunate man - just a boy really - whose existence was snuffed out by a lifestyle he could not possibly avoid.

Full Review Source: Mansized | comment Comment
05/25/08
Chris Laverty
Chris Laverty
Mansized

Positioning art as a necessary surrender to a creative force which removes the self dangerously from existence and society, Control intimately connects in tragic yet euphoric ways to the mixed blessing of the radically unleashed musical imagination.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
03/30/08
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Some of Riley's musical performances are electrifying. This would not be a bad movie at all, except for the infuriatingly romantic portrayal of suicide.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
03/06/08
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Ian's trapped between insurrection and guilt, and so is Corbijn's film which mires itself in the artist's bourgeoisie dramas without figuring out how they influenced his music.

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/22/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

Smashes the music biopic mold by portraying the star at its center not as a mythological creature, but as a real-life, messed-up kid in over his head.

Full Review Source: SpoutBlog | comment Comment
02/04/08
Karina Longworth
Karina Longworth
SpoutBlog

More expressive than Gus Van Sant's "Last Days" about a tragic music figure, but incrementally so.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
01/19/08
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
01/18/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

Tells me more than I care to know about the ill-fated singer with a personality like talcum powder and songs fit to make the depressed even more depressed.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 5 Comments
01/16/08
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

Riley gives a great performance, and director Corbijn's direction is deceptively perceptive. One of the year's best.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/08
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

The monochromatic palette suggests the kitchen-sink heyday of 1960s British cinema; fittingly, 'Control' is at its best when it concentrates on the quotidian.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
12/21/07
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Control humanizes Curtis while acknowledging that he could be remote and even cruel in his selfishness and despair.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
12/14/07
Derek Donovan
Derek Donovan
Kansas City Star

Joy Division fans have already embraced Control, a film biography of short-lived lead singer Ian Curtis. Those of us who didn't follow the 1970s English band or the post-punk scene around it may feel less invested.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
12/07/07
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
 
 
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Latest News for Control

May 19, 2009: Cannes 2009: George Clooney to Play Assassin
There's a double dose of George Clooney news that's emerged at Cannes yesterday. Firstly, Variety reports that the greying star has signed on to topline A Very Private Gentleman... More...

June 02, 2008: RT on DVD: Transformers, Starship Troopers To Invade; Avoid Jessica Alba's Eye
Look out! Starship Troopers and Transformers are about to assault your senses in HD, and soon you can choose Harold and Kumar's adventures. This week's new releases are... More...

December 14, 2007: Atonement, Control Lead London Film Critics Noms
The London Critics Circle has announced the nominees for its year-end awards, with Anton Corbijn's Control and Joe Wright's Atonement leading the pack at eight nominations apiece. More...

October 11, 2007: Critical Consensus: No Debatin' Clayton, Night Almost Owns, Elizabeth Not Golden
This week at the movies we got lawyer types (Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton), dueling brothers (We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark... More...

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