We told you all about the Joy Division/Ian Curtis biopic “Control” directed by longtime JD associate/Curtis friend, renowned photographer Anton Corbijn and the film which just debuted at Cannes received “rapturous reception” according to the BBC.
I guess the Killers’ cover of “Shadowplay” that plays with the film’s end credits didn’t turn anyone off (we find this hard to believe).
According to a Mark Radcliff BBC2 radio broadcast (which is now defunct) there will be two soundtrack CDs, one an actual soundtrack disc and then a covers disc called, Out of Control including, apparently, Paul Hague’s cover of “Atmosphere,” as well as, presumably, U2, Manson and many other rumored JD-influenced bands.
The extremely tall Corbijn put most of the film’s success on the mostly-unknown actor, Sam Riley (who played the Fall’s Mark E. Smith in “24 Hour Party People,” more connections here.)
This is a very hard role for anybody to play, [it’s difficult] to fit in somebody’s shoes who has become an icon in many people’s eyes,” the Dutch director told the BBC. “I can’t think of the movie without Sam, to be very honest – I think he gave everything to that role. It was his first film, it was my first film – in a way we had nothing to lose.”
Riley said: “I spent a lot of time in the mirror doing dance moves. I tried to play him as fairly normal bloke, with an exceptional talent. He was an incredibly enigmatic performer – unusual, and uncomfortable in a way. And a fantastic lyricist for his age, for any age.”
New Order may have broken up very recently, but apparently they heart the movie “They hardly ever agree on anything together, but they all love the film,” Corbijn said.
There’s a very non-informative clip on YouTube from Dutch TV (not translated) that features some footage from the film. Don’t get your hopes up, it’s shot off a TV and not stellar, but it does shed some musical light: Riley as Curtis with David Bowie’s “The Jean Genie” playing in the background, the band listening to a mix of “She’s Lost Control” in the studio with sociopath Martin Hannett and Riley with Alexandra Maria Lara (as mistress Annik Honore) talking on a couch while the ambient, Eno-produced Bowie track, “Warsawa” (from Low) plays on. Update: the Associated Press is reporting that tracks by Roxy Music and the Sex Pistols also appear in the film.
The Guardian points out a juicy irony in the film: “When Curtis recovers from his first epileptic fit, his manager tells him: “It could be worse – at least you’re not the lead singer of the Fall” (see above, Riley played Mark E. Smith). The U.K. paper also points out an aesthetic, that while obvious when you think of Corbijn’s photo career, that most people have failed to mention: the film is shot entirely in austere black and white.
“When you think of Joy Division… my whole memory of that period is black and white. The album covers were black and white, and they often dressed in shades of grey,” Corbijn said. “, There is basically no color photography of that band around. So it felt very proper to the project.”
Download: David Bowie – “Warszawa”
Download: Joy Division – “Passover” [Martin Hannett alternate mix]
Download: Joy Division – “The Eternal” [Martin Hannett alternate mix]