The myth of “rock photographer”Anton Corbijn (he hates that appellation, btw) is that he was tight with Ian Curtis of Joy Division and therefore was the right man for the job when it came to bring Curtis’ story to the big screen with “Control” (our review here).
Not that he isn’t the man for the job, but as rock stories go, they’re generally exaggerated and it turns out Corbijn barely spoke English when he met Ian Curtis, let alone got to know him well. In fact, Corbijn only met Curtis twice briefly for two photo sessions with JD before he offed himself.
“He was somebody who kept a bit to himself, I thought, but very friendly, and the second time I met him he was a bit more distant, but that was very close to his suicide,” he told Rolling Stone. “I didn’t speak English very well then and of course I had a bit of an accent, so we didn’t have lots of conversation.”
So we’re not saying Corbijn has overstated his relationship or anything, we’re just saying it seems like – to us at least – that their relationship was overstated by someone (the press likely).
As for Corbijn’s supposedly legendary move to England from Holland in 1974 because of Joy Division, well that’s been slightly exaggerated as well. “I wanted to move away from Holland for my work because I felt that things would be better for me in England,” the Dutch director told Entertainment Weekly. “But when I heard Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, that pushed me towards making the move and making it real. I met them within 12 days of moving to England.”
And at least Corbijn himself won’t pretend he was even close with Curtis. “The problem I had was that my English was poor and I was also quite shy, plus they spoke with an accent that was hard for me to understand, so the conversation was very limited. I couldn’t really consider myself a friend of Ian’s because I couldn’t put two lines together,” he told EW.
It’s also interesting to note that the actors in the movie that portray Joy Division (including lead actor Sam Riley, the singer of 10,000 Things and more briefly with the Horned Owls), couldn’t really play a lick of music, but were so committed to their roles that they insisted they learn and play the Joy Division songs in the movie. Corbijn initially resisted their efforts, but eventually acquiesced when they impressed him with their spot-on JD covers. “They couldn’t play instruments, [but] they were determined,” he told New York magazine. “They pleaded with me to do it live and, of course, they did, and thank God they did, and thank God I gave in because it made the film a lot stronger.”
And as for anyone that thinks the director is capitalizing on his old pals and the death of Ian Curtis think again. He hasn’t recouped any of the 4-million odd Euros he sank into the movie himself. “I’m selling my house in England at the moment. I’m going to Holland.”
What about the piss-poor excuse of using the Killers (a cover of JD’s “Shadowplay”) over the end-credits of a film about Joy Division? Corbijn just didn’t want you to leave the theaters in a suicidal mood. “There’s also the reason why over the credits I put on a poppy version of “Shadow Play” that The Killers had made for the film, because it helps you lift the mood a bit,” he told RS (we buy this excuse why else would anyone almost ruin their film with this terrible decision?).
Time Magazine noted that the photographer/filmmaker doesn’t see the film as a rock biopic, but rather, “a tragic love story with great music.”
“Control” is in limited release as we speak.