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Control - Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson, Anton Corbijn

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Filmed in black and white, Control is based on (widow of Ian Curtis) Deborah Curtis' Touching from a distance, this is a biopic of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis (Sam Riley). Matt Greenhalgh adapted the screenplay, which covers the last years in Curtis' life, leading up to his suicide on the eve of what was to have been Joy Division's first US tour in 1980. The plot centres on Curtis' struggle between feeling enduring love for his wife (Samantha Morton) and child and his beginning a burgeoning relationship with another woman as well as his bouts with epilepsy and all-consuming performances with his band.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film biography drama Ian Curtis suicide Joy Division music epilepsy performance band New Wave New Order

Persons of interest

Sam Riley ... Ian Curtis
Samantha Morton .... Deborah Curtis
Craig Parkinson .... Tony Wilson
Joe Anderson .... Peter Hook
Toby Kebbell .... Rob Gretton
Alexandra Maria Lara .... Annik Honoré
Harry Treadaway .... Stephen Morris
Matthew McNulty .... Nick Jackson
Tim Plester .... Earnest Richards
James Anthony Pearson .... Bernard Sumner
Nigel Harris .... Tramp
Ben Naylor .... Martin Hannett
Nicola Harrison .... Corrine Lewis
Deborah Curtis .... Author: Touching from a distance
Matt Greenhalgh .... Screenwriter
Anton Corbijn .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Control official movie site
Control film production notes
Control QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

British Independent Film Awards 2007: Won: Best British Independent Film, Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress (Tony Kebbell), Most Promising Newcomer (Sam Riley), Best Director (Anton Corbijn), The Douglas Hickox Award (Anton Corbijn); Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor (Sam Riley), Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress (Samantha Morton), Best Screenplay (Matt Greenhalgh), Best Achievement In Production (Control), Best Technical Achievement (Martin Ruhe)

NB: Black and white
See also Kurt and Courtney, 24-hour party people, The filth and they fury
Studios and distributors:

Becker Entertainment * Dendy Films * Madman Cinema

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

All I remember about Joy Division is that they made one of the greatest songs of all time, Love will tear us apart. I vaguely recollect that someone died and the band became New Order, who released one of the other greatest songs of all time, Blue Monday. That's some talent.

As it turns out, Control features some talent, too. Sam Riley is intense and, even though I didn't see Ian Curtis perform, performs just like Ian Curtis; it's such a focused and definite performance that it can only be true. Either that or they made everything up as they went along and I'm talking out of my arse. I don't like the fact that Samantha Morton gets her name on the poster before Sam Riley because Sam is the main actor but that's all about politics (politics suck) and she does give a really good performance. The music is good even though I didn't recognise much of it.

It was good to see actors who could make the age range from high school to early 20s even though they are in their late 20s. I didn't recognise Samantha Morton until a third of the way through the film (cf Starship troopers).

The biography, drama, Ian Curtis movie Control is directed by Anton Corbijn and stars Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson.