JOY DIVISION

2007 96 MIN
DIR Grant Gee FEATURING Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, Paul Morley, Annik Honore




Tom Atencio, a producer of the documentary and the North American manager for both Joy Division and New Order for close to 20 years will attend the Q&A after the film

In 1976 four young men from Manchester went to see the Sex Pistols. They formed a band, Joy Division. Three years later the lead singer, Ian Curtis committed suicide just as they were on the brink of worldwide success. The film investigates why Joy Division''s collective musical genius and singular vision enjoys a larger audience and influence 30 years on. Featuring the unprecedented participation of the surviving band members of Joy Division, now known as New Order, the film chronicles a time of great social and political change in England in the mid-''70s and tells the untold story of four men who transcended economic and cultural barriers to produce an enduring and profound legacy.


FILM "LOST CONTROL'' 2007

I get goosebumps whenever I hear Joy Division''s music, the bleakness and sense of isolation almost overwhelming. Not many bands are able to convey emotions with such impact and that is one of the reasons why they were something special.

Having handed in my final assessment today I went along to see an advanced screening of Control at Dendy Newtown today and was not disappointed.

The black and white biopic by Anton Corbjin gave a sense of the Ian Curtis'' life, the bleak and dreariness of his surroundings and the overwhelming inner turmoil that you could sense through his music. Sam Riley has done a marvellous portray of Ian Curtis, exhausted and uncertain about everyone''s expectations, feeling that he is letting them all down and trying to do what he feels is right in his mind.

The film was able to give an insight into how he grappled with his tenuous relationships with others around him, particularly his wife, and how he lost any feeling of control over his surroundings despite his best efforts. The only thing he had any control over in the end was his own life.

The film was not without its flaws. The first part of the film leading up to the formation of Joy Division was so so. It did provide the background to Debbie and Ian''s relationship but quickly rushed through it. Whether it was just to reflect how it was all rushed between Debbie and Ian I don''t know but it did not have a strong impact. Admittedly I also preferred the take of the some events from 24 Hour Party People such as after Ian''s epiletic fit on stage.

Still, it was a good film and worth seeing. I''d give it a 4/5.

Sean from A Reminder has another review of Control. I also agree that the Killers cover at the end of the film is atrocious. It''s made worse since it''s a cover of ''Shadowplay'', one of my favourite Joy Division songs.
from - http://decomposingtrees.blogspot.com/2007/10/shes-lost-control-again.html

Control is Anton Corbijn''s 2007 black-and-white biopic about the late Ian Curtis (1956-1980), lead singer of post-punk band Joy Division. The screenplay written by Matt Greenhalgh is based on the book Touching from a Distance, by Curtis''s wife, Deborah, who is also a co-producer of the film.

The film details the life of the troubled young musician, who forged a new kind of music out of the punk rock scene of 1970s Britain, and the band Joy Division, which he headed from 1977 to 1980. It also deals with his rocky marriage and extramarital affairs, as well as his increasingly frequent seizures, which were thought to contribute to the circumstances leading to his suicide on the eve of Joy Division''s first U.S. tour.

The title is a reference to the Joy Division song, "She''s Lost Control"�believed to be a reference to an epileptic client befriended by Curtis while employed at a Job Centre in Manchester, who later died during a seizure.

Movie set - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGEUoYC5_3M

Joy Division video
She''s lost control performence
She''s Lost Control....over some jeans
She''s lost control video
Wiki about film "Lost Control"