Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

reinhardlerch A lot of criticism has been voiced here before, and I am not going into detail about what I, too, think is actually deficient, inappropriate or even completely lacking in this film. Making a feature film about a non-mainstream band or singer is basically an idea I would always wholeheartedly endorse. (Why not, for example, venture to put the life of Mark E. Smith/The Fall, another great Mancunian alternative music act, on the screen -- a truly controversial, complex, ingenious and enigmatic artist with a band history that surely has a couple of funny as well as emotionally extraordinary episodes to offer?) In the case of Joy Division and the tragic life story of their genius lyricist more cinematographic creativity could have gone into the making of this movie than this fairly static quasi-documentary that picks up speed just a few minutes before Curtis actually hangs himself. Exploring the workings of a highly introspective mind in a strictly realist (or even naturalist) cinematographic fashion doesn't seem to work. There are more options for a director to visualise a character's inner world than just using voice-over. We as viewers never get any deeper insight into Curtis' ongoing emotional conflicts, psychic perturbation and his struggle with epileptic seizures and their consequences. A first-person viewpoint would have made so much more sense in this movie.

Gian Luca Guaitoli Given the fact that I am a lover of the band Joy Division , there are things that are absolutely out for a deliberately "essay film" as this movie wanted to be:1)Disgusting scene of farts before one concert; 2)Apart from Ian Curtis, the rest of the band is portrayed as a mass of idiots and useless pricks; 3)It is very obvious the influence of Ian Curtis' widow who wrote the book on which is based the movie, in addition to being a co-producer . Everything takes place under the widow's point of view:it is symptomatic that none of the alive members of the band is involved in the production crew. 4)Anton Corbijn, the always sought-after director of many wonderful musical videos , with this film has lost his touch. Four points of view that add up to the vote that I expressed for this film. Thanks

Marshal Begone Film has been waiting for so long for me to watch it. Finally the time has come. And you can't call this time was wasted. Control tells the story of seven years from life of Ian Curtis, Joy Division's vocalist. Film was directed by the photographer of the band, Anton Corbijn and the script is based on a book of Deborah Curtis (Ian's wife) - Touching From The Distance.We need to start from this, that black and white vision was a really hit idea. Colours would only disturb in giving back the climate. Film starts from appearing the Ian's adolescent experiences. Thank to this observation, a spectator can get to know him and the environment he's living in very well. We meet his family and his mates (inter alia, future co-members of the band). Then, we melt more and more into the life of the main character, which makes us his friend, someone who knows him best. Bitter, stretched in time collapse of a talented musician is happening before our eyes.We're witnesses of a range of emotions which Curtis is living, just in the first minutes of the film. Historical events (the band arise) are made with us, we participate in Joy Division's concerts and intimate moments of the character when he's alone with his own thoughts. All Curtis' feelings and reactions affect us. We experience and survive with him. As spectators, we're sucked inside. We're not only the watchers but we upgrade to the rank of co-heroes of the action. The fact that music isn't only a background but also a story, help us with it. Songs are perfectly fitted in plot and every frame is deeply emotional.Watcher which doesn't get the context and is not familiar with the band's music, simply shouldn't watch it. He has to be soaked (at least a little) with the conception and post-punk seventies. Film is worth something more than being watched by ignoramus who just won't understand it.Every frame seems to emanate depressiveness and this specific climate which I'm associating with Joy Division's music. I have no idea how come film creator made it but I'm enormously grateful to him for this. I enjoyed the band's work long before watching the film but after this (or even during this) I fell in love with it even more. It was awesome to hum songs during the seance and to meet the owner of this wonderful voice better. I don't know about you but I don't need more to admit that Control became, indisputably, the next one of my favorite films.

kikkapi20 Astonishingly well acted film, so much so that it seems unfair to single out any of the performances. Mr. Lawrence's camera sense is as sure and unobtrusive as his feel for acting. The movie just seems to happen, to grow out of the ground like a thorny plant, revealing the intricate intelligence of its design only in hindsight. As a JD fan, I thought it was done in a way that even non-JD fans could enjoy it. All of the actors playing the JD band members actually played their instruments and performed those songs... it wasn't just Reilly overdubbing vocals over original JD recordings! That is something that really impresses me about the skills of the actors chosen for the band. True, Curtis was a genius, but he was also human... I felt this film was grounded in reality without trying to evangelize/make a martyr out of Curtis.