Review: Control

This is a biopic of Joy Division frontman, Ian Curtis, and doesn't strain more from that. The film begins with a very controlled pace, and this continues for the rest of the film. While this works for scenes relating to his youth and the building of introducing new characters, it starts to feel offbeat as the film progresses, too rhythmic for dramatic sequences and too stylized for concert recreations. The music, while enjoyable and appropriate for the movie in general, at times seemed to be placed in awkward positions when broken into scenes.
The film seems to be directed towards fans, yet offers little depth towards the band's history. The narration starts to fall from being steady to being a series of scenes acted out from the memoir. Some remain vague entirely, an example being his talk with Annik and the generic dialogue in the scene ("I've never felt like this before. I'm afraid to fall in love with you.")

The cinematography is very well done, and it creates an atmosphere. The film itself transitions from feelings of empathy, pain and complete numbness, correctly portraying the troubles Curtis faced until his suicide. The acting also brings this to life, as it is for the most part outstanding.

In short, this is a biopic with great potential, of an intriguing music figure, however it unfortunately fails to hit the mark in order to place it above average.

English film is unique.So are indian and so are french and german.They tell stories about people real and imaginary,and they all have one thing in common.The commonality is the diverse nature of our world and all its inhabitants.We all try to tell our stories from our inherited social perspectives.The threads that run through us all is what makes us all human, brothers and sisters in pain and joy.
This film dipicts Ian curtis as the troubled young man who conformed and failed in his own eyes ,due to the rigors of the society that he was raised in.His harsh self judgement and his final acceptance of the stark reality of human frailty,and its indifference to personal pain.Its not teenage angst,its depression.Its a terrible terrible illness and the lyrics of Joy divisions songs are so significant to all that suffer depresssion,that they wonder how they are not heard in this crazy irrational world we live in.It is a lonely illness,and it kills just like cancer and aids ,yet it can be sometimes cured with a friendly word or smile.....Transmission is real...
The film is well acted in an english indie sort of way.Its revealing and inciteful.You can identify with the characters and feel it flow like the well made piece of film that it is.This is well worth a watch.I will watch it again.....recommended.