Capo
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Post by Capo on Apr 26, 2008 0:39:30 GMT
Control Anton Corbijn 2007 | UK / USA / Australia / Japan
Joy Division's rapid rise to rock'n'roll fame, alongside frontman Ian Curtis's inner turmoils and ultimate (and untimely) suicide.
It seems fitting that Curtis is played here by little-known newbie Sam Riley, whose nuanced performance drives the film with youthful recklessness and subtle inner struggle (the two supporting females are much better known, oddly: Samantha Morton as Curtis's wife and Alexandra Maria Lara as his recurring and long-standing sidebit). It's difficult to tell, though, whether the rest of Corbijn's film is effectively understated or simply flat: as dedicated as it is to Curtis and whatever he had to deal with (rapid rise to fame, sex'n'drugs lifestyle, the strains of touring, epillepsy, alluring affairs and a marriage and family life undermined by all of the above), it has very little to offer in the way of character arc or compelling character study. It struggles between wanting to paint a broad context in which Curtis's story unfolds, and telling Curtis's story itself; a more experienced (or talented, though we shan't write him off just yet) filmmaker might have juggled these two aspects with much more conviction, but Control doesn't linger for as long as its anguished protagonist ought to.
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