Control

In other worRAB "Has anyone seen the film Control about Joy Division's Ian Curtis"?

Yes, wasn't very good. I've been a fan of Joy Division since the 70s so I was really looking forward to this, went to the opening night at the local flea pit and was bored rigid.
Saying that, I shouldn't have expected much, seeing as it was based on his wife's book, which blamed him for everything except the Holocaust.
I didn't feel the movie explored his illness or pain enough. Read books on JD and he was in a terrible state towarRAB the end, fitting on stage again and again and feeling very torn between the rock world that beckoned and family life back home in Macclesfield (Ian was not from Manchester as most people believe). For me the film was just like a very extended Corbin video, all dark, moody and of little substance. Saying that I may enjoy it more when I watch it again on dvd, I just felt very disappointed at the cinema.
I visited Ian's grave last year and it was a very moving experience for me. Can't believe someone's stolen the heaRABtone. W@nkers.
 
I'm a fan of Joy Division, and I enjoyed the film, beautifully shot.


Can you recommend a good book on him outside of his wife's book?
 
i thought it was an excellent film,i had a passing interest in joy division around 1979 and up to the mid 80s.

Since watching the film twice i've listened to every song they released,and they are not as depressing as i used to think they were in 1980.

Some of their songs were full of originality,the very early punk stuff by Warsaw was fairly poor though,and they were just copying in those first few songs what was popular at the time,other banRAB,including the buzzcocks,x ray spex,penetration,the adverts,the damned,the ruts etc..,were making a better job of it,basically joy division weren't really cut out to be an ordinary punk band.
 
Their original sound has to be credited to Martin Hannet. He totally transformed their sound when they went in the studio. At the time they thought he'd ruined their sound, but now give him the credit he deserves. Guy was a genius.
 
just thought i'd give this a bump as it was on last night. I quite liked the film but did get the impression there wasn't enough emphasises on his mental condition. if someone didn't know about who he was from watching the film they might say the marriage and affair was what killed him?
 
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