film about BS could be called "BERNARD'S BIG GAY ADVENTURE" he is played SO camp in Control, i thought.

i'm very torn about Control, i've been not writing a review of it for FT for a fortnight now, even though i've kind of written it in my head about thirty times...
CarsmileSteve | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 10:22 am | #

Huh. This weekend I had a conversation with J about how much I wanted to see Control, which dovetailed into one about Woodstock, Kate P's motel there and then about Cindy W and how the unhinged vocal on Gimme Back My Man is genius and WHY ISN'T THERE A BIOPIC ABOUT THEM!!!??? (Yes, I think it went exactly like that)

I am bummed about Control, may see it anyway. Though I think you're right; a biopic about Hooky would be WAY better.
d | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 11:20 am | #

Oh man, "Gimme Back My Man" is just perfect on every level. The way all three of them commit to their lead vocals is kind of astonishing and inspiring.
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 11:26 am | #

What a load of old bollocks you are spouting, dull? so apart from being in at the start of the punk era in his teens, being in of the most influential post punk bands of the era, manic depression, (which produces both highs of creativity and lows of depression), a broken marriage, and a very manic stage persona, he didn't do much in his brief life. i've not seen the film and maybe anton corbin got it wrong, i'll wait to judges that, but dull? from a man who types a blog, c'mon, pot, kettle, black
A.J | 10.16.07 - 2:25 pm | #

I got a kick out of the live performances, and the likenesses therein, enough to change my whole view of the original JD. Hearing/seeing the actors portray the show literally, by playing the songs, was a revelation.

And then, as everyone keeps pointing out, it was just so disarmingly pretty. Drop dead imagery over and over (Sam Riley is transfixing in B&W, even to a hetero I can attest).

Those two things made it worth the admission for me.

Agreed on the dumb tropes in Curtis' biographical portrayal (drugs, liked David Bowie, etc).

I'd stop short of calling him dull. The way he betrayed his wife, just lying to her face...even a poorly timed life decision doesn't explain that kind of behavior.

But, yeah, the movie doesn't guess about why. Which I guess points up my first two points. I think that's the sum of Control's ambition.
dhs | 10.16.07 - 3:24 pm | #

To call the film 'awful' is to lower it to the level of an Amanda Bynes movie or something. 'Control' is not awful. It's beautifully shot, (the most beautiful looking film I've seen all year, and I see a LOT of movies) it avoids the cliches of pictures like 'Ray' by focusing on the characters. Which is to say it doesn't drown itself in time period touches or nostalgia.
If anything, it's a universal story about wanting to belong to something bigger than yourself, wanting to make music. The simple act of him sitting in a room and listening to a Bowie record speaks volumes in such a quiet way. In the film, Curtis becomes like an empty vessel for the audience to project their own dreams of performing onto.
And while I agree that New Order is a better band, and BS and PH came up with that whole 'grim reaper going to the disco' kind of sound, I don't find them to be more worthy subjects for a film. They are a testament to perseverance, but internal conflict makes for a better movie than scenes of someone coming up with a drum machine pattern.
I didn't find the film sentimental, either. I thought it was handled in a very practical manner. The filmmakers weren't trying to jerk tears. There weren't lots of close-ups of people crying or treacly music playing.
I wouldn't say it's a perfect film, but I feel you're undervaluing it. Saying it's like a TV movie reduces it to that VH-1 Def Leppard biopic or something like "Rockstar". If you put those movies side by side with "Control", you'd find there's no comparison.
chip | 10.16.07 - 3:35 pm | #

Listen, I'm not saying that Ian Curtis isn't historically important, and I'm DEFINITELY not saying that I'm more interesting than him (I don't really know how one would extrapolate that from what I wrote, but uh, whatever). What I'm saying is that his story is fucking BORING, mainly because mythologizing depressed historically significant male "geniuses" who died young is very tired, and even in those terms, Curtis isn't particularly interesting to me. His biography is helpful in understanding the context of Joy Division's music, but aside from that, it's a total zzzzzz. Bernard is more interesting in part because his personality and life story don't conform to the same old plot, and his life isn't just a series of grim events leading up to a meaningless tragedy. But as a culture, we're never really interested in the hard working artists, are we? We just want to hear about the glamor of failure and death.

I will say that it's a nice looking film -- it's Anton Corbijn, of course it looks good -- but I can't sign off on approving films with terrible scripts just because they have a nice visual style.
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 4:04 pm | #

Always been more of a New Order fan, than a Joy Division fan...

But the B-52's!? Man! One of my all time favourite bands. So good to see these old clips.
Kenneth | 10.16.07 - 4:14 pm | #

Chip, I think you express well why "Control" and all Ian Curtis hagiography is so embarrassing to me. Rather than see a movie about real people who do odd, unexplainable things - and yet who charm you with their oddness - "Control" is about an "empty vessel for the audience to project their dreams" onto. I much prefer watching "full" people than watching someone who is "empty". And the dynamic you are describing sounds suspiciously like what happens to the audience at American Idol.
pageblank | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 4:15 pm | #

I've still yet to see this, but one review I read seemed to sum it up quite well - "it's mostly just a lot of people with northern accents sitting around going "Ian? Are you alright Ian?" until he isn't."
DI | 10.16.07 - 6:58 pm | #

1. re: Joy Division. I've always liked "Transmission" much more than "Love Will Tear Us Apart." It's the only song of theirs that I don't find depressing. I bought that greatest hits compilation (the one with the grey cover and green writing) and it was the most depressing album I've listened to in my life. And boring. So SO boring.

2. A movie about the B-52's would be awesome! When I was in my pre-teens (11? 12? 13? One of the three), I bought that book "Party Out of Bounds" and I always fascinated by the B's early years, where the all guys used to do drag and how they had wild house parties and all that. I have a feeling though, that if anyone did a movie about them, it would mainly focus on Ricky's death. Even when they were huge in the early 90's, their whole drag/wild party past was never mentioned--so the book kind of shocked me (I was such an innocent kid). All the press was focused on Ricky's death and their comeback. I was so obsessed with them when I was a kid.

I've always loved the 82'-83' era B's the most though. I love their early stuff, but I really love "Mesopotamia" and "Whammy!", which isn't normal because those are the albums that get slagged the most.
Rebecca | 10.16.07 - 7:33 pm | #

I haven't seen the film yet, but c'mon, Matthew: to say that Joy Division wrote "one good song" is just absurd. You don't have to be a fan of the catalog to recognize the beauty in "Atmosphere," or the urgency in "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control" (which features the best, most melodic bass playing since the Beatles). And say what you want about the "tortured genius" stereotype - I'd probably even agree with you there - but Ian Curtis was nothing less than a captivating, frightening stage presence. I'm looking forward to the movie if only to see how well they capture the live performances, which I only know through grainy YouTube clips and the Here Are The Young Men video.

Maybe it's a generational thing. I was able to hear Joy Division only a couple of years after Curtis died, and in the context of other post-punk of the time. The canonization process was already in place - what was Still but an audio tombstone? - but there hadn't yet been enough distance for it to be complete. All the same, I'll take Unknown Pleasures over the entire New Order catalog any day.
mike | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 11:05 pm | #

p.s. This doesn't mean I wouldn't also like to see a B-52s movie.
mike | Homepage | 10.16.07 - 11:06 pm | #

It looks like everything else Anton Corbjin has ever done, which is boring. Bob Ross paintings are pretty too.

Ian Curtis did the same shit to his wife that every other kid who got married to young did. It happens all the time. It's not fucking interesting. Nor is mental illness. Mental illness happens in your head. It is boring to see in a fucking movie and it further romanticizes the "crazy=brilliant" bullshit. Watching him listen to Bowie in his room was fucking boring. Just because someone is smoking in black & white doesn't make it fucking meaningful, every student film ever to the contrary. It was like watching someone listen to music. I would watch a Def Leopard biopic any day over this. The drummer lost his fucking arm and then kept on playing! That's way more interesting than a depressed idiot killing himself.
Mike B. | 10.16.07 - 11:34 pm | #

While I agree that Control should not have been made and while I have more B-52s plays on Last.fm, the "exactly one great song" opinion is downright offensive. My opinion of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is like your opinion of Control: it's easy to wax romantic about but it's just plain boring. Much better: Transmission, Isolation, (New Order's) Ceremony, and Heart and Soul (my fave).

But oh well, I started out as a New Order person, and I think the perfect New Order comp is better than the perfect Joy Division comp.
Tristan | 10.17.07 - 1:40 am | #

I didn't say that all the other Joy Division songs sucked, I said that they weren't GREAT. Not great as "hey, how ya feelin'?" "I'm feelin' great!", but great as in greatness. "She's Lost Control" and "Transmission" are alright, "Dead Souls" is pretty good too, especially when Nine Inch Nails got around to covering it. But I truly believe that the only truly brilliant, moving, timeless piece of music created by Joy Division was "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Honestly, I don't really care much about the whole Factory Records thing. I appreciate it, sure, but it means very little to me personally.

Mike B is totally right on, by the way. I totally agree that a Def Leppard biopic would have to be better by default, that drummer thing is way more fascinating, and they obviously did a lot more crazy, fun stuff. Also, kinda unrelated, but my count they had about three or four great songs, which definitely puts them up on Joy Division (though certainly not New Order.)
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.17.07 - 1:48 am | #

I know that by "great" you are referring to what is canonical. Calling "Love..." Joy Division's great song is like calling "Rock Lobster" the B-52's great song. I roll my eyes.

What would call the great songs of that other post-punk band from Manchester--The Fall? I'm curious, as they are my favorite band.
Tristan | 10.17.07 - 2:05 am | #

No, you don't understand me. While I'm not exactly saying that Joy Division sucked, I'm definitely saying that "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is pretty much their only really amazing song they ever did, regardless of canonization. The B-52's recorded loads of amazing songs -- it's not really analogous as far as I'm concerned. And in a ridiculous battle of apples v. oranges, I'd say without a moment of hesitation that "Rock Lobster" easily trumps "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Who has the time to make a list of all the great Fall songs? We'd be typing all day. I guess if I had to pick one definitive Fall song, it'd be "The Classical."
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.17.07 - 2:15 am | #

Oh, you just don't care for JD then.
Tristan | 10.17.07 - 6:31 am | #

You and Mike B. sound like those people who call suicides "cowards." It's like you're angered by the fact that tragic stories like this one ARE interesting, that people will ALWAYS find these kinds of stories interesting no matter how many times they are repeated and there's nothing you can do about it (except use the word "tropes" and call people with obviously serious mental and physical disorders "depressed idiots" - how incisive). I haven't even seen the movie - maybe it does suck. I'm not even a huge JD fan, though I like them plenty. I was certainly put off by "Ray" - those flashback scenes made me want to put my own eyes out - and its "hagiographic" tendencies. And yes, I would love to see a bio of the B-52s or the one-armed Def Leppard drummer. But I am certainly not swayed from seeing the movie by your critique because it comes off not as a critique of the movie but rather your personal opinion on how Ian Curtis conducted his life.
clint | 10.17.07 - 12:04 pm | #

Nah, it's not really about judging Curtis so much as acknowledging that the mythology around him is empty, and so is Corbijn's movie. Corbijn definitely made Curtis seem like a total bore, which you know, may not have actually been the case. There may have been potential to find a better film in Ian Curtis' life, but I doubt it. I just don't think there's much to work with.
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.17.07 - 12:41 pm | #

How does this movie compare to the twenty minutes of 24 Hour Party People that summed up Joy Division's career?

A portion of that movie, Matthew, tells the gist of the New Order story, which is somewhat like the film you were referring to imagining in (2).
Tristan | 10.17.07 - 1:36 pm | #

Being interesting to people under 20 who have no real conception of death or mental illness is not the same as being interesting.
Mike B. | 10.17.07 - 2:01 pm | #

I dunno about the joy division move- but I LOVE THE IDEA OF A B-52'S BIOPIC!
rocklob$ter | Homepage | 10.17.07 - 4:04 pm | #

Hmm... I'd probably be more inclined to see Control if Amanda Bynes were in it.

And I'd like to be an extra in a B-52s movie as well, thanks
Jake Meaney | 10.17.07 - 5:28 pm | #

Watching those videos, I began to wish that Cindy Wilson was my sister. I love when the ladies out gay the gays.
pageblank | Homepage | 10.17.07 - 5:50 pm | #

hmm.. having Amanda Bynes play Ian Curtis... I like where this is going..
rudy | 10.17.07 - 8:34 pm | #

I love the B-52's but. . ."Rock Lobster" better than "Love Will Tear Us Apart"? Seriously? Come on.

And while "Love Will Tear Us Apart" may be JD's best song, it's certainly not their only great one. Like other posters have noted, if you're just not into JD, you're just not into JD, but their story remains important if not because of Ian Curtis himself (was his trajectory cliched? Probably) but b/c they were an extremely influential band - more so than the B-52's. They may not be the Beatles, but the same way people wanted to see Backbeat (not such an original story in an of itself, was it?), they're going to want to see a movie about JD.
Debbie | 10.17.07 - 9:58 pm | #

I got around to watching these B-52s videos plus others and have to agree with that this band could absolutely hold its own on a large screen. Though why on earth would you not bring up Ricky Wilson's AIDS-related death? It's one of the defining moments in the story of the band - a band that played an enormous part in gay culture precisely when the AIDS epidemic gripped this nation. I think his death really affected a lot of people, especially in the music world, and I would LOVE to hear what these people have to say about it. To shy away from it would seem flat out strange. Anyway Keith Strickland is a monster drummer. It's interesting you brought them up - they are sort of like the inverse of Joy Division. Both have a hectoringly insisten beat, stark monotone vocals, singers with thousand-yard stares, epileptic dancing, etc. The difference is the B-52s partied at the funeral whereas Joy Division bitterly greived. Both reactions are entirely valid and endlessly interesting to me.
clint | 10.17.07 - 10:55 pm | #

Though you have a good point, I think it'd just be better to stay the hell away from poignant arcs and just get to the heart of the music -- what it did, how it felt. The problem with movies about music artists is that it's always about biography, which really is never as compelling as the actual art. I'm pro-context, anti-arcs. I think getting away from that style would be key both in getting across the important things about an artist, and in making a film that doesn't just reduce the work to little more than a soundtrack to a screenplay that reduces compelling people and their art to a press release biography.
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.18.07 - 1:13 am | #

I don't want to see another neatly Hollywooded, predictably arc-ed bio pic any more than you do. But I still think that to leave out a huge event in the story of the band because of a fear that it might come off as cliched or manipulative would be a cop out and a huge disservice to the band. Somehow it should be addressed, and I think you could absolutely tie it straight back into the music, how it affected the stunning art that these people made. I'm just saying don't throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Ricky Wilson's AIDS-related death is a fact - not a cliche. Anyway, good stuff on this site and thanks for conversing.
clint | 10.18.07 - 5:14 pm | #

Matthew,

You are so sad in the fact you seem to believe that Joy Division only had one amazing song. Yet, you fail to acknowledge the impact of Joy Division on the (vastly mediocre) bands you post on this blog. Do you think people in 30 years will care about Of Montreal? I've seen the film and I believe it was lacking in some areas. It seems to me you already knew you hated it before you even saw it, that's unfair.
booboojuice | 10.18.07 - 6:54 pm | #

Although I haven't seen Control as yet.
I have to disagree with you regarding a Bernard Sumner biopic being more interesting than a Curtis one.
Sumner is a notorious egocentric [IMHO]. A biopic centred on him, would entail lots of scenes of him sleeping through the day, 'hissy fits' if he's in the one of his legendary 'moods' and lots of 'icy stares' to camera.

This doesn't detract from the fact that he does possess an enormous talent, which after Curtis's demise helped craft New Order's [and arguably; the sound and structure of 'modern music'] But I fear a biopic of Bernard would be as dull as a very dull thing indeed.
McNasty | 10.18.07 - 10:31 pm | #

I'm 47 and fro Keighley in West Yorkshire England. The film reflects what life was like then. The Austerity that you guys love in the music came from that, I think the guys in the film try to portray that. New Order came ourt of it , but it was a dark, cold lousy country in those years and thats what the films about..
Dave Mc | 10.19.07 - 3:43 pm | #

This is the most embarrasing 'review' I've read recently.
Matt | 10.21.07 - 7:31 am | #

I will never read your blog again. Not even your love of Ghostface and Fiery Furnaces will make up for your blasphemous claim that Def Leppard had more great songs than Joy Division. Consider yourself dumped.
kevin | 10.21.07 - 1:29 pm | #

Control was not the greatest film of all time, but it was one of the best music biopics I've seen.

I'm not sure how it could "mythologize" Curtis and also show him as boring and dull. I thought it was a bleakly naturalistic take on his life, neither overhyping nor underplaying anything.

I would have liked it more if it was more about the whole band, however.
Maximus | Homepage | 10.24.07 - 11:25 am | #

was the movie really that bad???? and no way is that the only good song they done. there's loadsa good stuff in their back catalogue!!!
johan | Homepage | 10.24.07 - 8:29 pm | #

You guys have no idea how hilarious it is to me that you're taking it soooo incredibly personally that I only really like one song by Joy Division. I'm not saying that they don't have their place in the pantheon or whatever!
Matthew Perpetua | Homepage | 10.28.07 - 2:01 am | #

I've just seen the movie this weekend. I still can't endorse your "one good song" comment, but after two hours of watching the IC character mope around with the same pout on his face, I can see how a non-fan could hate it.
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