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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Control (Directors Suite) (2007)

Control (Directors Suite) (2007)

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Released 18-Mar-2008

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Biography Main Menu Introduction
Interviews-Cast & Crew-Commentary with director Anton Corbijn
Featurette-Making Of-The Making of Control (23:24) (16x9)
Audio Commentary-Commentary with director Anton Corbijn
Music Video-Extended Performance scenes (8:49)
Featurette-Behind the Scenes/B-Roll Footage (14:10) (16x9)
Theatrical Trailer- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:48) (16x9)
Theatrical Trailer-Directors Suite Trailers
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2007
Running Time 117:15 (Case: 119)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Anton Corbijn
Studio
Distributor
Becker Films
Madman Entertainment
Starring Samantha Morton
Sam Riley
Alexandra Maria Lara
Joe Anderson
Toby Kebbell
Craig Parkinson
James Anthony Pearson
Harry Treadaway
Andrew Sheridan
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $29.95 Music Joy Division
New Order


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

“I feel protective of my father, that boy who is younger than me. I have to remember that it's not a documentary, it's just a story - even if it is a different story to the one I've grown up hearing from those who were there at the time. However the film is received, those songs remind me that the most important thing is and always will be the music.

Natalie Curtis, daughter of the late Ian Curtis, reflects on Control.

In 2002, I was standing outside Gaslight records in Melbourne. I had joined a queue which was steadily growing in the mid afternoon. Inside the record store New Order were signing their then latest release Get Ready. In front of me, a middle aged man was tightly clutching his worn vinyl of the first Joy Division studio album, Unknown Pleasures and began telling tales of how he discovered Joy Division in his youth, when the band were still together. As the queue made it’s way into the record store, I realised I’ll never be able to hear a Joy Division song, in the same way the man in the queue had. I grew up post Joy Division yet in the prime of New Order and the fact that I knew of Ian Curtis’ legacy before I discovered Joy Division saddens me. I’ll never be able to interpret Ian Curtis’ lyrics without knowing of his health problems, his troubled marriage and tragic suicide – I feel I should not know such private matters as it feels voyeuristic. When listening to Joy Division I want to go beyond the now cemented image of a talented yet troubled artist who took his own life, I want to discover Ian Curtis’ passion and excitement for music and thankfully this is what Anton Corbijn’s stunning debut film Control, allows the audience to do.

Legend has it Corbijn left the Netherlands for the UK to photograph Joy Division for New Musical Express and his haunting black and white images of the band have since become synonymous with their music. As such it is more then appropriate for Corbijn to direct this project as he is just as emotionally attached to it as Deborah and Natalie Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, the late Tony Wilson, the late Rob Gretton and Annik Honoré. The film is largely based on the memoir Touching from a Distance by Deborah Curtis, who is also noted as a co-producer of Control.

The black and white film is hypnotising from the opening scene – to the sound of David Bowie’s Drive-In Saturday, a seventeen year-old Ian Curtis returns home from school in Macclesfield, North-East England with David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane firmly tucked under his arm. We learn Ian has a great interest in literature and is already a talented poet – he has several writings scattered on his desk. There is a rebellious streak in young Ian who with his best friend Nick, often visit lonely pensioners in their homes after school to provide company and take care of them, but at the same time, the two friends take samples of the pensioner’s various prescription pills for cheap thrills.

Ian soon meets Deborah Woodruff, Nick’s girlfriend and with Nick’s permission Ian takes Deborah to see a Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars concert. Deborah admits she is not a keen Bowie fan, but attends as she is clearly charmed by Curtis. Some years later, Ian declares his wish for Deborah to be his wife and she accepts. Ian settles into married life and a job at the local unemployment office, yet a desire continues to burn within.

At a Sex Pistols concert held at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, Ian meets young musicians, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Terry Mason, who are in search of a lead singer. Ian is subsequently hired as lead singer and lyricist and with Stephan Morris Warsaw, named after Warszawa by David Bowie, is formed. After the band play their first gig, Ian and Deborah pay £400 for the band, now renamed Joy Division, to record a demo EP, titled An Ideal for Living. The EP is sent to music mogul Tony Wilson, who briefly mentions the EP on his influential Granada Reports television show. However Ian is not satisfied with Tony’s promotion of the EP and confronts Tony at a bar.

Intrigued, Tony goes to see Joy Division perform at a Battle of the Bands event, and they are swiftly invited to perform on his television show. DJ Rob Gretton also greatly impressed, offers to manage the band and soon enough Joy Division are signed to Tony Wilson’s Factory Records. Ian continues to work as a civil servant in the day, while at night the band begins to commit to the tour circuit. While at work one day Ian witnesses a young job seeker suddenly suffer an epileptic seizure. The young girl inspires the lyrics for She's Lost Control.

After returning from a tour in London, Ian himself suffers an epileptic seizure and he is prescribed various medications which leave him drowsy, depressed and fearful of side effects. Still, Ian continues to write and commit to touring with the band, but he begins to emotionally withdraw from his now heavily pregnant wife, realising their marriage was possibly a mistake. Ian also is forced to resign from his job at the employment office as touring with the band and the medication begin to take it’s toll on his physical wellbeing. The birth of his child Natalie, which should be a joyful experience, turns out to be one of panic, as Ian begins to feel he is not ready to commit to family life.

While on tour in London, Ian meets Annik Honoré, who interviews the band for a Belgian fanzine. Ian and Annik’s mutual attraction quickly grows and she joins Ian while Joy Division are on tour in France. Deborah however, is left alone to raise Natalie and is completely oblivious of her husband's affair. During this period Ian’s health continues to deteriorate and he begins to experience epileptic seizures on stage, leaving him feeling shameful of his condition.

It is at this moment where Control begins to become absolutely heart wrenching to watch, as Ian believes, he has failed his wife with his extramarital affair, failed his daughter by being an absent father, failed the band as his epileptic fits occur on stage and he now no longer enjoys performing and failed Annik as he cannot commit to her – He’s lost control.

We will never know Ian Curtis’s thoughts in the early hours of May 18, 1980 but what remains is moving as Ian Curtis is depicted as a fragile spirit who tried to please all those around him but felt he failed. As the film comes to a close to the poignant sounds of Atmosphere, I was emotionally exhausted.

 “Don't walk away, in silence.

Don't walk away.

Control is a tribute to Ian Curtis not as a tragic icon, but a man who gave so much of himself as a performer and an artist with the extraordinary ability to externalise his deepest thoughts. Ian Curtis’s short life may have cemented him with cult status but what remains is the exceptional music of Joy Division, which will hopefully live in the hearts and minds of a new generation.

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Transfer Quality

Video

Control is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 widescreen.

 Martin Ruhe's monochromatic cinematography is reminiscent Corbijn’s photography.

The film was shot on colour stock and printed in black and white, achieving a unique grainy texture.

Black levels are excellent, as is shadow detail as the transfer has been encoded over a dual-layer DVD at the average bit-rate of 5.60 Mb/s.

There are no subtitles available. The dates and locations unique to the film are burnt onto the print.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

I am particularly saddened to say Madman have only provided one audio option on this DVD – a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack.

While the stereo soundtrack is flawless, it greatly limits the experience of this film which includes not only original recordings by Joy Division but also The Velvet Underground, Buzzcocks, Supersister, Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Roxy Music and Krafwerk . The live performances featured in the film are not the original Joy Division recordings but the actual cast performing the songs – in particular Leaders of Men, Digital, Transmission, Insight, She’s Lost Control, Candidate, Isolation, Dead Souls and Disorder.

Corbijn who was responsible for the cover-art of The Killers 2006 album Sam’s Town , asked the band (who incidentally took their name from the band in the New Order music video Crystal) to choose any Joy Division song to cover for the film. Subsequently Control ends with the original Joy Division recording of Atmosphere, followed by an infectious cover of Shadowplay by The Killers. It is a nice contrast to place these songs one after the other – subtly stating how influential Joy Division are to various music acts such as U2, The Killers, Interpol, Bloc Party, The Editors and many more.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Main Menu Introduction amd Audio

The main menu is preceded with various scenes from the film edited to the opening of Joy Division’s No Love Lost. The main menu itself is a still image of an adult Ian Curtis in his childhood bedroom, alone. The menu includes twelve scene selections and access to the various extras.

Audio Commentary

Corbijn’s director’s commentary is a welcomed addition to the title. The acclaimed photographer is insightful and explains his motivations in bringing Ian Curtis’s life to the screen. The commentary is incredibly detailed in relation to the production of the film and the recreation of the pivotal events in Ian Curtis’s life.

Interviews-Cast & Crew

The Making of Control (23:24)

The Making of Control unfortunately does not feature any interviews with members of New Order or Deborah Curtis. However there are extensive interviews with Corbijn and writer Matt Greenhalgh. The director and writer discuss their emotional attachment to the subject of the film as Corbijn was a friend of the members of Joy Division and Greenhalgh was a New Order fan. Also Corbijn and Greenhalgh discuss their motivations in conceiving the film and speak about the biopic film as an established film genre. Actor Sam Riley, who is also a singer, speaks of how he approached the role of Ian Curtis, while Joe Anderson, James Anthony Pearson and Harry Treadaway who played band members Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephan Morris respectively speak about the difficulty of their roles. Corbijn also explains why he chose against playback and had the cast essentially perform the songs as a band.

Extended Perfomances (8:49)

This segment features the cast performing the following Joy Division songs in their entirety: Leaders of Men, Transmission and Candidate.

B-Roll Footage (14:10)

The B-Roll footage captures the cast and crew on set as shots are planned and rehearsed.

Theatrical Trailer (1:48) (16x9)

Director’s Suite Trailers

Following an anti-piracy warning focused on the Australian Film Industry – in particular Kenny, the following Director’s Suite trailers are accessible: 

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

The Region 2 (UK) Momentum Pictures release of Control is the best DVD release so far. You can purchase the R2 (UK) release for around $25(AU) from Amazon.co.uk

In addition to the technical specifications and extra feature content of the R4 edition the R2 (UK) release includes:

The Region 1 (US) Genius Products release of Control will be released on the 3rd of June 2008. The technical specifications and extra feature content have not yet been finalised.

UPDATE (9/6/08): According to a press release, the Region 1 (US) DVD release of Control has the following technical specifications and extra feature content:

Summary

Anton Corbijn’s stunning debut film is a tribute to Ian Curtis, not as a tragic icon, but a man who gave so much of himself as a performer and an artist with the extraordinary ability to externalise his deepest thoughts. Ian Curtis’s short life may have cemented him with cult status but what remains is the exceptional music of Joy Division, which will hopefully live in the hearts and minds of a new generation.

This Directors Suite release has some great extra feature content but unfortunately only includes a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack, which is a great shame.

For more on Anton Corbijn, please read my review for The Work of Director-Anton Corbijn.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Vanessa Appassamy (Biography)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Review Equipment
DVDOPPO DV-980H, using HDMI output
DisplayPanasonic PT-AE 700. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationYamaha DSP-A595a - 5.1 DTS
Speakers(Front) DB Dynamics Polaris AC688F loudspeakers,(Centre) DB Dynamics Polaris Mk3 Model CC030,(Rear) Polaris Mk3 Model SSD425,(Subwoofer) Jensen JPS12

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