VIFF Review: Control

Anton Corbijn's Control is a complex semi-biography of the short-lived yet highly-influential group, Joy Division -- with a very similar tragic ending to that of Nirvana. Filmed from the omniscient-standpoint of the JD's lead-singer Ian Curtis, the film reveals the process of losing control of fame, marriage, betrayal, honesty, health and, most of all, sarcasm. It constructs a relative male-world which, aside from its problems, still shows men relating to each other intimately. It does so, most of all, by showing men (often together) in tearful honesty with each other, talking as though strict masculinity were not an obsession, where two men could be found crying. For this reason, and this if my first reason, I find it a very metro-sexual story, and also a post-modern one. So much for the "capsule" review, for more click below...

Secondly, it is a brilliant black-and-white rendition (almost in the form of a dream, or nightmare) of the moment when fatality consumes the mind of a genius. It is also, thirdly, a marvelous post-modern display of the way continuity can be displaced to effect a cross-narratological linearity that fills the gaps of a story very much like that of a conversation over coffee. For these reasons I see this film as a cinematic masterpiece.

New Order signs this film with their musical production of the many tracks we hear, and Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols sign it by virtue of the many recurring allusions to their work. Forming my fourth reason for seeing this as a masterfully intelligent work; namely, it does not require to be totally engaged with a band, or a single person, but shows a few people web-tied with each other through their desires, personal suffering, conversations, inadequacies, affections and transformations.

Just as the Coen Brother's "Miller's Crossing" overloads the viewer with lingo -- one of my favorite films of all time -- as does Control offer a ton of wit and rich one-liners to feed the conversational repertoire. Not only because of the serious subject matter, but because these subjects retained an integrity with each other in a masterful retelling of what is, ultimately, a tragedy. The film is reminiscent of Underworld's "Beautiful Burnout," listen to this song, and watch this film.

PICTURE CREDIT: Viff Media Database, by Permission
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