Ian Curtis Biopic "Control" Premiers At Cannes Film Festival, Fitting Tribute To The Joy Division Visionary
Today marks the 27th anniversary of Ian Curtis' death, when at age 23, Curtis hanged himself on the eve of his band's departure for a tour of the U.S. In a fitting tribute to his brief, but brilliant career, a new biopic titled Control premiered last night at Cannes which chronicles his short life and that of his band Joy Division. The film is based on the book written by Curtis' wife Deborah called Touching From a Distance and follows his life from the start of band's formation (1976) to his death on May 18th, 1980. The couple have one child, daughter Natalie who was born in 1979.
It would be difficult to imagine today's musical landscape without the influence of Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Despite having the legacy of being one of the youngest rock musicians to die so early in his career, Ian Curtis like so many before and after him, continues to impact our lives through his music.
Dutch rock-photographer and videographer Anton Corbijn, who is making his directorial debut with Control, photographed Joy Division in the late 70's. He's also a legendary music videographer who directed Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box," Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," and literally dozens of others, as well as, having photographed virtually every big name in music including the album covers for Depeche Mode and U2' s Joshua Tree. Corbijn is quite literally a legend of rock in his own right, which makes him the perfect fit to capture the life of a rock legend.
Working as a photographer for British rock mags, Corbijn was on the scene to capture the dark, but electric mood of the late 70's as the now legendary label Factory Records helped spawn the careers of Joy Division, and later New Order (see also OMD, Happy Mondays and Duritti Column) during a period that also saw the emergence of The Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks, just to name a couple.
Corbijn recalls the period and his decision to film the movie in stark black and white:
''My whole memory of that period is black and white. There is basically no color photography of that band around. So it felt very proper to the project.''
Corbijn also felt strongly about his decision to cast a relative unknown actor Sam Riley in the role of Curtis based on his initial impressions of the actor:
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