Control review

 Number 523 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2007 biopic 'Control.'

Control focusses on the true-life story of Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) the troubled lead singer of the English post-punk band Joy Division. Control explores his relationship with his bandmates, his record label and his wife Debbie (Samantha Morton.)

As you will be very familiar with by now, I am not a fan of biopics. Nor am I familiar with Joy Division or Ian Curtis. But as somebody who couldn't even name a Joy Division song, I found Control entertaining and watchable. It was accessible even for a non-existent fan like me.

Filmed in colour and then rendered to black-and-white, Control hearkened back to a 1970's Cheshire. Everything was stark and bare, which gave the film great atmosphere. There was some great use of shadows and lighting especially the shots where we see the silhouetted Ian Curtis.

 Sam Riley brought Ian Curtis to life in his debut role. I did enjoy his performance. It was nuanced with plenty of gravitas. Anybody else thinks he really looked like Rami Malek? I had to keep doing double-takes, because the resemblance was so striking. I wasn't as keen on Riley's singing voice, but he was doing an imitation of Curtis, and I guess I'm not keen on post-punk music.

But Samantha Morton was every bit his equal. Dare I say she was better than Riley. She certainly proved why she has no less than two Oscar nominations. Their marriage was every bit as disturbed as Curtis, but Morton was a powerhouse. She spends much of the film with tears in her eyes. It is difficult not to feel sorry for her, after everything Curtis puts her through.

While Riley and Morton were good separately, they weren't so good together, but that was more down to the writing. It was obvious from the start that their marriage would not be a happy one, least of all to whose who know the story. When the two started arguing, it was no surprise to me.

But they seemed to spend most of the film arguing. So much so, you wonder why they were so attracted to her in the first place. We definitely needed to see more of the good before we saw the bad. Their relationship was rushed.

In fact most of the more tender moments seemed to be reserved for Ian and his Belgian mistress Annik (Alexandra Maria Lara.) They got on much more than he and Debbie ever did. This tenderness was missing from their marriage.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy Control. I'm not sure I'm going to become a Joy Division acolyte, but even to a non-existent fan like me, it was an entertaining and accessible watch.