I finally got around to watching the Joy Division/Ian Curtis Biopic 'Control' last Saturday. I felt a bit numb afterwards -'numb' in the sense of impressed and like I'd really been somewhere else for a while. Which in a sense I had.
The Director Anton Corbijn did a superb job in conjuring up the bleak 70's aesthetic of northern England, every detail was spot on, nothing was too 'Hollywood'; in other words the movie never descended into daft romanticism like many others I could name.
By shooting it in a bleached grey scale with an eerie angelic light drifting through the frames, Corbijn made Manchester ethereal and continental, like a French new wave flick, but with a kitchen sink English chic (if you know what I mean!)
The movie was compassionate without being sentimental and you could really understand how the various combined forces of guilt, epilepsy and fame squeezed the last drop of hope out of Curtis.
The final scene with the smoke billowing out of the crematorium chimney was really powerful and beautiful, one of many scenes though that highlighted the very atmospheric, spooky cinematography.
