Control: Ian Curtis biopic

[DB7]

Joy Division story to become film

By Michael Osborn

BBC News entertainment reporter



Ian Curtis's fame lives on 24 years after his death



The life of late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis is to be made into a film, it has been announced.



The Manchester-based production is called Touching From A Distance, after a book by Curtis's widow Deborah which forms the basis for the film.



Music mogul Tony Wilson, who headed the record company Joy Division were signed to, will be co-executive producer.



The musician committed suicide in 1980 aged 23, shortly before the band were due to go on tour in the US.



Mr Wilson, who has remained friends with Curtis's widow and daughter Natalie, who he says asked for his involvement to make the film "official".



"People have different ideas as to why Ian committed suicide, so maybe the film will reflect those different views," he told the BBC News website.



Plans for a separate Joy Division film had been announced at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, but the project did not get off the ground as it failed to get the backing of Curtis's family.



Mr Wilson, who was also involved with Joy Division's sucessor band New Order, as well as the Happy Mondays, said he would "rather not" appear in the film.



He made a cameo appearance in 24 Hour Party People, in which his leading role was played by Steve Coogan.



"I'm not an actor and I did a lousy job playing my part in 24 Hour Party People," said the Factory Records founder, who has been associated with the Manchester music scene since the 1970s.



"Film people have a tendency to mess up when they touch music, but I hope this one works.



"This is much more than the music - they want to do the real story of Ian," he said.



The film is to be directed by Dutch-born Anton Corbijn, who has made music movies for Depeche Mode and U2.



It will be produced by a US production company, while the widow of Ian Curtis will also be an executive producer.

[BrandNewGoth]

Can't wait for this movie! I love Toby Kebbell in Dead Man's Shoes. He is also going to be in a film called Perfect Woman with Angelica Bridges and Kate Moss. I think it's out this year... the info is here, but I can't see any pics of Ms Moss... Perfect Woman (2006)

[Nick Dando]

Anton also did a film on Don Van Vliet back in 1994, with John Peel either a contributor or doing the voice over. The film's called Some Yo Yo Stuff, the title presumably coming from my favourite Captain Beefheart album, Clear Spot.



Love to see that again.



Nick

[David Brent]

I have read the "Touching From A Distance" book and would be fascinated by a film version, especially if the origional Joy Division music is included in the soundtrack.

The Ian Curtis story is at times a gloomy and rather depressing tale.



The Joy Division story was of course touched upon in the film '24 Hour Party People' starring Steve Coogan.



Dave.

[DB7]

Joy Division, the movie, gets top slot at Cannes

Richard Brooks, Arts Editor



HE could not cope with the pressure of trying to make it big in America. Now more than 25 years after his suicide Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division, is to be brought back to life on the big screen.



The biopic, based on a book by Curtis’s widow, is to receive its premiere on Thursday in a prestigious slot at the Cannes Film Festival.



Curtis was an intense figure, prone to depression and epilepsy, who died after releasing only one album. The film, though, could help cement his position in the rock pantheon alongside Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison.



The movie, Control, stars the comparatively unknown Sam Riley as Curtis and the award-winning Samantha Morton as his wife Deborah. It will be Britain’s main entry to the festival and will open the Directors’ Fortnight.

Background



Curtis committed suicide in May 1980 as Joy Division was on the brink of commercial success with its first tour of the United States. The singer, 23, was also experiencing difficulties in his marriage and was agonising about his affair with a new girlfriend.



He hanged himself at home, and a note was found beside him stating: “At this moment I wish I were dead. I just cannot cope any more.� He left a baby daughter, Natalie.



The book, Touching from a Distance, portrays a happy marriage, although it does refer to his obsessive nature and fascination with the Third Reich.



By contrast, the movie concludes that Curtis was obsessed with Annik Honoré, a Belgian fan of Joy Division, whom the singer had met nine months before his suicide. The film is directed by Anton Corbijn, whose monochrome photographs of the band during its brief existence captured its stark image.



“The film is really a love story between Ian and Annik,� said Matt Greenhalgh, the scriptwriter. “Even so, Ian probably still loved Deborah, but he could not handle guilt. He was a nice man, though clearly tormented.�



The band, whose sole album before Curtis’s death was Unknown Pleasures, with a second, Closer, appearing posthumously, was managed by Tony Wilson, who ran the Manchester-based Factory Records. In 2002 Wilson’s life story was turned into a film, 24 Hour Party People, with Steve Coogan in the lead role. That film also focused on the story of Joy Division and Curtis.

[David Brent]

Sounds a good film.

Hopefully we'll get to know more about Ian and Joy Division in this film than we did in '24 Hour Party People'.



Dave.

[DB7]

I saw a short clip recently and it looked promising - the lead especially has an unanny resemblance to Curtis.

[penfold]

For what it's worth, they loved it in Cannes....

[dogstar]

I saw Control, Anton Corbijn's biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, last night at the Manchester Cornerhouse on its first public screening night. There was a real buzz of anticipation and my partner, who has a particular personal interest in the subject matter was a like a kid on Christmas morning. Being a Southern ex-pat the whole Joy Division legend has been something I seem to have assimilated as part and parcel of moving to the city - along with anything connected to Tony Wilson - especially as the whole 'Manchester scene' loomed so large in my other half's life.

Control therefore had a quite a lot to live up to and did rather spelendidly. Sam Riley as Curtis is spot on - sometimes its hard to believe it isn't the real Curtis up there on screen - and there is marvellous support from Samantha Morton as Debbie, Curtis' widow and Tony Kebbel ( from Dead Men's Shoes ) as Rob Gretton, the band's legendary manager. Shot entirely in black and white it looks wonderful and the music sounds great ( the actors playing the band are actually playing and not miming ). My only real criticism is that its a tad overlong and loses momentum a little in places. It doesn't galmourise Curtis who is presented warts-and-all as a flawed, troubled but deeply talented young man whose life, dogged by depression and illness seemed to be leading inexorably to its tragic conclusion. The fact that we already know the outcome doesn't make it any the less moving when it occurs.

I'd be interested to hear what other people have to say about the fiim which sad to say probably won't reach the audience it merits despite the plaudits it has already picked up.

[DB7]

I'm looking forward to seeing it but I was a bit worried Corbijn might be too much of a fan to do the film justice. It wont have wide appeal as outside of indie kids and students he's the Love Will Tear Us Apart bloke in New Order before they got famous. Joy Division were probably a band whose subsequent influence is greater than their output.

[mariocki]

Yesterday's Grauniad seemed to like it:



Control | Rock | Guardian Unlimited Music

[batman]

Joy Division were one of the most important bands of the 'new wave' .... this is a must see for me!



Bats.

[DB7]

Joy Division were one of the most important bands of the 'new wave' .... this is a must see for me!



Bats.

True, and C86 had a massive influence on alternative music but few would know it. The trouble with many rock stars that cash their chips in early is that they're forever trapped in time; had McCartney been murdered rather than Lennon there'd be no Frog Chorus or Give My Regards to Broad Street to taint his back catalogue.



On the biopic front, I think Shaun Ryder would make a good subject as he packed a lot into a fairly brief career.

[batman]

True, and C86 had a massive influence on alternative music but few would know it. The trouble with many rock stars that cash their chips in early is that they're forever trapped in time; had McCartney been murdered rather than Lennon there'd be no Frog Chorus or Give My Regards to Broad Street to taint his back catalogue.



On the biopic front, I think Shaun Ryder would make a good subject as he packed a lot into a fairly brief career.

Crikey ... to prove your point I'd forgotten all about C86. There were some great bands on that, Wedding Present and Half Man Half Biscuit among them IIRC. I remember there was a C96 which had no impact. Was there a C06?



Bats.

[Nick Dando]

Was the original source for these follow-ons C81?



Nick

[David Brent]

I too, am looking forward to seeing this film.

After reading the book 'Touching From A Distance' by Deborah Curtis I am expecting a rather dour portrait of the introverted Ian Curtis.

He was as much remembered for his desperate mood swings as his artistic qualities.



I prefer New Order to most of what Joy Division put out. Yet who knows how JD would have progressed had Curtis stayed alive. More than likely he would have been kicked out of the band after the then planned US tour.



Factory was very innovative and groundbreaking for it's time. They "discovered" some great artists and music. Joy division, Happy Mondays, Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire and OMD before their move to Virgin. A rich vein of talent amongst that lot.



Dave.

[Piccadilly]

Touching From a Distance is a great book. Haven't seen the film yet, but, from what I've read in interviews, the makers have conducted extensive interviews with remaining JD members and researched what Macclesfield was like at the time (pretty grim, by the sounds of it).

[dadsarmy]

Being a member of movie sites which have links to uploaded films,i got to see this the other day,me and the missis loved it,the singing was spot on by the actors and it was a moveing touching film showing the beginnings of joy division and the tragic end of ian curtis.

[Steve Crook]

Today on BBC Radio 4 at 16:30

Great Lives: Ian Curtis



Poet Simon Armitage joins Matthew Parris to talk about his nomination for a Great Life - that of Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis' fellow band member Peter Hook remembers his friend.



Steve