Once upon a time, in a horribly depressing place called Manchester, England, there was a boy named Ian Curtis. He had a few problems but decided to channel them into his music by singing in a band he dubbed Joy Division. That wasn’t enough to keep away his demons, though, and in the end, he hung himself. The end.

Yeah, that’s the plot of Control, the new biopic of Joy Division front man Ian Curtis. And yes, it’s as depressing as it sounds. As a first time feature by music video director Anton Corbijn, the film sacrifices in-depth character study in exchange for faux performance footage and a focus on the music instead of the man. Continue reading “Review: Control” →