Control

Photographer turned music video director Anton Corbijn makes his feature debut with this portrait of singer/songwriter Ian Curtis, the Manchester, England, college boy who made his fame fronting the post-punk band Joy Division. Sam Riley plays handsome, somewhat shy Curtis (who fell victim to the depression that led to his suicide at age 23) as a working-class poet who enjoys a pint with his mates and rummaging through medicine cabinets to experiment with prescription pharmaceuticals. The black-and-white photography captures the working-class milieu and the late-'70s Manchester music scene with an easy intimacy, and Corbijn shows a great compassion for Curtis, who comes off less a music icon than an angst-ridden kid working out his demons in his songs. Samantha Morton plays his wife, Deborah, whose book is the basis for the film. The DVD features commentary by and an interview with producer/director Corbijn, the featurette "The Making of Control," music videos and stills among its supplements.