Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by dave c (A) on August 03, 2007 at 13:58:24

This is Anton Corbijn's debut film about singer Ian Curtis of Joy Division and it is unlike almost any other celebrity bio-pic you will have seen.
Entirely in black and white it shows Curtis growing from typical snotty poetry quoting posey kid to a man who could write beautifully but who could neither express his feelings for nor find a way to connect to those who loved him.
Sam Riley is very very good, but rooted at the heart of many scenes is Samantha Morton as Curtis' wife Deborah always left literally holding the baby and always prepared to love him, yet excluded from the "club" around the band.
The shots of the band and entourage comforting each other intercut with Morton clutching the baby as she screams out her pain may live with you for a long time.
Corbijn started as a music photographer and that eye is there in much of the film, beautifully framed shots of grim northern life.
The music scenes are very convincing as the actors learned to play and, as in Walk The Line, it gives an authenticity even if the band sound much cleaner than they actually did through terrible small PAs.
I approached the film with a certain trepidation as I worked on their last tour of Britain, but the film is everything a Joy Division fan would want and much more.
My girl friend hardly knows Joy Division but thought the film very good.
I think it stands as a "must see' as well as a tribute to one of the ultimate cult bands of the time.