edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

Upcoming

July 2

Hancock

July 3

The Whackness

July 4

Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

Kabluey

We are Together

July 9

Full Battle Rattle

July 11

A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

Garden Party

Harold

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Meet Dave

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The Stone Angel

July 18

A Very British Gangster

Before I Forget

The Dark Knight

The Doorman

Felon

Lou Reed's Berlin

Transsiberian

July 22

Two Tickets to Paradise

July 23

Boy A

"Control" considered

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The mark of any exceptional film is the won't-go-away factor -- a film that doesn't just linger in your head but seems to throb and dance around inside it, gaining a little more every time you re-reflect. This is very much the case with Anton Corbijn's Control, the black-and-white biopic of doomed Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

I finally saw Control at a market screening last Wednesday night (5.23) at the Star cineplex, and it's definitely one of the four or five best flicks I saw at Cannes -- a quiet, somber, immensely authentic-seeming portrayal of a gloomy poet-performer whom I didn't personally relate to at all, but whose story I found affecting anyway.

Corbijn, a music-video guy, was obviously the maestro, but a significant reason why so much of Control works is newcomer Sam Riley, who portrays Curtis as a guy who was unable to throw off that melancholy weight-of-the-world consciousness that heavy-cat artists always seem to be grappling with. There is no such thing as a gifted writer/painter/poet/sculptor/filmmaker who laughs for the sake of laughing and does a lot of shoulder-shrugging. Everything is personal, and everything hurts deep down. And Riley makes you feel what it's like to be a guy who just can't snap out of it.

This plus the '70s northern-England atmosphere and Martin Ruhe's utterly fantastic black-and-white photography combine in a perfect slam-dunk that amounts to perhaps the finest rock-music biopic dramas I've ever seen. How many really good ones have there been? My mind is a blank.

Curtis, the movie says, was a mopey epileptic who couldn't live with the fact that he'd made a mistake in marrying a domestic mouse named Deborah (Samantha Morton), whose book about Curtis, "Touching From A Distance", was the basis of Matt Greenhalgh's screenplay. Curtis especially couldn't handle the stress and guilt of an ongoing extamarital affair with a Belgian journalist named Annik (Alexandra Maria Lara).

The guy never heard of double-tracking? Of cutting marital ties but at the same time staying close with your ex-wife and supporting the child you've had with her? I don't see the problem, but this plus the epilepsy sent Curtis over the edge and he wound up hanging himself at age 23.

Before last Wednesday, I had listened to Joy Division tracks maybe five or six times. (Not counting what I heard in 24 Hour Party People.) Now I'm suddenly into them, and am definitely planning on buying one or more of their CDs the next time I'm at Amoeba.

Acquiring the North American rights to this quietly jolting biopic may turn out to be the best thing Harvey Weinstein did during his stay in Cannes...unless he paid too much.

The first word that came my way after the Directors' Fortnight debut screening a week ago Thursday was "routine," "overhyped," "fairly conventional," "too domestic" and so on. The person who passed most of this along to me is an exceptionally alert critic who obviously has a right to his opinions, but he gave me a bum steer, dammit.

Here's a Control clip that'll give you a little taste. Here's another source for the same clip.

Control star Sam Riley (l.), director Anton Corbijn

The stark black-and-white photography is more than merely attractive. It feels like a fit with the somewhat gloomy aesthetic of the punk and post-punk era, and Joy Division's music in particular. I can't stop feeling depressed over the fact that we're all doomed because life is always assaulting us and pulling us down and giving us pain, etc.

Tony Kebbell's portrayal of Joy Division manager Rob Gretton -- a nervy, mouthy hammerhead sort, is easily the second best performance in the film. He's also the sole dispenser of comic relief.

I was suspicious of Control early on due to Greenhalgh's script being based on Curtis's book (ex-wives and in-laws are generally the least honest and most sentimental sources when it comes to reconstituting an artist's life and work), but the film doesn't feel the least bit sanitized or soft-peddled.

I particularly liked that there's nothing showy about Control -- no big emotional blow-ups or Oscar-bait depictions of agonized primal screams. The opposite, really. There's a great dark moment when Curtis predicts in a quiet, matter-of-fact manner that his young daughter Natalie will probably hate him when she gets older. (Because he barely pays attention to her.) His wife is staggered that he would say this and says he's delusional. But Curtis knows what he knows and reiterates that "she will...she will."

Some guys are born poets and songwriters, and some guys should always wear condoms when sleeping with the girl next door.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 27, 2007 at 03:13 AM

comment #1

Jayne Gacey says ...

Best thing you ever wrote. This film must bring out the best in every one.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 27, 2007 05:46 AM

comment #2

MickTravis says ...

I didn't know the affair was one of the things that pushed him over the edge.

Guess love really did tear him apart.

Posted by MickTravis at May 27, 2007 05:58 AM

comment #3

Jayne Gacey says ...

Hio!

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 27, 2007 07:02 AM

comment #4

MickTravis says ...

Yezzur.

Posted by MickTravis at May 27, 2007 07:34 AM

comment #5

Jeremy King says ...

This post has been rated R for glamourous young Indie-Film star smoking.

Posted by Jeremy King at May 27, 2007 07:38 AM

comment #6

EDouglas says ...

I'm really interested in this movie cause I'm a big fan of Joy Division and of Corbjin's photos/videos, but I don't want to read Jeff's opinion in fear of spoilers (yes, I already know Curtis' fate ) and having my own opinion swayed. Does anyone know if this has distribution or a release date yet?

Posted by EDouglas at May 27, 2007 07:55 AM

comment #7

EDouglas says ...

Ah, I just caught the big that it was picked up by Harvey Weinstein... FUCK. Guess I'll never get to see it.

Posted by EDouglas at May 27, 2007 07:56 AM

comment #8

lazarus says ...

As someone who's been a long-time fan of Corbijn's photography for U2 (and various other bands), as well as his very impressive music video work (U2's One, Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, several Depeche Mode clips), I'm excited to hear his bleak, muted style has translater to the longform. If you don't know his work by name, you certainly know it by sight, as it's pretty distinct and recognizable. Though I'm a bigger fan of New Order than Joy Division, the story still sounds interesting and I'll definitely be there whenever this opens.

Posted by lazarus at May 27, 2007 07:59 AM

comment #9

BillandTed says ...

Excellent!

Posted by BillandTed at May 27, 2007 08:19 AM

comment #10

GWSTrow says ...

Punk art is allied to what an extraordinary prisoner might do in his cell. Not ask for parole, for instance, or bone up on his case, but etch crazy feathery patterns into certain secret places.

Posted by GWSTrow at May 27, 2007 08:22 AM

comment #11

christian says ...

"This post has been rated R for glamourous young Indie-Film star smoking."

zing zowie!

i guess this good post brings out the good in all. but i'm already bummed thinking about how i'm not going to go.

Posted by christian at May 27, 2007 10:19 AM

comment #12

Pinko Punko says ...

That poster is a nice riff on Joy Division's very distinctive graphic design aesthetic, an updating of their Closer era style. Fitting both the movie and the band without feeling too forced.

Jeff, a good place to start with Joy Division is the Substance compilation, you get a lot of non-album tracks and singles. I especially recommed "Digital" which you would have heard in 24 hour party people, but there is a good You Tube clip of Joy Division doing the track.

I would also recommend this clip- a stunning looking New Order perf from 1981-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO25udZdI6Y

Posted by Pinko Punko at May 27, 2007 04:53 PM

comment #13

corey3rd says ...

not much to pick up - see if you can find the Heart & Soul boxset - 4 CDs has pretty much everything.

Posted by corey3rd at May 28, 2007 06:51 PM

comment #14

hatchetface says ...

It ain't movie marketing that's responsible for the poster.. it's one of the most famous and best-selling indie-rock posters of the past 25 years. I have personally seen it adorning the walls of several hundred shoe-gazer's bedrooms.

Posted by hatchetface at May 29, 2007 08:47 AM

comment #15

kimi98 says ...

Hollywood Elsewhere

Upcoming

"Control" considered

Jayne Gacey says ...

MickTravis says ...

Jayne Gacey says ...

MickTravis says ...

Jeremy King says ...

EDouglas says ...

EDouglas says ...

lazarus says ...

BillandTed says ...

GWSTrow says ...

christian says ...

Pinko Punko says ...

corey3rd says ...

hatchetface says ...

kimi98 says ...