
Joy Division will always be a part of my life - even if I don’t listen to them nearly as much as I use to. Some ten years back I found myself immersed in the electronic arrangements and driving beats of a very popular 80’s band called New Order. I soon discovered that New Order was once a little known cult band named Joy Division.
Fascinated by the drastic stylistic and tonal differences between the two bands, I decided to pick up the Ian Curtis (lead singer of Joy Division) biography TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE and started reading it on a trip to Paris.
While in Paris I spent an entire day and two rolls of black & white film at Pere-Lachaise; the final resting place of many artists, poets and musicians - Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Chopin just to name a few. It was an experience I’ll never forget.
And guess what was playing on my walkman that entire day? CLOSER by Joy Division.

A few years went by and I found myself drawn to different types of music; music with messages of hope, perseverance and perhaps a healthy dose of self examination.
Then I found out that TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE was being made into a movie. Suddenly, that day at Pere-Lachaise came back in vivid memory. I broke out the old Joy Division albums in anticipation.
And Anton Corbijn was directing!
I’ve been a fan of Anton Corbijn for as long as I’ve known the bands he’s photographed. Corbijn has created enduring images and album artwork for bands such as U2, Depeche Mode and yes, Joy Division. You may not know him by name, but you’ve seen his work.

More than his amazing photographs however, I’d say that my greatest memories of Anton Corbjin go back to a series of music videos he did for Depeche Mode. I remember being blown away with their powerfully simple images. Corbijn is a photographer first and foremost, so there’s a great deal of emphasis placed on the individual shot in his music videos. And like any great filmmaker, he makes every shot count; each shot presents a unique idea that can be admired on it’s own.
Sadly, a majority of today’s music videos are shot with flashy editing in mind – they intend the rhythm of the editing to reflect the rhythm of the song. But with Corbijn, it’s the exact opposite. His videos play like epic short films. They take their time.

I remember thinking that this guy should definitely make the jump to feature films. And now over a decade later (over twenty years after shooting his DM music videos), he’s finally made the jump.
And CONTROL is as good as it should be. Corbijn’s images are as well thought out and striking as ever and he most certainly demonstrates that he can handle directing great performances in a powerfully dramatic story. Sam Riley and Samantha Morton are terrific in the leading roles and the music of Joy Division couldn’t be more perfectly incorporated. Whether you’re familiar with the songs of Joy Division or not, the film stands on it’s own as a piece of cinematic splendor.