Control

Renowned photographer, graphic designer and music video director Anton Corbijn makes an auspicious film-directing debut with a stunning biopic about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis that is irreproachable. In shimmering black and white—the color of memory—Corbijn captures Curtis (played with miraculous precision by newcomer Sam Riley) as a disaffected 17-year-old youth growing up in Macclesfield, England where he formed a band immediately upon seeing a Sex Pistols concert. Marriage, fatherhood, musical success and an epilepsy diagnosis that required problematic drugs proved more than Ian Curtis could withstand. Using skilled actors to play their songs, rather than lip sync Joy Division tracks, proves hugely rewarding in a filmic biography that captures the mood and milieu of one of pop music’s most influential voices. "Control" is a must-see for any music fan. Samantha Morton ("Sweet and Lowdown") is unbearably perfect as Ian’s put upon wife.

Rated R, 121 mins. (A) (Five Stars)