Monday, November 19, 2007

Making the best of having no "Control"

We live in one of those towns that only seems to get the mainstream films. If it made a big splash at an indie festival, in all likelihood we'll never see it.
As a result, "Fred Claus" and "The Bee Movie" play on multiple screens while a film like Anton Corbijn's "Control" only arrives when the public library or Borders Books orders it on DVD.
That's a particular shame, missing out on "Control," because I have loved JOY DIVISION since I emerged from a young adolescent cocoon and began to favor alternative music.
Corbijn photographed the band extensively, and has now directed a critically admired film about the life and suicide death of lead singer/lyricist IAN CURTIS.
Although the film is keeping its distance from Dubuque, I have been caught up in a little JOY DIVISION fever myself.
I have been re-reading (for the 10th time? 20th?) Mark Johnson's "An Ideal for Living," a 1984 history of the band that I fear is now sadly out of print.
While Johnson painstakingly chronicles gigs and recording sessions, he is unable to dip into the psyche of the band members, which is where seeing "Control" would have definitely helped. Oh well. I will wait for the DVD.

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