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Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Play trailer Poster for Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart R Released Oct 10, 2007 2h 1m Biography Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 119 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
In 1970s England, troubled musician Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) rises to fame as lead singer of the band Joy Division. A husband and father, Curtis begins to feel the strain of his band's growing fortune, his crumbling marriage to wife Deborah (Samantha Morton) and his worsening epilepsy.
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Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Critics Consensus

Control is a work of art, thanks to its evocative black and white cinematography and sensational performances from Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. Even those not familiar with Joy Division can still appreciate the beauty of the film.

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Critics Reviews

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David Fear Blender Control ends up being just another portrait of a self-destructive genius, albeit one as compelling and cryptic as Curtis himself. Sep 8, 2023 Full Review Wendy Ide Times (UK) Expressively shot in black-and-white, the film lends an understated beauty to the Victorian backstreets of Macclesfield. Mar 30, 2023 Full Review Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Rated: 3/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Matt Cipolla The Spool If suicidality wavers through a spectrum of solipsism and obsequity, Control knows existence as performance. May 18, 2022 Full Review Tom Meek Cambridge Day Riley should have been nominated for an Oscar; his work here is on par with that year's er, Daniel Day Lewis... Rated: 3.5/4 Oct 22, 2020 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com On a certain level, Corbijn's approach to filmmaking reminds me of Gus Van Sant's loose take on Kurt Cobain. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 5, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Gigs V If a film - something I consider PRIMARILY - to be a medium of entertainment, is hard to watch (throughout), can it really be considered...good? To give an analogy, I don't listen to music that's hard to understand or grating on the ears for... the fun of it. This IS a very well-made and well-acted film, but BE WARNED it is incredibly bleak. I also didn’t care for the fact that Ian was so unlikeable in this. After an hour (when the film got real dark), I became disinterested. Bar 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', Joy Division's music isn't my bag either and despite BEING affected by the end of the movie (and it actually lingering the day after), I can't say this is something I enjoyed. BUT, I respect the ambition (it must be really hard to tackle suicide and depression in a film). Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/19/24 Full Review Richard L Although Control is beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, it fails to achieve its goal of properly portraying the main character's inner turmoil, and ends up feeling more like an impartial observer than a meaningful look into Ian's actual mind, making for a rather superficial (though undoubtedly pretty) biographical film. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/18/23 Full Review Tim S "Control" is the adaptation of the book "Touching From A Distance" by Deborah Curtis, the widow of Joy Division's lead singer Ian Curtis who sadly killed himself in 1980 aged 23. Already depressed by his epilepsy and struggling to balance his day job in the unemployment office with that of married life and his band commitments, Ian Curtis then added an affair into the already volatile situation. What becomes clear is Ian believed he did love both women equally and feared both a loss of either of them as well as a loss of control. The troubled life of Ian Curtis was exasperated by the rise to fame of his band at a time when his epilepsy and subsequent fit attacks were intensifying coupled with his failing marriage. Sam Riley is excellent as Ian Curtis, recreating perfectly his on-stage mannerisms including his running on the spot style of dance. Samantha Morton gives a really sympathetic performance as Debbie Curtis, the girl Ian married when they were both in their teens. Joy Division quickly rose in popularity after signing to Factory Records and in 1979 released the groundbreaking album "Unknown Pleasures." Ian's depression becomes completely unbearable when he realises he is about to loose Debbie which in turn would possibly lead to his baby daughters hatred.  "Control" is the biopic of a very talented but tormented artist. Director Anton Corbijn uses grainy black and white to reflect the gloomy areas of Manchester in the 1970's and capture the feeling of the time. This stylised feel makes it easier to give a sense of Ian Curtis's decent into depression and ultimately his decision to end his life. "Control" is both sad and enlightening in equal measure. A must for any Joy Division fan. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Shioka O Photographer Anton Corbijn's film debut, shot in black and white, highly stylish. One of rare examples of watchable biopic, I'm not the band's fan, but could see it. Score is undoubtedly good. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Quoc Minh N Love Sam Riley's performance in this film!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/17/22 Full Review chris v Absolutely magnificent, if you are a Joy Division fan, this is a must see. Based on the book, "Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis & Joy Division" by Deborah Curtis Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Control: Official Clip - She's Lost Control Control: Official Clip - She's Lost Control 2:57 Control: Official Clip - Television Transmission Control: Official Clip - Television Transmission 3:09 Control: Official Clip - Disorder Control: Official Clip - Disorder 2:36 Control: Official Clip - Isolation Control: Official Clip - Isolation 2:03 Control: Official Clip - Telling Off Tony Control: Official Clip - Telling Off Tony 1:55 Control: Official Clip - Candidate Control: Official Clip - Candidate 1:27 Control: Official Clip - Warsaw Performance Control: Official Clip - Warsaw Performance 1:28 Control: Official Clip - Pure Sex Control: Official Clip - Pure Sex 1:42 Control: Official Clip - Love Will Tear Us Apart Control: Official Clip - Love Will Tear Us Apart 2:53 Control: Official Clip - No Control Control: Official Clip - No Control 1:10 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis In 1970s England, troubled musician Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) rises to fame as lead singer of the band Joy Division. A husband and father, Curtis begins to feel the strain of his band's growing fortune, his crumbling marriage to wife Deborah (Samantha Morton) and his worsening epilepsy.
Director
Anton Corbijn
Producer
Orian Williams, Anton Corbijn, Todd Eckert
Screenwriter
Matt Greenhalgh
Distributor
Weinstein Co.
Production Co
Claraflora
Rating
R (Language|Brief Sexuality)
Genre
Biography, Drama
Original Language
British English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$871.6K
Runtime
2h 1m
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