Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Gareth V @geewah Oct 16, 2026 It’s shot in stark black and white, it’s quietly devastating, and it’s one of the great music biopics because it refuses to behave like one. See more Jonathan S. @JonathanColeSpivey Jun 14, 2026 Control (2007) is by far the best biographical depiction of an English rock band of all time. This film was neglected by the academy of motion pictures arts and science and many other recognition. Sam Riley was robbed that year at the Academy Awards but was given recognition at Cannes Film Festival and the film director Anton Corbijn was awarded several awards including Director’s Fortnight, the CICAE Art & Essai prize. The cinematography is superior to any film that 2007 and the acting is hyper real and pure genius. Sam Riley deserved Best Actor in all festivals and ceremonies and was looked over by most. I have not seen such portrayal of a rock star biography since Gary Oldman’s Sid & Nancy and by my opinion even topped Oldman’s performance of Sid Vicious. Sam Riley proves he is as genius as any of the Brit Pack and beyond. The film works because of its long takes and meditation of Ian Curtis’s intake of the sensory world. The film presents (Cole Spivey’s FB) See more Maarit L @Komedienne Jun 10, 2026 The camera work and editing clearly reflected the director’s music video background. Whether that’s a strength or a weakness is debatable. The film delivered a narrative, but it never explored its themes or characters in any real depth See more Marco L @decatur555 Dec 13, 2025 Some films aren't watched, they're lived through. Control is one of them. I remember it as a dry blow that makes no noise but leaves a mark. It doesn't explain or underline anything. It just observes, with an uncomfortable closeness, someone who never fit in, neither in the world nor in himself, without cheap romanticism. What impresses most is the restraint. Everything is shot with an almost ascetic calm, and the black and white is a way of looking: cold, direct, honest. No myth of the tortured genius, just tiredness and a sadness that piles up without warning. The portrait of the protagonist is devastating because it never forces empathy. It leaves you keeping him company as pressure, fragility and daily life form a silent storm. The music is present but never dominates; it works like an echo. Not an easy or complacent film, but deeply respectful, to the music, to the person and to the viewer. It won't age, because it wasn't made to please but to say something true. See more Gigs V @RT90892322 Jan 26, 2024 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). See more Richard L @KaneLives Mar 18, 2023 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. See more Read all reviews

Control - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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