I'm In Control

The exterior of the terraced house in Macclesfield
is the real exterior of the terraced house in Macclesfield,
(where Ian Kevin Curtis was found hanging on May 18th 1980).
The exterior of the employment exchange in Macclesfield
is the real exterior of the employment exchange in Macclesfield,
(where Ian Kevin Curtis worked a day job whilst gigging in the evenings).
The exterior of the crematorium in Macclesfield
is the real exterior of the crematorium in Macclesfield
(where the remains of Ian Kevin Curtis lay buried beneath
a small memorial stone inscribed; "Love Will Tear Us Apart").
‘Control’ is being hailed as the coolest British film of the year.
It’s been nominated for 10 British Independent Film Awards.
And whilst my false beard doesn't exactly steal the show,
it does help enhance proceedings. For all of 90 seconds-or-so.
After spending the day up an old oak tree in Rochdale,
I now find myself at the film's low-key Madchester premiere;
fittingly, given the film's subject matter, a mere stone's throw
from the city's once legendary Haçienda Club. Now luxury flats.
First-time director Anton Corbijn has a personal connection
to the doomed life of Ian Kevin Curtis and the band Joy Division.
And the stellar beauty of the movie’s monochrome cinematography
betrays his background as a rock photographer of some repute.
In 1979, Corbijn left his home on Hoeksche Waard Island,
south of Rotterdam, and set sail for the North Of England.
There he first met and famously photographed Ian Kevin Curtis
Bernard Sumner, Hooky and Stephen Morris for the ‘NME’.
He claims he could barely understand a word the band said to him.
His English, it seems, wasn’t not so very good back then.
Corbijn took a chance casting Sam Riley as his leading man,
but Riley has rewarded him by managing to get
that iconic epileptic foxtrot just about pitch-perfect.
Corbijn has proved himself a Dutchman of passion.
A Dutchman of energy. A Dutchman of vision.
Corbijn, like Francis Ford Coppola before him,
remortgaged his own home to keep the wheels of production turning.
He has chosen to wear a pair of silver sneekers for his big night.
I think they might be Nike’s, though I can’t be sure.
Either way, he must feel like he’s walking on air right now.