Anton Corbijn

In 1979 Anton Corbijn first moved to Britain from Holland. Having previously had seven years experience as a photographer in the Netherlands, he quickly found work at the seminal music publication, the NME- where in 1980 he first captured on film the band Joy Division, and their front man, Ian Curtis. Now, twenty eight years later, Corbijn has made his cinematic debut with 'Control', a film detailing the traumatic relationship between the damaged Curtis and his wife Deborah; which has garnered unanimous international praise from critics and gazumped the nominations at the British Independent Film Awards, with a total of ten, including one for Best Director.

The first time he heard Joy Division, Corbijn recalls, was at a friend's house, while he still lived in Holland. Being initially caught by what he calls the "indescribable aggression [he] remembers liking it more and more", and that it perfectly captured the era, and "the zeitgeist of the time". It was not long after this that he moved to Britain.

He has, as a photographer, had an eclectic career, photographing a many varied number of people, from bands such as Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen, to more high profile subjects, ranging from people such as Martin Scorsese to Frank Sinatra. This is all owed to a highly unique and personal style, one that he was able to translate into film for 'Control'.

When discussing the idea of whether Ian Curtis warrants a biopic, Corbijn argues that as a lyricist, a front man and an icon, Curtis was, at that time, unequalled in his ability to vocalise and epitomise the attitude of the time. However, he is more modest in regards to his own validity with his project. Whilst he claims that he never thought of directing films in 1979, the idea had in recent years become increasingly interesting to him, as he had in the late 1980s ventured away from still photography into the realm of moving pictures, directing a number of music videos, some of which, he humbly underplays, "have become quite successful". Such are Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box and U2's One, to name but two - but he says "that when you read a script, you have to ask yourself, 'am I going to be the best person to make it?'" Though of course, owing to his personal familiarity with the band, and it being the pictures that he took of them in the 79/80 period that have become the ones synonymous with them and their music, it was only logical that he should hold out as the best choice.

There is one scene in the film that illustrates the anxieties and despair that both defined and overwhelmed Curtis as a person and an artist, where after having just learnt of his own epileptic condition, Curtis phones the house of another sufferer we have seen earlier in the film, only to learn that she has met an ill fate. When asked whether or not this event was dramatised factual, Corbijn replied simply that he could not remember, that the eventual film was taken from so many different, often conflicting sources, that it is impossible to try and differentiate the origins of the idea, be it real or not; in fact, according to Corbijn, the film is credited as being based on Deborah Curtis' book 'Touching From A Distance' only because they owned the rights to it, rather than because it is a direct adaptation.

The film does however find its truth in its style and its depiction of the band as a musical force. Corbijn claims that while initially he "had no intention of recording the music live," the actors playing Joy Division insisted on learning their respective instruments, parts and performing the songs live, which does in fact give the film a realism both stylistically and thematically, reflective of the subject matter.

"Had Joy Division been great at their instruments, we wouldn't have been able to make the film how it turned out", Corbijn says, "but because they at the time were still learning, it allowed us to do so as well".

As a feature film director, Anton Corbijn says he really wants to have the opportunity to make another, but has no immediate plans, as he "is overwhelmed by the amount of publicity he has had to do for 'Control'," though of course, it cant be seen as a negative when people are paying so much attention to your film.

Luke Ramsden

'Control' is now showing at The Palace Nova cinemas