See the danger, always danger. Endless talking, life rebuilding. Don't walk away.

In high school, I had a date every weekend with Teletunes, KBDI Channel 12's alternative answer to MTV. At one point in 1998 they started playing a grainy black-and-white video for a song called Atmosphere. I was mesmerized by hooded people wandered across a beach with an enormous photo of some random guy. It would be years later before the significance of the song would dawn on me, but I never forgot this image:

It turns out, of course, that this little video was a coda of sorts for Joy Division, perhaps one of the most important bands I'd never heard about, back then. I knew nothing in high school of Factory Records, the infamous Hacienda or the key role bands from Manchester, England played in revolutionizing a lot of the music I love today. It was the brilliant work of music director Anton Corbijn who seared bleak images into my head.

It's fitting almost 20 years later that Corbijn would go full circle for his feature film debut. Control chronicles the short life of that "random guy" being carried down the beach in the video. From influential trend setting musician to a tragic suicide, Ian Curtis has long been a compelling figure deserving attention from Hollywood. In Corbijn's hand this should be a stunningly visual look at the rise and fall of the face of Joy Division, and the music he left behind.

The film premiered to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival this past spring. It is just about to be released stateside next month. The preview looks stunning:


For a fun introduction to the world Corbijn will be visiting in Control, check out 2002's 24 Hour Party People (on DVD) which summarizes the Factory Records story and explosion of the Manchester music scene in the late 70's and early 80's.