Control

Control, Anton Corbijn’s directorial feature debut, begs one big question: Why was this movie made in the first place?

The movie, based on Deborah Curtis’ autobiography, traces the short life and death of her husband, Ian Curtis, lead singer of 70s rock band Joy Division. Corbijin is an accomplished rock photographer and has photographed bands like U2 and R.E.M. He also made music videos for Nirvana and Depeche Mode. According to press release, Joy Division was the band that prompted his move to London. He was asked to shoot some still photos for Joy Division and jumped started his photographic career. Hence, Joy Division holds a special place in his heart.

Unfortunately other than Corbijn and a few Joy Division die-hard fans, I don’t think much of the audience will care about Ian Curtis’ life story. The movie succeeds in showing how boring his life was, how self-absorbed he had been and how little mark his music had left on later musicians.

Corbijin’s expertise in photography does shine through in the movie. The film was shot in black and white, and it is beautiful to look at, but the pacing could have used some work. The script written by Curtis and Matt Greenhalgh does not bring anything new to the tortured artist genre. It is actually a torture for the audience to watch Curtis torture himself with fame and success. Gee, what a surprise that success comes with a price! For any of you in the audience who already know what happened to Curtis in the end, it is simply an exercise of time watching and hoping for the inevitable to come.

Newcomer Sam Riley has done a pretty good job frowning and looking like he is lost in thought 90% of time on screen. Talented British actress Samantha Morton is completely wasted here as Curtis’ wife, Debbie. She has little to do but ask Curtis to come to bed. The only two really interesting characters in the movie are the band manager Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson, one of the co-founders of influential Factory Records. Gretton is a foul-mouthed, brash little punk very much like the punk bands he managed except his genius is not creating music but recognizing musical talents. He is a little scoundrel with a good heart and also offers much needed comic relief for this dull film.

One cannot talk about Tony Wilson without mentioning Michael Winterbottom’s superb 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People. That is a far better movie about that era, that place and of course, the music from that time. Wilson is also a far better biopic subject because he is always interesting or maybe Winterbottom just knows how to make his subject appear live to us.

Eastern Promises

With the end of summer comes a group of movies that are generating early Oscar buzz. Veteran Canadian director David Cronenberg’s Russian mafia-in-London movie, Eastern Promises, is one of those movies.

Anna (played by Naomi Watts), a midwife in a London hospital, accidentally stumbles onto one of London’s most feared organized crime families. On the way, she encounters the family chauffer/assassin/“cleaner” Nikolai (played by Viggo Mortensen), family patriarch, a seemingly affable Russian restaurant owner Semyon (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl) and his son Kirill (played by Vicent Cassel).

Like Cronenberg’s previous film, A History of Violence, this movie is about ordinary people unintentionally exposed to the violent dark side of underworld. Much has been said about the ultra violence and explicit sex scenes in the movie. Most critics seem to agree that the violence in Cronenberg’s films is graphic but not gratuitous. That, to me, is completely oxymoron. Very rarely violence is not gratuitous. Just watch all the Hitchcock’s thrillers – he was a master at shocking and scaring us without showing the exact violent act in graphic detail. His 1944 film Lifeboat is a shining example. He chose not to show any violent acts committed by the characters, but the audience understands perfectly well what transpired on screen. Do we really need to see throat slashed in close shots, fingers cut off and of course, the famous bathhouse naked fight to know what violence is and to feel the hurt it inflicts on people?

That said, it doesn’t mean that Cronenberg is one lousy director. In fact, he is a great storyteller and magnificent stylist unfortunately constantly addicted to either violence or sex and sometimes both. His 1996 film Crash was a completely sexual mess with a few tender moments. In A History of Violence, he explored the many faces that each person tends to have. Eastern Promises is a continuation of that theme, which is the much more interesting aspect of the movie. What fascinates me is the dynamic in this crime family. Like any ordinary family, the father has to face a son that does not live up to his expectation. Nikolai is more of a son that Semyon would have desired. However, in a life or death situation, blood is always thicker than water. I love all the storylines involving father’s disappointment in his son, son’s desperate search for his father’s approval, Kirill’s strong desire for Nikolai as a brother, friend and apparently wishing for something more and his sibling like rivalry with Nikolai. Mafia may make their living by all the illegal routes, but their family structure is not much different from yours or mine.

Steven Knight’s script is sharp and full of wonderful dialogues. Mueller-Stahl’s portrayal of the sinister crime boss with a loving exterior is likely to get an Oscar nod in the supporting actor category. Watts is good as usual, but the movie really is not about her and she has little to work with. She is our eyes and ears into that unknown world. Besides that function, her character is pretty much stereotyped.

This movie is really all about Mortensen, who gets to showcase both his charisma and acting chops. It establishes him as a sex symbol/movie star and acknowledges he is one of the best actors in his generation as well. Whenever he is on screen, one’s eyes inevitable follow him because he has that kind of screen presence possessed only by few screen legends such as Gable and Cooper. I actually worry a bit that his super coolness in this movie may make the crime life much too glamorous for the impressionable young people. Nikolai is a kind of reversal of Mortensen’s role in A History of Violence. In that movie, Mortensen’s Tom tries to leave his criminal past behind and live a normal life. Here, Nikolai is getting deeper and deeper into the dark side and has ambition of his own. Underneath his swagger, he conveys a lot of internal conflicts through his subtle acting.

It is hard for me to recommend anyone to see this movie because of the extreme violence portrayed in it, but it is such a pity to miss Mortensen’s star turn and best performance so far in his career. I guess you have to decide which is stronger, your abhorrence to violence or your love for Mortensen.