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Briton causes sensation in Cannes
A 27-year-old former retail warehouse worker is causing a sensation in Cannes for his first film lead role as the lead singer of iconic Manchester band Joy Division in a low-budget British movie which failed to secure UK public investment.
Dutch director Anton Corbijn had to pour his own cash into the film Control to ensure its survival.
Dutch director Anton Corbijn had to pour his own cash into the film Control to ensure its survival.
A 27-year-old former retail warehouse worker is causing a sensation in Cannes for his first film lead role as the lead singer of iconic Manchester band Joy Division in a low-budget British movie which failed to secure UK public investment.
Dutch director Anton Corbijn had to pour his own cash into the film Control to ensure its survival.
Now the £3m movie, which follows lead singer Ian Curtis's tragic last years before he killed himself at the age of 23 on the eve of the band's first US tour, has swept up excitement at the famous film festival.
Mr Corbijn plucked Sam Riley, 27, from obscurity to play the singer, who suffered from epileptic fits and found it hard to handle the band's success as his personal life unravelled following an affair.
New Order, the band which the surviving members of Joy Division formed after his death, and Curtis's widow, played by Samantha Morton, collaborated on the project.
Mr Corbijn first met Mr Curtis after moving to the UK in the late 1970s, when he persuaded Joy Division to do a photoshoot just before its lead singer died.
Shot in black and white, the film has a soundtrack of songs from New Order, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, the Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop.
Control received no UK public money, but £250,000 of European Union cash from the group EM Media.
Because New Order are based in the East Midlands, the movie - one of the few British titles being shown in Cannes - was shot in Nottingham instead of Macclesfield, where the story is set.
Mr Corbijn said: "It was my first movie so people might have been frightened by a first-time director. But it is a very English story and so it would have seemed appropriate to have some English funding."
Dutch director Anton Corbijn had to pour his own cash into the film Control to ensure its survival.
Now the £3m movie, which follows lead singer Ian Curtis's tragic last years before he killed himself at the age of 23 on the eve of the band's first US tour, has swept up excitement at the famous film festival.
Mr Corbijn plucked Sam Riley, 27, from obscurity to play the singer, who suffered from epileptic fits and found it hard to handle the band's success as his personal life unravelled following an affair.
New Order, the band which the surviving members of Joy Division formed after his death, and Curtis's widow, played by Samantha Morton, collaborated on the project.
Mr Corbijn first met Mr Curtis after moving to the UK in the late 1970s, when he persuaded Joy Division to do a photoshoot just before its lead singer died.
Shot in black and white, the film has a soundtrack of songs from New Order, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, the Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop.
Control received no UK public money, but £250,000 of European Union cash from the group EM Media.
Because New Order are based in the East Midlands, the movie - one of the few British titles being shown in Cannes - was shot in Nottingham instead of Macclesfield, where the story is set.
Mr Corbijn said: "It was my first movie so people might have been frightened by a first-time director. But it is a very English story and so it would have seemed appropriate to have some English funding."
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Summary by NewOrderOnline. Full article remains with the original publisher.
Thanks to: One Brain
