2 posts tagged “i'm not there”
The musical biopic has enjoyed such success as a genre only because the filmmaker autobiopic isn't yet a marketable option. So much ego and artistic masturbation is poured into the genre's masterworks, whether it's Taylor Hackford's Ray or last year's love letter to layered appreciation, I'm Not There (Todd Haynes).
OK, to be fair, I haven't seen I'm Not There yet. Maybe it's good.
Anton Corbijn's Control is the story of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division. And for a film about a band that's as consequential as they were, Control is surprisingly tolerable.
Sam Riley is Ian, the unknowable and ultimately doomed genius, while Samantha Morton is his wife Deborah. And that's key. Because while most musical biopics relegate the bedraggled first wife to a supporting role in the first twenty minutes (a trope that Kristin Wiig worked magic with in Walk Hard), Deborah Curtis looms large in Control, larger than Ian at times.
Most of what I know about Joy Division comes from listening to their progeny (Interpol, et al.) and from Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People, so I don't come to this with the baggage that some might. But neither does Corbijn, I'd argue, and that's a hell of a feat considering the fact that he directed videos for them. While Joy Division's music is central, of course, it never steals the spotlight from character. In Walk The Line, we get to watch the supposedly history-of-musical-expression-altering moment that Johnny Cash momentously farted out the title song. There's much less of that bullshit here. The music exists, and it is great, but no sequences are built around explicating it, and the film is more concerned with the relationship between Ian and Deborah. The black and white photography is gorgeous, and the film fails to indulge in the "wages of fame" self-pity that's so prevalent these days that it's invisible. Control would almost work if it were complete fiction, a litmus test that should be applied to prevent the next fake memoir debacle.
I say "almost" because there's still that whole romantic doomed artist thing. But when Control veers too close to that brink, Samantha Morton pulls us back. Cause she's just the shit, and her work gives Deborah Curtis the weight that she, and many other put-upon first wives of asshole musicians, richly deserve.
I am already done with I'm Not There (Todd Haynes) and Juno (Jason Reitman).
Haven't seen either, already don't want to.
Yes, Cate Blanchett is Bob Dylan. She's a WOMAN, and he's a MAN. How daring! It's not about Dylan the man, it's about Dylan the legend!
Can we stop making movies about musicians, now? Please? Is there anything more boring than another movie about a musician? Good on Todd Haynes for not making another wretched biopic, but Jesus Christ.
Oh, newcomer Ellen Page is saucy and darling, and the script is by a former stripper!
Firstly, Ellen Page has been great for a while now, and secondly, one doesn't go to a movie to see a script.
My anger comes not from the fact that these movies aren't good, I have no idea how they are. And now I will never know. When I first saw the trailers for both, I was definitely excited for each. Now though, with the deification of Haynes and the Little-Miss-Sunshining of Juno, it's impossible to see these movies as anything but THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR.
I guess this problem is old, and everyone deals with it. I think it's called "hype". I just watched No End In Sight, and on the scale of problems to have, hype is not that big a deal. At least I'm not in Iraq!
Huzzah!
