'Control' - By Anton Corbijn

Things aren't as rosy as they seem after a disappointing London leg and Curtis's first epileptic fit with the band on way home from a gig leads to the bemusing diagnosis from a doctor who's as in the dark as anyone over what pokey downers are beneficial for Curtis's health, with the counsel to have early nights and stay away from alcohol - poles apart from the realities of what is becoming. By this point the isolation is becoming felt, the road to becoming estranged from Debbie is paved with ££ worries, a newborn babe and no phone calls home from a tour as Debbie is muscled out of the coterie compounded by  meeting Annik Honore, the part-time music journalist from Belgium who is to become Curtis's lover. Tell me about Macclesfield she asks - "It's grey, it's miserable, I've wanted to escape it my whole life", whereas Debbie loves it, confiding my marriage was a big mistake.

For Debbie it's still her husband who's underpants she washes despite the rising stardom, but then Curtis drops the bombshell - "Do you wanna sleep with other men, cos if you did it'd be OK, I'd be OK" segueing into the hallmark of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', and "I'm ashamed of the person I am" of 'Isolation'.

We see Curtis's frenetic, flailing possessed-dancing leading to an epileptic fit and humour comes from a po-faced Manager - "Still taking the medication? You know it could be worse - you could be the lead singer in The Fall". Curtis clearly isn't taking the band's popularity and touring with open arms, declaring to his lover Annik that he didn't want to be in the band anymore. "Unknown Pleasures was it. They expect more. It's like it's not me, but someone dressed as me. I'm not in control anymore", painting a young man who's a victim of his own success, who just wanted to get away from Macclesfield.

The final performance at Derby Hall in Bury finds Curtis dreading going on stage - the night before he had tried to overdose on barbiturates and had to have a stomach-pump. Stand-in singers are in line and Curtis attempts an all too brief appearance, but a riot ensues and a chuffed Tony Wilson adds -  "It'll go down in history". The need for some semblance of equanimity is broached with a reading of Wordsworth's 'The Rainbow' - "...And I wish my days to be/ Bound each to each by natural piety...", but the Heart of Darkness threatens to swallow Curtis with the fear of his epilepsy, the non-too-beneficial drugs, the poor father figure he's becoming, the impending U.S. tour and the love triangle all driving him to paranoia, fear, guilt, illness and depression.

Having spent the final days away at Tony Wilson's, Bernard Sumner's and his folks, there's little understanding of his personal isolation coming from other quarters and Curtis returns to Debbie's who has initiated divorce. The final day of the life of Ian Curtis is well documented - watching Werner Herzog's film 'Stroszek' and listening to Iggy Pop's 'The Idiot', yet we find a portrait of a torn and gifted artist who has embraced the pathos of his destiny - having sent Debbie away "...I'll be gone in the morning anyway..." and drunk himself to a stupor with whiskey the night before culminating in a seizure as he spirals into his own personal hell and the tragedy of his hanging himself taking place off-screen. "...don't walk away/ in silence..." of 'Atmosphere' adds to the poignancy as a chimney stack burns the body and Macclesfield is framed with the hills beyond.

'Control' has a scheduled general release for October 5th.