Wednesday 5 February 2014

Freeview films of the day : wednesday 5th of February


Control (2007 116min.) [Film4 12.35am thursday &+1]

Biographical music drama starring Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. Growing up in Macclesfield during the 1970s, Ian Curtis dreams of a career in music, but settles for a job at the unemployment office and life with local girl Debbie. A chance meeting at a Sex Pistols gig changes Curtis's priorities, and he's soon writing songs and singing with the band Warsaw, which will become Joy Division.

A bio-pic of Joy Division's Ian Curtis, directed in atmospheric black and white by photographer Anton Corbijn.
Sam Riley is outstanding in the lead role - part impersonation, part dramatic interpretation of Curtis' slide into mental and physical ill health.
The musical numbers are superb, partly due to the fact that the actors learned to play the songs rather than mime to a playback.
Add to this Samantha Morton (possibly the best British actress of her generation) in the role of Deborah Curtis and you've got a film that works as nostalgia, as a film and as an absorbing drama.



Cloak And Dagger (1946 106min.) [C4 2.35am thursday &+1]

Spy thriller starring Gary Cooper and Lilli Palmer. A mild-mannered atomic scientist is drawn into a complex web of intrigue, murder and romance when he enters war-torn Italy to obtain vital information on Germany's atomic experiments.

Neat little World War II drama enlivened by Fritz Lang's thoughtful direction and a terrific performance from Lili Palmer, in her American film debut.

Gary Cooper is solid and handsome in the lead role and there's good work from the supporting cast, including Robert "Father Of Alan" Alda.

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