Raw emotions as tragic Joy Division film screened

CANNES, France (Reuters) - The tragically short life of Ian Curtis, lead singer of British indie band Joy Division, is the subject of a new film which has opened old wounds for surviving members of the group.

The 1970s act produced hits like "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Transmission", but its success was cut short by Curtis' suicide aged 23, exactly 27 years ago on Friday, as the group was about to tour the United States.

Director Anton Corbijn, who photographed Joy Division in 1979, directed "Control", a two-hour, black-and-white biopic of the troubled frontman which has taken the Cannes Film Festival by storm, even though it is screening out of competition.

Curtis is played by unknown actor Sam Riley, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the singer both on and off stage, and Samantha Morton plays his wife Debbie, whose book the screenplay is based on.

"It was pretty lucky I'm the same height as him, I've got a passing resemblance and I was a singer, so I think that made it an easier decision for Anton, but still a risky one," Riley told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"I had an acting agent when I was a teenager and then lost contact with her, and I was working in a very menial job in Leeds and was fed up with it," he added, explaining how he landed the part.

"So I rang her up after five years and said: 'Remember me?' and this was the first audition they sent me for."

In his last years, Curtis was haunted by epilepsy and an inability to combine home life as a husband and father with his career as a rock star who had a passionate affair.

SHOCK AND ANGER

For drummer Stephen Morris, watching the band's history recounted on the big screen was an uneasy experience.

"Somehow last night watching it for the second time, but with a load of people, was like seeing your youth laid bare in front of an audience, it was like being dissected on a slab," he said.

Asked how he felt about the Thursday night screening being held on the eve of the anniversary of Curtis' death, he added: "It gives me the shivers."

Morris, who went on to perform with Joy Division's successor New Order, explained how he felt when he learned Curtis had hanged himself. "I suppose it was a shock but it didn't register as a shock, it was just anger, anger that he could be so stupid.

"And the thing about when someone commits suicide is it always leave a lot of unanswered questions to the people who were left behind ... and it kind of hurts people who are left more."

Riley based his stage performances on just over one hour of footage known to exist of Joy Division on stage, and rehearsed in front of the mirror.

"I knew it was going to be very important that I got as close as possible to mimicking him on stage, because there's some very enthusiastic, dedicated Joy Division fans out there who would probably put a contract out on me if I didn't get it pretty close.

Asked if he had been compared to Curtis in the past, he replied: "People always used to say I looked like (singer) Pete Doherty instead, which isn't particularly flattering is it, a big moon-faced heroin addict? But never mind."

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