Control - A film

Control is easily the most affecting film I've seen recently. Others have praised the cinematography and I can't quibble – several times I found myself just staring at the image on the screen.

I don't think the script lived up to the visual appeal, but that's not a criticism really because the subject matter requires a degree of honesty; I'd have been disappointed if the story had been “sexed up”.

It's a sure sign of advancing years when people start making films about things you lived through. In this case I wondered what I'd have made of the film if I'd been able to see it in my early 20s (Ian Curtis was 23 when he killed himself). At that age I hadn't been married, let alone separated – but Curtis had.

Another thing that occurred to me was an almost biblical feeling that his suicide may have helped to prevent mine. (a bit like I was being repeatedly told at the weekend that Jesus died for me) One reason the music appealed to me was that it encapsulated my own depression and general morose feeling about the world at the time.

Best of all for me was the ability of the actors to capture some of what that time was like. I saw Joy Division in 1980, and the film sequences seemed very accurate to me.