Curtis proves his mettle as an erratic and outstanding lead vocalist during a television performance of ‘Transmission,’ thrashing about wildly and gripping the microphone like a lifeline.

In his black and white film “Control,” director Anton Corbjin offers the viewers a portrait of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis (played by Sam Riley) that goes beyond the stereotype of the narcissistic, drug-abusing womanizer presented in other rock biographies.

The film, based on the 1995 book “Touching From A Distance” by Ian Curtis’s widow Deborah, begins in Curtis’s hometown of Macclesfield, England in 1973. An introspective teenager who idolizes David Bowie, Curtis spends much of his time in his room writing song lyrics, listening to records, and imitating Bowie in front of the mirror.

He wants to escape his dreary, working-class background more than ever, and joining Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook’s band Warsaw seems like a way out.

Due to conflicts with another band, Warsaw Pact, the band changed their name to Joy Division, after the name of a German brothel in World War II.

Despite all of this, Curtis is still young, and somewhat impulsive, and his marriage to Deborah Curtis (Samantha Morton) proves to be a mistake. Corbjin captures Curtis’s apprehension over this responsibility well, particularly after his wife gives birth to their daughter Natalie.

Curtis, panic-stricken and slumped over in a delivery-room chair, announces that he’s going to be sick.

As the film progresses, Curtis finds it more and more difficult to be a rock star, husband and a father. To add fuel to the fire, he is forced to cope with his inner struggles of depression and alienation. As an escape from the confinements of home life, he falls in love with Annik, a Belgian journalist, while on tour.

His darkly profound lyrics reflect his confusion and guilt over his infidelity and absence as a parent, as well as fear of his impending mortality after being diagnosed with epilepsy. Corbjin effectively uses voice-over to quote Joy Division lyrics throughout the film.

In the first scene, Curtis sits on his bedroom floor, the lyrics from “24 Hours” echoing in the background. Riley does a fantastic job of portraying Curtis’s emotions through facial expressions alone, and weeps very convincingly at seemingly strange times, like during sex with his wife.

Corbjin includes plenty of Joy Division’s music, both onstage and off, such as “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “She’s Lost Control” and “Leaders of Men.” Curtis proves his mettle as an erratic and outstanding lead vocalist during a television performance of “Transmission,” thrashing about wildly and gripping the microphone like a lifeline.

The last scene plays the slow, synth-laden “Atmosphere” while everyone mourns Curtis’s suicide, and smoke rises from chimneys amidst the gray landscape of Macclesfield.

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