Ian Curtis
Born Jul 15, 1956.
Died May 18, 1980.
On screen in: 24-Hour Party People, and in Anton Corbijn’s forthcoming Control

The photographer Kevin Cummins describes his relationship with the Joy Division singer

“The first time I met Ian Curtis was in 1977 when Joy Division were supporting the Buzzcocks at the Electric Circus in Manchester. My first impression of him was that he was a bit odd because he used to turn up with a carrier bag full of notes on sheets of paper. He would have this greyish-green overcoat on and be carrying that carrier bag everywhere he went. But he was just a typical lad really: he would talk to you about football, music, drinking and women. We both supported Manchester City and liked the Stooges, so we got on.

“There was a big contrast between Ian offstage and onstage. He just seemed to get lost in the sound. He was quite scary at times, because you felt he wasn’t aware of anything around him. Sometimes he was having epileptic seizures — which people didn’t realise. People were never really sure how much of it was an act and how much was from whatever drugs he had taken.

“I never got any sense that Ian might commit suicide. The Saturday night he killed himself I went with Rob Gretton, the band’s manager, to a mutual friend’s wedding. Rob and the band were very excited about the idea of touring in the States and Rob was asking me if I wanted to go and take photos. About four hours after I got home, Rob called me and said: ‘Cancel your America trip. That daft c***’s killed himself.’

“Nobody had any idea that Ian was so unhappy. He was obviously having personal problems. He had a relationship with Annik (Honoré) and he wanted to live with her. His wife, Deborah, wanted him to be responsible for his child. So his life was a mess. Blokes being blokes, they just think it’ll sort itself out. And it did, but in the worst way.

“As far as films go, I’d leave him alone. I thought 24-Hour Party People was abysmal. The bit where Sean Harris played Ian on stage looked very authentic, but the way his death was handled was tacky and exploitative. I have my doubts about the Corbijn film, too. I understand Deborah’s reasons for writing her book — she needed to get it out of her system — but I think it’s a fairly flimsy premise for a movie. It’s a book about two working-class kids who ended up in the wrong marriage. It’s not about Ian Curtis the rock star.

“People always think there’s something deeper about people who kill themselves. They love that dark side. But they only achieve iconic status because the picture you have of them is a picture of them young. You don’t have to watch your hero grow old and become embarrassing.”

Control is in pre-production. 24-Hour Party People is available on DVD