HE could not cope with the pressure of trying to make it big in America. Now more than 25 years after his suicide Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division, is to be brought back to life on the big screen.

The biopic, based on a book by Curtis’s widow, is to receive its premiere on Thursday in a prestigious slot at the Cannes Film Festival.

Curtis was an intense figure, prone to depression and epilepsy, who died after releasing only one album. The film, though, could help cement his position in the rock pantheon alongside Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison.

The movie, Control, stars the comparatively unknown Sam Riley as Curtis and the award-winning Samantha Morton as his wife Deborah. It will be Britain’s main entry to the festival and will open the Directors’ Fortnight.

Curtis committed suicide in May 1980 as Joy Division was on the brink of commercial success with its first tour of the United States. The singer, 23, was also experiencing difficulties in his marriage and was agonising about his affair with a new girlfriend.

He hanged himself at home, and a note was found beside him stating: “At this moment I wish I were dead. I just cannot cope any more.” He left a baby daughter, Natalie.

The book, Touching from a Distance, portrays a happy marriage, although it does refer to his obsessive nature and fascination with the Third Reich.

By contrast, the movie concludes that Curtis was obsessed with Annik Honoré, a Belgian fan of Joy Division, whom the singer had met nine months before his suicide. The film is directed by Anton Corbijn, whose monochrome photographs of the band during its brief existence captured its stark image.

“The film is really a love story between Ian and Annik,” said Matt Greenhalgh, the scriptwriter. “Even so, Ian probably still loved Deborah, but he could not handle guilt. He was a nice man, though clearly tormented.”

The band, whose sole album before Curtis’s death was Unknown Pleasures, with a second, Closer, appearing posthumously, was managed by Tony Wilson, who ran the Manchester-based Factory Records. In 2002 Wilson’s life story was turned into a film, 24 Hour Party People, with Steve Coogan in the lead role. That film also focused on the story of Joy Division and Curtis.

Control joins a growing list of biopics about rock stars. A documentary about Joe Strummer of the Clash is released in Britain next weekend and a movie about Freddie Mercury is planned.

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• Trailers

• DVD

• Oscars

• Cannes

Editor's choice

• U2 at Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona
• The 50 Best Movie Villains
• The 15 golden rules of theatre etiquette