--- name: "Anton Corbijn" canonical: "https://film.one/person/anton-corbijn" fi1m_id: "anton-corbijn" imdb_id: "nm0179221" tmdb_id: 45052 wikidata_id: "Q349842" roles: ["Director"] born: "20 May 1955" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 74 average_as: "director" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-10-22T02:36:32.092258+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Anton Corbijn ## Identity Anton Corbijn - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/anton-corbijn - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** anton-corbijn - **IMDb ID:** nm0179221 - **TMDB ID:** 45052 - **Wikidata ID:** Q349842 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Corbijn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q349842, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0179221/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/45052 Director. Born 20 May 1955 in Strijen, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 20 May 1955, Strijen, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands - **Active:** 2007–present - **Also known as:** 안톤 코빈, 안톤 코르빈 - **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 80 (1), 2020s 68 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Corbijn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q349842, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0179221/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/45052 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*Control*](https://film.one/film/control.md) (80) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Anton Corbijn > Anton Corbijn makes patient, carefully framed films about musicians and isolated men. We value the attention he gives his actors, especially in *Control*, though he sometimes keeps a scene running after it has done its work. In *Control* (2007), Sam Riley makes Ian Curtis worth watching between concerts as well as during them. Corbijn lets the domestic scenes take up space, without treating the next song as compensation for sitting through them. We were moved by the live performances because Riley makes Curtis’s onstage appeal understandable without making ordinary life look any easier. This is the Corbijn we recommend: interested enough in a person to wait, and good enough with an actor to make waiting worthwhile. His background in music photography and videos helps explain the static compositions, muted palettes and restrained camera movement. *Control* was his feature debut, in black and white, after a long period working in stills and promos. His recurring collaborators include cinematographer Martin Ruhe and editor Andrew Hulme. Yet the care over the image would count for little in *Control* without Riley and Morton, whose scenes away from the stage have their own dry humour. The next phase took that patience into character-driven thrillers: *The American* (2010), starring George Clooney, and *A Most Wanted Man* (2014), adapted from John le Carré. The isolated figures remained, with less reliance on movement to keep us watching than the genre usually expects. *Life* (2015), about photographer Dennis Stock and James Dean, returned to the business of making images of an artist. These are sensible subjects for a director interested in watching people closely, although a preference for stillness can make a thriller feel stalled. Those habits need checking, even in a film we admire as much as *Control*. Some domestic scenes continue after we have understood the trouble, and a firmer cut would have helped. The reservation matters because his willingness to attend to ordinary life is also what makes the film moving; there is no benefit in keeping a scene simply because it is quiet. Start with *Control*, provided spending a substantial part of a music film away from the stage sounds agreeable. ## Biography Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer and film director. Born on 20 May 1955 in Strijen, he began his career as a photographer and later directed music videos. His feature directorial debut was *Control* (2007), a biographical film about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, which he also produced. He has since directed *The American* (2010), *A Most Wanted Man* (2014), *Life* (2015) and the documentary *Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)* (2023). Corbijn directed *A Talent for Murder* (2026). He has handled principal promotion and sleeve photography for Depeche Mode and U2 over several decades. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, variety.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *A Talent for Murder* (2026), Fi1m 68, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/a-talent-for-murder.md) - *Control* (2007), Fi1m 80, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/control.md) ## Complete filmography (30) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *A Talent for Murder* (2026), Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/a-talent-for-murder.md) - *Joy Division: Apollo Theater, Manchester 27 and 28th October 1979* (2026), Director - *Joy Division: Plan K, Brussels 16th October, 1979* (2026), Director - *Grönemeyer – Alles bleibt anders* (2026), Actor - *Depeche Mode - Strange & Strange Too* (2023), as Director - *Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)* (2023), Director - *Depeche Mode: LiVE SPiRiTS* (2020), Director - *Spirits in the Forest* (2019), Director - *LiVE SPiRiTS Depeche Mode At The Waldbühne* (2019), Director - *Unknown Brood* (2016), Actor - *Depeche Mode: Video Singles Collection* (2016), Director - *Life* (2015), Director - *Depeche Mode: Alive in Berlin* (2014), Director, Camera Operator - *Depeche Mode: Live in Berlin* (2014), Director - *A Most Wanted Man* (2014), Director - *Coldplay: Unstaged Live From Madrid* (2011), Director - *Kleinste Kortste Film* (2010), Director - *The American* (2010), Director - *Linear* (2009), Director, Writer - *Control* (2007), Producer, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/control.md) - *U2: Achtung Baby: A Classic Album Under Review* (2007), Director - *Depeche Mode: 1985–86 “The Songs Aren't Good Enough, There Aren't Any Singles and It'll Never Get Played on the Radio”* (2006), as Art Direction - *The Work of Director Anton Corbijn* (2005), as (segment "It's No Good") · Director - *Depeche Mode: One Night in Paris* (2002), Director - *Depeche Mode: The Videos 86-98* (1998), Director - *Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff* (1994), Director - *Depeche Mode: Devotional* (1993), Director - *Depeche Mode: Strange Too* (1990), as 'Donkey Caretaker' in 'Halo' Video · Director - *Depeche Mode: Strange* (1988), Director - *Joy Division: Here Are the Young Men* (1982), Director ## Gallery - ![Anton Corbijn](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-011e9321db4b.jpg) Anton Corbijn — Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Anton_Corbijn_%28Berlinale_2012%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Anton Corbijn in Leica Gallery, Prague 2002](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-78b3779a035b.jpg) Anton Corbijn in Leica Gallery, Prague 2002 — svajcr, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/020911_Praha_Corbijn_0027.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Anton Corbijn - Control (2008)](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-52aa5593fa6a.jpg) Anton Corbijn - Control (2008) — Chalky Travels from London, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Anton_Corbijn_-_Control.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Autograph of Anton Corbijn (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-5f3b45f3061f.jpg) Autograph of Anton Corbijn (2015) — Anton Corbijn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Anton_Corbijn_-_Signatur.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Anton Corbijn](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-421dc107720a.jpg) Anton Corbijn — Image via TMDB - ![Anton Corbijn](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-38f36a33610d.jpg) Anton Corbijn — Image via TMDB - ![Anton Corbijn bei der Buchpräsentation, Berlin September 2021](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-286bdfbcf4f8.jpg) Anton Corbijn bei der Buchpräsentation, Berlin September 2021 — Elena Ternovaja, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Anton_Corbijn_September_2021.jpg/1280px-Anton_Corbijn_September_2021.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Anton Corbijn and Louise Hoffsten on the talk show Skavlan on January 12, 2012 (broadcasted January 13).](https://film.one/media/person/96640/gallery-08c59fb76abc.jpg) Anton Corbijn and Louise Hoffsten on the talk show Skavlan on January 12, 2012 (broadcasted January 13). — Skavlan Show, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Anton_Corbijn_and_Louise_Hoffsten_on_Skavlan.jpg/1280px-Anton_Corbijn_and_Louise_Hoffsten_on_Skavlan.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Other awards — 2 won, 1 nominated - Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds award 2011: Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds award (won) - European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year 2007: European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year (nominated), for *Control* - Grote Paul 2004: Grote Paul (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/anton-corbijn