| 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE Rating:  Director: Michael Winterbottom Producer: Andrew Eaton Writers: Frank Cottrell Boyce Director of Photography: Robby Muller Cast: Steve Coogan, Danny Cunningham, Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Sean Harris Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Review by: Warren
Curry
6/25/02
Although it may be advertised differently, 24 Hour Party People is less a film about the birth of U.K. punk/new wave music, which then led to the famed Manchester, England dance/rave culture, than it is a movie about Tony Wilson, the driving force behind this social phenomenon. Wilson, a television reporter turned club/record label owner, was one of the 42 people in attendance the first time the Sex Pistols played in Manchester, and became inspired to the bring the music being created in his hometown to the world at large. Michael Winterbottom's film captures both the actual events and the legend surrounding the music movement in a uniquely comic way that, unfortunately, flirts with self indulgence a few too many times. There's also something just a little too slick in the way the film is constructed, but anyone interested in the people and times the film depicts, should be intrigued.
Wilson (Steve Coogan) initially exposed this burgeoning new music genre on his television show, and then started Factory Records to expose a local band he was very close to: The seminal group Joy Division. After the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis (Sean Harris) just prior to Joy Division's first U.S. tour, the surviving members carried on as New Order, who would release Factory's first big hit in 1983, a single called "Blue Monday." Wilson's business philosophy was frighteningly simple, as evidenced by the fact that he never signed any contracts with his bands. However, he took his workman-like approach and opened the Hacienda nightclub, which would become the cornerstone of the late 80's Manchester dance scene. As the Hacienda gained recognition, another Factory band, The Happy Mondays, was beginning to makes waves worldwide with their happy, dance-friendly sound. But all was not well for Wilson, Factory or the Hacienda.
The Hacienda, despite its popularity, was not a profitable venture. The club became a haven for drug use (Ecstasy being the product of choice), which then brought a horde of gun-toting dealers into the club and led to inevitable violence. The Happy Mondays, fronted by drug-addled vocalist Shaun Ryder (Danny Cunningham), plummeted on a downward spiral, which culminated in the band escaping to Barbados to record an album that sent Factory into massive debt and was never completed. By the early 90's, Factory, the Hacienda and the Manchester music scene were no more.
British comedian Coogan does a fantastic job in the lead role. I'm not sure how closely the actor captures Wilson's personality, but he plays the man as alternately naïve, confident, funny and sensitive, often breaking the fourth wall to comment on the action and participants. In contrast to his very noble business ethic, Wilson was a victim of his own excesses, depicted in scenes where he approves plunking down extra cash to pay for New Order's elaborate record cover, although this decision will actually mean the company loses money on every one of the records they sell, and shelling out 30,000 pounds for a designer conference table to furnish the Factory office. Coogan carries just about the entire film on his back, and although his performance is effective, the movie suffers because of its single-mindedness.
Winterbottom and writer Frank Cottrell Boyce don't do enough in the way of establishing history. They skim over several relevant Manchester bands, which subsequently paints Joy Divison's importance in a somewhat overstated context. And as the band becomes the focal point of the film's first half, the filmmakers strangely decide to dance (no pun intended) around the events that resulted in the death of Ian Curtis. Ironically, the aftermath of his death, are the most powerful moments the movie has to offer. When the film shifts to the birth of the Happy Mondays and the Hacienda dance scene, I became much less interested.
Winterbottom mixes actual concert footage of many of the bands mentioned with some very well done re-creations of the performances. Visually, he's clearly interested in gimmicks, from the newsreel, documentary style look of the film to the flashy editing techniques he employs. It definitely captures an atmosphere, but a manufactured one at that.
Overall, 24 Hour Party People is
a fun, interesting film that mainly (and forgivably) preaches
to the converted. In this case, the converted may have slightly
more complaints than usual, though.
(Screened at the 2002 Los Angeles Film Festival)
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