24 Hour Party People, dir. Michael Winterbottom.
The tagline for this movie is: "Genius. Poet. Twat."
This film was recommended to me by my goth goddess vayshti purely on the strength of the first half of the film, which covers the rise and fall of Joy Division, a band I am rather fond of. I confess I wasn't too sure what I was in for, but I was thoroughly entertained by this very amusing, tongue-in-cheek, darkly witty look at the rise of the Manchester music scene.
The film begins with the lead character, Tony Wilson, doing a report on hang gliding for Granada TV. As well as performing in the capacity of lead character, Tony Wilson also acts as narator. This isn't a new device for film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very amusingly done here.
Wilson talks about a gig in 1977 of the Sex Pistols in Manchester, where a grand total of 42 people were present. (Sounds like Fear and Loathing on a good night.) Many people in the audience were to later become movers and shakers in the Manchester music scene: Stiff Kittens (who became Joy Division and then New Order,) Howard DeVoto, the Happy Mondays. This gig was instrumental in Wilson starting his own TV show, "So It Goes," which is legendary in punk history for showing footage of bands that no-one else in the UK would. There is a great deal of footage of bands such as The Clash and the Pistols and emboldened by the success of his show, Wilson goes on to start the nightclub known as The Factory. The Factory club sees the very first performance of a band named Warsaw. Warsaw went on to be known as Joy Division.
The performances for the first part of the film are stellar. Sean Harris who plays Ian Curtis does an amazing job - he *looks* the part. So much so, I had to constantly remind myself that Curtis is dead. The lead up to Curtis' suicide just before Joy Division go on their US tour is brilliantly done, including the formation of The Factory record label, complete with the 'anti contract' written in Tony Wilson's blood. The 'anti-contract' states that the company owns nothing, the bands are in complete control and own all their music, back catalogue, etc, and as such, the sole purpose of the company is to release that music, not gaining much of a profit out of it.
Later, this comes back to bite Wilson most spectacularly in the arse.
With Curtis' death in 1980 (suicide by hanging,) the remnants of Joy Division become New Order. "Blue Monday," the first single the band release, is the biggest selling single of its year of release in the UK. Unfortunately, the band don't see a red cent of the money made from it, due to a rather rash decision on the part of Factory records partners, to open a club in Manchester called The Hacienda.
While the Hacienda struggles, surviving solely on the money made from sales of New Order's records, Wilson discovers a band called The Happy Mondays. The Mondays are portrayed as being genius but also addicts. At a gig at the Hacienda, things suddenly take off. There is a crowd of about 30 people. The atmosphere is intense, and suddenly, the following night, the club is full. DJ's are playing a wide variety of music, and this is the start of what becomes known as rave culture.
Drugs, money, mobsters, intrigue and near bankruptcy follow, with New Order deciding to record another album - in Ibiza. This takes two years. While they are doing this, The Happy Mondays go to Barbados to record, as the idea is there isn't any heroin there, so their addict singer, Sean, will have to be clean. 200,000 pounds later, no record. Factory pull the plug on the sink they are sinking money into, and The Happy Mondays come back to the UK, extort 50 pounds from Wilson, and hand over the DAT master tape.
Which has no vocals.
At this point, the company decides to sell off its options to London records rather than try to continue flogging a financially dead horse.
Now, I'm not really a fan of the Manchester sound. I don't really like The Happy Mondays or The Stone Roses, to name but a few of the bands of the time. But I adore Joy Division, and that's what got me watching this film. The narrative is engaging enough for me to continue watching when the Joy Division chapter ends, and the performances by the cast are brilliant. There are some wonderful one liners and some very witty dialogue. My only real problem with this entertaining piece was the credits. I'm sure they look very effective but they were fucking hard on the eyes. Which is a bitch, if you want to know who was playing who.
As an amusing sidenote, Tony Wilson, the real Tony Wilson, still works for Granada TV and is still married to Miss UK of the late 1980's. The Hacienda closed its doors but remains to Manchester music buffs an icon of uncensored music and entertainment.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable film, mingling documentary with satire and some extremely brilliant performances by the cast. Well directed, and generally well edited, although there are moments where the flow is somewhat disjointed and you are left wondering what the hell this scene or that had to do with anything. Apart from that, most entertaining, particularly for music buffs. Highly recommended.
This film was recommended to me by my goth goddess vayshti purely on the strength of the first half of the film, which covers the rise and fall of Joy Division, a band I am rather fond of. I confess I wasn't too sure what I was in for, but I was thoroughly entertained by this very amusing, tongue-in-cheek, darkly witty look at the rise of the Manchester music scene.
The film begins with the lead character, Tony Wilson, doing a report on hang gliding for Granada TV. As well as performing in the capacity of lead character, Tony Wilson also acts as narator. This isn't a new device for film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very amusingly done here.
Wilson talks about a gig in 1977 of the Sex Pistols in Manchester, where a grand total of 42 people were present. (Sounds like Fear and Loathing on a good night.) Many people in the audience were to later become movers and shakers in the Manchester music scene: Stiff Kittens (who became Joy Division and then New Order,) Howard DeVoto, the Happy Mondays. This gig was instrumental in Wilson starting his own TV show, "So It Goes," which is legendary in punk history for showing footage of bands that no-one else in the UK would. There is a great deal of footage of bands such as The Clash and the Pistols and emboldened by the success of his show, Wilson goes on to start the nightclub known as The Factory. The Factory club sees the very first performance of a band named Warsaw. Warsaw went on to be known as Joy Division.
The performances for the first part of the film are stellar. Sean Harris who plays Ian Curtis does an amazing job - he *looks* the part. So much so, I had to constantly remind myself that Curtis is dead. The lead up to Curtis' suicide just before Joy Division go on their US tour is brilliantly done, including the formation of The Factory record label, complete with the 'anti contract' written in Tony Wilson's blood. The 'anti-contract' states that the company owns nothing, the bands are in complete control and own all their music, back catalogue, etc, and as such, the sole purpose of the company is to release that music, not gaining much of a profit out of it.
Later, this comes back to bite Wilson most spectacularly in the arse.
With Curtis' death in 1980 (suicide by hanging,) the remnants of Joy Division become New Order. "Blue Monday," the first single the band release, is the biggest selling single of its year of release in the UK. Unfortunately, the band don't see a red cent of the money made from it, due to a rather rash decision on the part of Factory records partners, to open a club in Manchester called The Hacienda.
While the Hacienda struggles, surviving solely on the money made from sales of New Order's records, Wilson discovers a band called The Happy Mondays. The Mondays are portrayed as being genius but also addicts. At a gig at the Hacienda, things suddenly take off. There is a crowd of about 30 people. The atmosphere is intense, and suddenly, the following night, the club is full. DJ's are playing a wide variety of music, and this is the start of what becomes known as rave culture.
Drugs, money, mobsters, intrigue and near bankruptcy follow, with New Order deciding to record another album - in Ibiza. This takes two years. While they are doing this, The Happy Mondays go to Barbados to record, as the idea is there isn't any heroin there, so their addict singer, Sean, will have to be clean. 200,000 pounds later, no record. Factory pull the plug on the sink they are sinking money into, and The Happy Mondays come back to the UK, extort 50 pounds from Wilson, and hand over the DAT master tape.
Which has no vocals.
At this point, the company decides to sell off its options to London records rather than try to continue flogging a financially dead horse.
Now, I'm not really a fan of the Manchester sound. I don't really like The Happy Mondays or The Stone Roses, to name but a few of the bands of the time. But I adore Joy Division, and that's what got me watching this film. The narrative is engaging enough for me to continue watching when the Joy Division chapter ends, and the performances by the cast are brilliant. There are some wonderful one liners and some very witty dialogue. My only real problem with this entertaining piece was the credits. I'm sure they look very effective but they were fucking hard on the eyes. Which is a bitch, if you want to know who was playing who.
As an amusing sidenote, Tony Wilson, the real Tony Wilson, still works for Granada TV and is still married to Miss UK of the late 1980's. The Hacienda closed its doors but remains to Manchester music buffs an icon of uncensored music and entertainment.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable film, mingling documentary with satire and some extremely brilliant performances by the cast. Well directed, and generally well edited, although there are moments where the flow is somewhat disjointed and you are left wondering what the hell this scene or that had to do with anything. Apart from that, most entertaining, particularly for music buffs. Highly recommended.