The story of Factory Records is one I lived through by reading the UK music press whilst growing up in the 80's and 90's. I read about the parties, the drugs, the fights, the splits and the deaths. The people were larger than life caricatures, in a time before 'celebrity' had reached the nadir it has plumbed today. The best soap opera set in Manchester... What I read were legends, the truth hidden behind the ink. Having watched it brought to life, I'm still not certain what really happened. As Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson quotes in the film 'if I have the choice between the truth and the legend, print the legend'. Here the legend has been filmed.
And largely, they've played if for laughs. The real-life Tony Wilson is someone is often laughed at true, but when he speaks there's a hard edge, a confidence and edge, maybe even a whiff of intellectual brutishness, that Steve Coogan's portrayal doesn't have. The Tony Wilson in the film reminds me most of other Steve Coogan roles such as Alan Partridge. Unfortunate that the central role is lacking, as all the many other roles revolving round this centre of levity are wonderful. Most especially good are Andy Serkis as Martin Hannett and Sean Harris as Ian Curtis.
This film's brilliance is in showing the life of a large, amorphous group of people brought together for the purpose of making music. There is an ill-defined boundary round the edge of Factory Record through which people slip quietly. From within, all is energy and life. Relationships fizzing off one another bringing tragedy and comedy, art and manure in equal measure. Lives lived brightly with a heart that still beats today, even though the body has been scattered to the major labels around the world. This thing really did exist, here is the testament.
Help, I'm beginning to sound like Tony Wilson.
There are other successes and failures. The Hacienda is resurrected to the smallest detail. The claim to show the real Manchester of the time rings hollow. This maybe their Manchester, but it isn't the real one. The in-flight narrative by Coogan as Wilson is simple, yet doesn't work. The cameos by many of the 'real' people is great if you know who they are. If you don't 'get' Factory, you'll probably not 'get' this film.
As an attempt to bottle the Factory spirit, this is a roaring success and for that it gets high marks. This is not the real story, something that would make for a great documentary all of its own. One for re-living the legends rather than looking at them critically.
And largely, they've played if for laughs. The real-life Tony Wilson is someone is often laughed at true, but when he speaks there's a hard edge, a confidence and edge, maybe even a whiff of intellectual brutishness, that Steve Coogan's portrayal doesn't have. The Tony Wilson in the film reminds me most of other Steve Coogan roles such as Alan Partridge. Unfortunate that the central role is lacking, as all the many other roles revolving round this centre of levity are wonderful. Most especially good are Andy Serkis as Martin Hannett and Sean Harris as Ian Curtis.
This film's brilliance is in showing the life of a large, amorphous group of people brought together for the purpose of making music. There is an ill-defined boundary round the edge of Factory Record through which people slip quietly. From within, all is energy and life. Relationships fizzing off one another bringing tragedy and comedy, art and manure in equal measure. Lives lived brightly with a heart that still beats today, even though the body has been scattered to the major labels around the world. This thing really did exist, here is the testament.
Help, I'm beginning to sound like Tony Wilson.
There are other successes and failures. The Hacienda is resurrected to the smallest detail. The claim to show the real Manchester of the time rings hollow. This maybe their Manchester, but it isn't the real one. The in-flight narrative by Coogan as Wilson is simple, yet doesn't work. The cameos by many of the 'real' people is great if you know who they are. If you don't 'get' Factory, you'll probably not 'get' this film.
As an attempt to bottle the Factory spirit, this is a roaring success and for that it gets high marks. This is not the real story, something that would make for a great documentary all of its own. One for re-living the legends rather than looking at them critically.