A frantic,no-holds barred biopic of the sadly recently deceased Tony Wilson,the Manchester-based regional news presenter turned record label owner turned nightclub owner(influenced by witnessing a sparsely attended gig the infamous Punk Rockers The Sex Pistols did in the city in June 1976),and the trials and tribulations surrounding the pop groups Joy Division and The Happy Mondays.
Director Michael Winterbottom has elected to film 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE in a breathless,hand-held,cinema verite style on digital video,packed with incidents that may or may not be true,plus Brechtian-style interjections by Wilson himself,reminding us that this is only a film we're watching;there are even scenes of UFO's of visions of God thrown in to make sure of this!
On one level,this is all extremely entertaining,funny and inventive.Winterbottom's style does not interfere with the substance too markedly(although that is a double meaning;the substance is not just referring to the script but the illegal chemicals used by virtually everyone on show in every sequence)and is apt for telling this kind of story,which he achieves with considerable aplomb.
Their are problems for the actors involved. Steve Coogan,Andy Serkis,Danny Cunningham,Paddy Considine,Ralf Little,John Simm,etc. are perfectly good in their roles,but because of the ferocious pace that Winterbottom has applied to the film,there are very few opportunities for little more than superficial characterisations,which end up in coming across little better that impersonation.Coogan,an extremely talented comic actor,is not quite as good a serious actor,and he occasionally seems a trifle uncomfortable in several scenes which would have worked better being played straight rather than for laughs.He doesn't remotely resemble the real Tony Wilson in appearance,and his performance sometimes veers into caricature and Alan Partridge-isms.The best performance comes from Sean Harris as the tragic Ian Curtis;this is the nearest we get to any sort of character with depth.But even before the suicide of Curtis (which is shown in a rather too jokey manner),we still don't find the proper reasons why he decided to take his own life;the new film CONTROL will hopefully tell the story of Ian Curtis in full detail.However,there are some amusing cameos from such Manchester musical icons as Mark E.Smith,Clint Boon and Mani,which come off rather well and enhance our interest and enjoyment of the film.
The music itself is great,but to truly tell the story of 'MADCHESTER' in greater detail,you need to mention other groups such as The Stone Roses,The Inspiral Carpets,James,The Charlatans,Northside and 808 State,who are totally anonymous here.Highly influential as Tony Wilson,Factory Records and The Hacienda were,there were many other important players involved to make it so unique and memorable.Perhaps the filmmakers couldn't obtain the copyright for these other great tunes.The recreation of the Hacienda itself is convincing (being filmed where it was actually located),as are the whimsical,if not farcical, reports from the local TV station (GRANADA TV) which was Wilson's day job in between running his record label and nightclub. The contrast from the early,near-empty Hacienda to the jam-packed glory of it's post-punk,rave peak is amusing,but more scenes here with the music and dancing may have given us a better feel of what made the 'MADCHESTER' era so special.The scenes recreated of the Hacienda at it's peak are very well done,but rather too fleeting.The references to the excessive drug intake there (particularly the Mondays) are thankfully not preachy but rather too ambivalent.An interview on the DVD extras with lead singer Shaun Ryder (bloated,prematurely aged and shaking) possibly should've also been included in the film as a warning to the excesses of the rock n'roll lifestyle.The Mondays had proved ability at creating quirky music,but away from the recording studio they seemed grossly inarticulate,repellent-minded oafs whose desire for temporary hedonism soon brought them crashing to earth,though they have made a comeback of sorts in recent years,bruised and battered and a trifle more sensible.
Wilson himself had no sort of business sense;Factory Records went bankrupt in 1992,and the Hacienda finally closed it's doors in 1997 after trouble with various gangs and police objections.Tony Wilson himself sadly died on 10 August 2007 after a battle with kidney cancer aged only 57.He has been much mourned here in the North West of England,particularly around Manchester,a city and people that he loved and stuck with through the bad times,until it briefly became,around 1989-1991,the musical centre of the world.That's what Tony himself wanted everybody to think,with him as the pivotal figure.These statements are perhaps not entirely true,but 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE is generally a fitting epitaph to a true musical visionary,hating the monetary driven London-based music industry,and bucking the trend by being more interested in producing music than making money.Hopefully in the near future,someone may produce a more in depth documentary look at Tony Wilson and 'MADCHESTER',a period I will always recall with fondness as I was attending college at the time,around Manchester.That may be an even more fitting epitaph.
RATING:7 out of 10.
Director Michael Winterbottom has elected to film 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE in a breathless,hand-held,cinema verite style on digital video,packed with incidents that may or may not be true,plus Brechtian-style interjections by Wilson himself,reminding us that this is only a film we're watching;there are even scenes of UFO's of visions of God thrown in to make sure of this!
On one level,this is all extremely entertaining,funny and inventive.Winterbottom's style does not interfere with the substance too markedly(although that is a double meaning;the substance is not just referring to the script but the illegal chemicals used by virtually everyone on show in every sequence)and is apt for telling this kind of story,which he achieves with considerable aplomb.
Their are problems for the actors involved. Steve Coogan,Andy Serkis,Danny Cunningham,Paddy Considine,Ralf Little,John Simm,etc. are perfectly good in their roles,but because of the ferocious pace that Winterbottom has applied to the film,there are very few opportunities for little more than superficial characterisations,which end up in coming across little better that impersonation.Coogan,an extremely talented comic actor,is not quite as good a serious actor,and he occasionally seems a trifle uncomfortable in several scenes which would have worked better being played straight rather than for laughs.He doesn't remotely resemble the real Tony Wilson in appearance,and his performance sometimes veers into caricature and Alan Partridge-isms.The best performance comes from Sean Harris as the tragic Ian Curtis;this is the nearest we get to any sort of character with depth.But even before the suicide of Curtis (which is shown in a rather too jokey manner),we still don't find the proper reasons why he decided to take his own life;the new film CONTROL will hopefully tell the story of Ian Curtis in full detail.However,there are some amusing cameos from such Manchester musical icons as Mark E.Smith,Clint Boon and Mani,which come off rather well and enhance our interest and enjoyment of the film.
The music itself is great,but to truly tell the story of 'MADCHESTER' in greater detail,you need to mention other groups such as The Stone Roses,The Inspiral Carpets,James,The Charlatans,Northside and 808 State,who are totally anonymous here.Highly influential as Tony Wilson,Factory Records and The Hacienda were,there were many other important players involved to make it so unique and memorable.Perhaps the filmmakers couldn't obtain the copyright for these other great tunes.The recreation of the Hacienda itself is convincing (being filmed where it was actually located),as are the whimsical,if not farcical, reports from the local TV station (GRANADA TV) which was Wilson's day job in between running his record label and nightclub. The contrast from the early,near-empty Hacienda to the jam-packed glory of it's post-punk,rave peak is amusing,but more scenes here with the music and dancing may have given us a better feel of what made the 'MADCHESTER' era so special.The scenes recreated of the Hacienda at it's peak are very well done,but rather too fleeting.The references to the excessive drug intake there (particularly the Mondays) are thankfully not preachy but rather too ambivalent.An interview on the DVD extras with lead singer Shaun Ryder (bloated,prematurely aged and shaking) possibly should've also been included in the film as a warning to the excesses of the rock n'roll lifestyle.The Mondays had proved ability at creating quirky music,but away from the recording studio they seemed grossly inarticulate,repellent-minded oafs whose desire for temporary hedonism soon brought them crashing to earth,though they have made a comeback of sorts in recent years,bruised and battered and a trifle more sensible.
Wilson himself had no sort of business sense;Factory Records went bankrupt in 1992,and the Hacienda finally closed it's doors in 1997 after trouble with various gangs and police objections.Tony Wilson himself sadly died on 10 August 2007 after a battle with kidney cancer aged only 57.He has been much mourned here in the North West of England,particularly around Manchester,a city and people that he loved and stuck with through the bad times,until it briefly became,around 1989-1991,the musical centre of the world.That's what Tony himself wanted everybody to think,with him as the pivotal figure.These statements are perhaps not entirely true,but 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE is generally a fitting epitaph to a true musical visionary,hating the monetary driven London-based music industry,and bucking the trend by being more interested in producing music than making money.Hopefully in the near future,someone may produce a more in depth documentary look at Tony Wilson and 'MADCHESTER',a period I will always recall with fondness as I was attending college at the time,around Manchester.That may be an even more fitting epitaph.
RATING:7 out of 10.