Review of 24 Hour Party People (2002) by Eduardo C — 31 Aug 2009

Tony Wilson was a martyr in love with martyrdom itself at least as much as with the cause that drove him to it. Taking himself painfully seriously, perhaps because no one else ever seemed to, he searched long and hard for his revolution until he found it in the now legendary "Sex Pistols" concert in Manchester. Almost immediately punk gives birth to post-punk as bands like "Joy Division" (eventually giving way to "New Order"), "A Certain Ratio", "The Buzzcocks" and "Happy Mondays" rise to prominence under Tony's "Factory Records". That the rise (and fall) was mostly in his own mind is alluded to in the film. His record company, after all, went notoriously bankrupt a scant few years after its creation and it had never owned any of the songs it had released. What began with a bang quickly ended with a whimper as the "Madchester" music scene faded into the mainstream.

Was it truly a musical revolution? There is no denying the quality of the bands behind it or the fact that its effects (Manchester was one of the birthing grounds for goth and pretty much spawned rave culture singlehandedly) are still being felt today but it is not unheard of for once prosperous industrial cities fallen on hard times to produce unique and uniquely agressive music. I suppose the subject is irrelevant since it was a revolution in Tony Wilson's mind and he treated it as such. There is something touching and amusing in equal measure about this Cambridge scholar's desperate attempts to intelectualize and legitimize what he saw as the most important artistic current of his time. He refers to Shaun Ryder as the greatest poet since Yeats and, god bless him, he means it. He lost money on every single one of "New Order's" debut albums he sold due to the intricate and expensive packaging. When 20 people show up to the grand opening of his money pit of a club, The Hacienda, he cheerfully reminds everyone that there were only 12 people at the Last Supper. He was a fan first and foremost and a businessman least of all. For a little while the inmates truly did run the asylum in Manchester until it all came crumbling down.

The music is the film is exquisite, of course, and not entirely limited to Factory bands. "Siouxsie and the Banshees", "Iggy Pop" and "The Clash" all make appearances and others such as David Bowie and "The Smiths" are mentioned specifically and with a purpose. The film is nothing if not in love with music itself and amused by the behind the scenes process of creating it. It is far too short to serve as even a crash course in the Manchester scene, but it is certainly effective at condensing it into quite the experience. It certainly helps if one is already familiar with the events presented (which would render the death of Ian Curtis, for example, an already poignant scene even more poignant) but it is hardly required. The film stands firmly on its own, elevated by the strength of its direction (Michael Winterbottom can do no wrong), the music and the intoxcatingly unique persona of Mr. Tony Wilson.