24 Hour Party People  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Martin Hannett

24 Hour Party People is a 2002 film about Manchester's popular music community from 1977 to 1997, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom.

It begins with the punk rock era, and moves through the 1980s into the "Madchester" scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main character is Tony Wilson, the head of Factory Records (played by comedian Steve Coogan), and the narrative largely follows his career, while also covering the major Factory artists, especially Joy Division and New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and the Happy Mondays.

The movie is a dramatization based on a combination of real events, rumours, urban legends and the imaginations of the scriptwriter - as the movie makes clear. In one scene featuring Howard Devoto (played by Martin Hancock) having sex with Wilson's first wife, the real Devoto, an extra in the scene, turns to the camera and says "I definitely don't remember this happening". The fourth wall is frequently broken, with Wilson (who also acts as the narrator of the movie) frequently commenting on events as they occur directly to camera, at one point declaring that he's "being postmodern, before it's fashionable".

The actors are often intercut with real contemporary concert footage, including the famous Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.

Miscellanea

• The last night of The Haçienda shown in the film was not the real last night. It had to be staged due to the club having been closed a few years earlier because of the violence and crime problems described in the film. Very shortly after the 'last night' scene was filmed, the Hacienda building was knocked down to make way for a block of luxury yuppie flats, much to the anger a disappointment of former Hacienda regulars.[1]

• When informed who was to portray Tony Wilson, New Order bassist Peter Hook was alleged to have commented 'Manchester's biggest cunt, being played by its second biggest cunt' (another reported version was 'Manchester's biggest twat, playing Manchester's biggest cunt').

Soundtrack

1. "Anarchy in the U.K." - Sex Pistols – 3:33
2. "24 Hour Party People" (Jon Carter Mix) - Happy Mondays – 4:30
3. "Transmission" - Joy Division – 3:36
4. "Ever Fallen in Love?" - Buzzcocks – 2:42
5. "Janie Jones" - The Clash – 2:06
6. "New Dawn Fades" - Moby with New Order – 4:52
7. "Atmosphere" - Joy Division – 4:09
8. "Otis" - Durutti Column – 4:16
9. "Voodoo Ray" - A Guy Called Gerald – 2:43
10. "Temptation" - New Order – 5:44
11. "Loose Fit" - Happy Mondays – 4:17
12. "Pacific State" - 808 State – 3:53
13. "Blue Monday" - New Order – 7:30
14. "Move Your Body" - Marshall Jefferson – 0:44
15. "She's Lost Control" - Joy Division – 4:44
16. "Hallelujah (Club Mix)" - Happy Mondays – 5:40
17. "Here To Stay" - New Order – 4:58
18. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division – 3:24