24 Hour Party People

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

24 Hour Party People
Directed by	Michael Winterbottom
Produced by	Andrew Eaton
Written by	Frank Cottrell Boyce
Starring	Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Paddy Considine
Music by	Various
Distributed by	Pathé (UK) United Artists (USA)
Release date(s)	5 April 2002 (UK) 9 August 2002 (US)
Running time	117 minutes
Language	English
IMDb profile

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.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Miscellanea 3 Soundtrack 4 External links

[edit] Cast

The ensemble cast includes:

• Steve Coogan - Tony Wilson
• Shirley Henderson - Lindsay Wilson (Tony's first wife)
• Paddy Considine - Rob Gretton (Joy Division/New Order manager)
• Lennie James - Alan Erasmus (co-founder of Factory)
• Andy Serkis - Martin Hannett (producer)
• Sean Harris - Ian Curtis (Joy Division singer)
• John Simm - Bernard Sumner (Joy Division/New Order guitarist)
• Ralf Little - Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order bassist)
• Danny Cunningham - Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays' singer)
• Chris Coghill - Bez (Happy Mondays' dancer and percussionist)
• Dave Gorman - John The Postman
• Peter Kay - Don Tonay

plus cameos by:

• Smug Roberts
• Clint Boon
• Martin Coogan
• Rowetta
• Simon Pegg
• Rob Brydon
• Mark E. Smith
• Vini Reilly
• Paul Ryder
• Christopher Eccleston
• Howard Devoto
• Keith Allen
• Gary Mounfield (a.k.a. Mani)
• ... and Tony Wilson himself.

[edit] Miscellanea

• A novelization, 24 Hour Party People, based on the screenplay for the film, was written by Tony Wilson and released in 2003 - it is perhaps the first example of someone writing a biography of themselves that is not, technically, an autobiography.

• The title (and opening theme) for the film comes from the song "Twenty Four Hour Party People" by the Happy Mondays, from their album Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out).

• Tony Wilson states on the commentary on the DVD that he attempted to get some scenes removed from the film (his portrayal as a bad father etc.) and wanted the gold discs removed from the Factory headquarters set as they never had any on the walls.

• Tony Wilson also had to apologise to Mick Hucknall for the comments made at the end of the film about him ("he's a ginger").

• In an interview with the Q magazine in the April 2003 issue, a reader asked Hucknall his view to the comment about the insult on him at the end. Hucknall retorted that Coogan plays Alan Partridge well because he is Alan Partridge in real life.

• 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 an 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').^{[citation needed]}

• The role of Yvette Livesey who was an ex-beauty queen is played by Kate Magowan who is coincidentally another former beauty queen.

• The scenes based in the Russell Club were actually filmed in Jilly's Rockworld, a rock nightclub in Manchester, as the original venue has long been demolished.

• The director Michael Winterbottom is an old boy of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, which is coincidentally the same school attended by Yvette Livesey, a number of years later.

• The hostess who appeared in the Wheel of Fortune scene, though uncredited, is model and TV correspondent Terri Seymour, more commonly known as the long term girlfriend of Simon Cowell.

[edit] Soundtrack

24 Hour Party People
Soundtrack by Various
Released	2002
Recorded	1976 - 2002
Genre	Various
Label	FFRR Records
Producer(s)	Various
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link

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

[edit] External links

• Official site
• 24 Hour Party People at the Internet Movie Database
• Unofficial site at Joy Division Central
• Unofficial fan site of the Happy Mondays

Joy Division
Ian Curtis | Bernard Sumner | Peter Hook | Stephen Morris Former members: Terry Mason | Tony Tabac | Steve Brotherdale
Discography
Albums: Unknown Pleasures | Closer
Compilation Albums: Still | Substance | Permanent | Heart and Soul
Live Albums: Preston Warehouse | Les Bains Douches | Fractured Box Set | Re-Fractured Box Set | Let The Movie Begin
Radio Albums: The Peel Sessions | The Complete BBC Recordings | Before and After/The BBC Sessions
Singles & EPs: An Ideal for Living | Transmission | Licht und Blindheit | Komakino | Love Will Tear Us Apart | Atmosphere/She's Lost Control
Unreleased Records The Warsaw Demo
Related articles
Factory Records | The Haçienda | 24 Hour Party People | Martin Hannett | Peter Saville | Tony Wilson | Rob Gretton | Alan Erasmus | New Order | Control: The Ian Curtis Film
This box: view • talk • edit

Cinema of the United Kingdom
Actors • Directors • Films A-Z • Cinematographers • Editors • Producers • Score composers • Screenwriters •