THE TRUE STORY OF THE BIRTH OF THE "24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE"

This, my dearies is for all “I was born too late” generation out there. It’s a brand of music popular with people born in the ‘70s really, but us, the early ‘80s generation just about caught onto its tail. And of course, there are some exceptional young people out there (although not that many these days) who recognise the genius of bands such as the Sex Pistols. Joy Division. James and the Happy Mondays (although this last band was a bit of a British phenomenon. Still.). Anyway, this is their story. The true story of the Manchester music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s and more pivotally, of the one man who made that magical atmosphere possible : Tony Wilson.

Tony Wilson (played nothing short of brilliantly by Steve Coogan) is a journalist. A Cambridge graduate, he has high hopes of his life. The stories he is sent out to cover do not always match these expectations. Except one. One event that will change his life – and in fact the lives of many others. Now, the event in question is the first concert the Sex Pistols ever played in Manchester. This was back in the late ‘70s, before they actually took off you have to remember, so there were only 42 people there. Now, this looks more like a flop than a historical moment, I know. But as Wilson points out throughout the film, whether it’s crowded or not does not necessarily mean it’s not historical (I love his metaphors so I’ll let you discover them for yourselves).  So Wilson’s life changes. He opens a club. A record label. Signs bands like Joy Division and the Happy Mondays. Thus begins an absolute whirlwind of a night job for Wilson. His style is both unorthodox and not entirely sound economically. The changes he makes to the Manchester music scene however? Ground breaking.  The question is, does he have the stamina to see this whirlwind to the end? Or will the only end he actually sees end up being his own?

This film is brilliant on so many levels. Director Michael Winterbottom – and I’m sure Coogan as well as he’s quite the master of formats and such like – has made a film a bit unlike any other I have seen before. First of all, especially at the beginning – and I’m rather sad they didn’t follow through on this tendency but can see how it would be impractical – the film’s footage is interspersed very cleverly with actual footage of the great bands of the time singing. There are a lot of references to real life, a lot of celebrities of yesteryear (including, amusingly, Wilson himself – the real one that is - , don’t worry about missing him though, he gets pointed out to you) have cameos. It is very evidently a very affectionate film made by a crew that loved that music and / or that era. What is also original and  good, however, is the fact that Coogan will, every now and then, turn to the camera and explain what is going on. Not as Wilson though. As Coogan. It’s a brilliant device, a sort of Brechtian distanciation that pushes us to think about what we’re watching, and the fact that it is not actually fiction. Well the film is fiction, but you know what I mean, the events really happened. Most of the time. But don’t worry, Mr Coogan will explain that to you as well…