| 24 Hour Party People | |
|---|---|
 UK theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Winterbottom |
| Written by | Frank Cottrell-Boyce |
| Produced by | Andrew Eaton |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Robby Müller |
| Edited by | Trevor Waite |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Pathé Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 117 minutes[2] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.8 million[2] |
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British biographical comedy drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film was entered into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival[3] to positive reviews.
It begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s and moves through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture and the "Madchester" scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main character is Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), a news reporter for Granada Television and the head of Factory Records. The narrative largely follows his career, while also covering the careers of the major Factory artists, especially Joy Division and New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column and Happy Mondays.[4]
The film is a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, urban legends and the imaginings of the scriptwriter, as the film makes clear.[4] In one scene, one-time Buzzcocks member Howard Devoto (played by Martin Hancock) is shown having sex with Wilson's first wife in the toilets of a club; 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) frequently commenting on events directly to camera as they occur, at one point declaring that he is "being postmodern, before it's fashionable". The actors are often intercut with real contemporary concert footage, including the Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.
- ^ "24 Hour Party People (2002)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016.
- ^ a b "24 Hour Party People". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: 24 Hour Party People". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- ^ a b Smith, Evan (1 December 2013). "History and the Notion of Authenticity in Control and 24 Hour Party People". Contemporary British History. 27 (4): 466–489. doi:10.1080/13619462.2013.840537. ISSN 1361-9462. S2CID 159889143.