Session 016 - 24 Hour Party People
Who saw it and what are your thoughts on it?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
In the Screening Room - Michael Winterbottom's
24 Hour Party People
Session 016 - 24 Hour Party People
Who saw it and what are your thoughts on it?
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2 comments:
The opening credits of this film had me thinking this was going to be another march down the painful road of Trainspotting, namely its British roots, story planted in drug culture, hyperkinetic editing, flashy coloring and desperation to draw attention to itself for no real purpose.
Luckily the film itself bears little resemblance.
Sure these characters are sometimes deplorable jerks (though not nearly so bad as the Trainspotting scumbags), but I think the difference in my reaction between these two films is largely because 24 Hour Party People isn’t so much about the characters as it is about the music.
As Adam on “Filmspotting” mentioned this past week when he included it on his Top 5 list… again (he has been the biggest advocate of this movie that I’ve seen), the film breaks the fourth wall. So Steve Coogan, who stars as Tony Wilson, is constantly addressing the camera directly. This gives the film a documentary sense, so the film can work as both an account of a story and a historical review of the Manchester music scene (which is really more to the point).
Coogan also gets to interject a great deal of humor into the story by commenting on what’s going on, complaining about his current job situation or making references to famous musician appearances in the film you otherwise might not have noticed, plus deleted scenes that got cut out and in one bravura wink at the camera he even gets the real-life version of the character to show up and say, “I don’t remember that happening” as two people have sex in a nearby bathroom stall.
But as Wilson himself claims, “I’m a minor player in my own life story.” That’s because the focus is on ‘the scene’… the actual point of the story is, as I said before, the music. Discovering it, making it, distributing it and getting it out there. The music is what propelled Tony Wilson to start his own show, open his own club and even start his own label.
It’s not the money (although they need it to sustain their dream) and it’s not the drugs (though, again, there are plenty partaking), it’s about staying true to the music. A life where the worst thing you could do is “sell out” and is the reason that Wilson never kept contracts with his musical acts. That way, even as his Hacienda club comes tumbling down, raided by Wilson’s own request, he can stand proudly atop it all as the music fades out and let history be the judge of what he accomplished.
Also of note: This is the second movie I’ve seen recently chronicling the exploits of Joy Division (Control does a more in-depth look at the band), but this film is an interesting companion piece to that if you check out both.
This is the third film I’ve seen by Michael Winterbottom (after Code 46 and A Mighty Heart) and it’s my favorite to date. Makes me much more interested in tracking down Tristram Shandy.
Plus, I always like the presence of Paddy Considine in a film.
Best quote from the film: “If you are given the choice between printing the truth or printing the legend, by all means print the legend.” B
Saw it last summer. I love Coogan here. He is fantastic. I thought this film was a riot and had me from the first frame. Lot to like here. Hopefully Coogan and Winterbottom pair up again because their two films put me in stitches.
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