It is thankless to speculate about future of motion picture industry, but the author of this review nevertheless believes that nostalgia films are going to disappear from Hollywood mainstream. Unlike previous times, when Hollywood could cash in on the nostalgic feelings of 40-somethings by recreating the lost worlds of their youth, today's audience is made almost exclusively of teenagers and when they grow up, they, like their older brethren today, would probably use some other media to go back into past. So, there would be less and less films trying to deal with cultural past and that makes 24 Hour Party People, British 2002 drama directed by Michael Winterbottom, one of the more precious titles of our times.
Script by Frank Cottrell Boyce deals with Tony Wilson (played by Stephen Coogan), perhaps not the most important, but definitely one of the most memorable personalities in the history of British pop music. The film starts in 1976 Manchester where Cambridge-educated Wilson works as a reporter for Granada Television. One evening he comes to watch gig by brand new band called Sex Pistols and becomes convinced that the future of British music lies in punk rock. Since the more conservative television stations from London refuse to play punk rock, Wilson would use his position on local television to heavily promote punk bands and thus turn Manchester into thriving centre of new music. After that Wilson and his friends set up Factory Records label and begins to sign promising new bands like Joy Division (that would later become New Order) and the Happy Mondays. In late 1980s Wilson and his friends set up Hacienda, legendary night club that would become the birthplace of rave culture. But the empire Wilson had created was always on the weak foundations and the financial mismanagement together with excesses of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll would lead to its downfall.
24 Hour Party People is a very pleasant surprise for all those who are familiar to Michael Winterbottom's work. British director has built his reputation on incredibly dark and often downright depressive films. But this one is, to quote Monty Pythons (whose member Eric Idle often parodied Tony Wilson) is "something completely different". The opening, in which Wilson tries his hand at para-gliding only to start talking to camera and explain the point of the whole scene, is a good preview of things to come - a movie that takes the subject very seriously yet keeps the ironic distance, both towards the past and towards itself. For Winterbottom this is not the first time that he dealt with true stories, but unlike Welcome to Sarajevo, blending of fact and fiction is less conventional.
The plot is actually very weak and the film consists of vignettes that chronicle Factory Records rise and fall, often cut with Wilson's comments or scenes that present his banal every-day job of television journalist. Some of those scenes, like the episodes dealing with UFOs over Manchester or pigeon poisonings, sink to the pure silliness and seem almost irrelevant to the plot, but the audience would probably hardly notice. The light heartedness of the film is kept even in the scenes that show some of the every day's tragedies and that would otherwise be burdened with unnecessary pathos or melodrama. This consistency is one of Winterbottom's greatest achievements.
Stephen Coogan was probably the wisest possible choice for the lead role, because one of his best known comedic characters was based on Wilson. This role required incredible talent because Wilson, as presented in this film, was nothing more than an egomaniac that managed to elevate his importance in the large scheme of things by using his Cambridge education. But Coogan manages to make this character loveable and 24 Hour Party People rests on his shoulders, although his alter ego in one of those to-the-camera speeches claims that he is just one of the supporting characters in the story. Coogan/Wilson managed to overshadow almost any other character, which results in few actors leaving important mark on the film. The only exceptions are Sean Harris in the tragic role of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, Andy Serkis as Martin Hannett and Danny Cunningham in incredibly powerful show as Shaun Ryder. The great acting is enhanced by very effective digital video photography by Robby Muller, while the good editing by Winterbottom and Trevor Waite in many ways recreates the spirit of the times, especially those marked by the arrival of ecstasy and similar drugs in late 1980s. 24 Hour Party People is perhaps not the masterpiece of its genre, but it leaves similar attempts like 54 or Velvet Goldmine light years behind and represents one of the most pleasant movie surprises of 2002.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 23rd 2002)
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