24 Hour Party People

So I'm rediscovering the history of one of my all time favorite bands, New Order.  I started by watching Control (which I just recently reviewed), the story of Ian Curtis who started New Order's previous reincarnation, Joy Division.  Where that movie was a detailed history of Joy Division, 24 Hour Party People is the rest of the story told from the quirky point of view of Tony Wilson who is brilliantly played by Steve Coogan under the direction of Michael Winterbottom.  Now I have seen a later Coogan/Winterbottom collaboration in a film I have mixed emotions about called Tristram Shandy where Coogan would constantly break the 4th wall as if in a direct conversation with the movies audience.  I felt it did not really work for me in Tristram Shandy but it really did work here in this story of the music production company called Factory.

Steve Coogan plays Tony Wilson, a late 70's English television personality based in Manchester.  Tony is portrayed as an innovative trend setter and upon watching the Sex Pistols first Manchester concert he decides he wants to produce bands exploring the post punk sound which would lead to the beginnings of alternative music.  Tony features the underground bands on his popular music review show and manages to sign on a few bands who were proving to be quite successful at cranking out the sound Tony needed to make his mark on music history.

The story from this point on follows the ups and downs of his production company called Factory.  By producing some of the most innovative names in underground music (Joy Division, New Order, Bez, Happy Mondays) and providing trendy clubs to headline live performances or to spin their newest records onto the dance floor, Tony manages to keep Factory going through the 80's and into the 90's when Tony is forced to sell Factory to a leading record producing company.  He is, however, triumphant at always remaining true to his vision of producing innovative music with out selling out.

On top of the who's who and the how, when and where of one of alternative music's staples, and meeting the extreme personalities who help or follow Tony Wilson (humorously portrayed a cast of great UK actors with a few cameos of the portrayed themselves), the movie manages to take light look at all the craziness of the music industry.