24 Hour Party People

Plot

In 1976 television presenter Tony Wilson sees the Sex Pistols perform at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall for the first time. Inspired, Wilson starts a weekly series of punk rock shows at a Manchester club, where the newly formed Joy Division perform, led by the erratic, brooding Ian Curtis.

Wilson founds a record label, Factory Records, and signs Joy Division as the first band; the contract is written in Wilson's blood and gives the Factory artists full control over their music. He hires irascible producer Martin Hannett to record Joy Division, and soon the band and label have a hit record. In 1980, just before Joy Division is to tour the United States, Curtis hangs himself. Joy Division rename themselves New Order and record a hit single, "Blue Monday".

Wilson opens a nightclub, the Haçienda; business is slow at first, but eventually the club is packed each night. Wilson signs another hit band, Happy Mondays, led by Shaun Ryder, and the ecstasy-fuelled rave culture is born.

Despite the apparent success, Factory Records is losing money. Every copy of "Blue Monday" sold loses five pence, as the intricate packaging by Peter Saville costs more than the single's sale price. Wilson pays for New Order to record a new album in Ibiza, but after two years, they still have not delivered a record. He pays for the Happy Mondays to record their fourth studio album in Barbados, but Ryder spends all the money on drugs. When Wilson finally receives the album, he finds that Ryder has refused to record vocals, and all the tracks are instrumentals. At the Haçienda, ecstasy use is curbing alcohol sales and attracting gang violence.

The Factory partners try to save the business by selling the label to London Records. However, Wilson reveals that the Factory does not hold contracts with any of its artists and, therefore, does not own a catalogue of recordings. This renders the company ultimately worthless and the deal falls through. While smoking marijuana on the roof of Haçienda after its closing night, Wilson has a vision of God, who assures Wilson he has earned a place in history.

Cast

• Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson
• John Thomson as Charles (Granada TV producer)
• Shirley Henderson as Lindsay Wilson (Tony's first wife)
• Paddy Considine as Rob Gretton (Joy Division/New Order manager)
• Lennie James as Alan Erasmus (co-founder of Factory)
• Andy Serkis as Martin Hannett (producer)
• Sean Harris as Ian Curtis (Joy Division singer)
• Mark Windows as Johnny Rotten
• John Simm as Bernard Sumner (Joy Division/New Order guitarist)
• Ralf Little as Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order bassist)
• Tim Horrocks as Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order drummer)
• Danny Cunningham as Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays singer)
• Chris Coghill as Bez (Happy Mondays dancer and percussionist)
• Paul Popplewell as Paul Ryder (Happy Mondays bassist, brother of Shaun)
• Ron Cook as Derek Ryder (the Ryder brothers' father)
• Kieran O'Brien as Nathan (Happy Mondays manager)
• Raymond Waring as Vini Reilly (singer-guitarist of the Durutti Column)
• Dave Gorman as Jon the Postman (postman/punk singer)
• Peter Kay as Don Tonay
• Enzo Cilenti as Peter Saville (Factory graphic designer)
• Rob Brydon as Ryan Letts (journalist)
• Simon Pegg as Mick Middles (author, then-Sounds magazine writer)
• Christopher Eccleston as Boethius (in disguise as a beggar)
• John Stammers as Marc Riley (scene deleted)
• Sam Riley as Mark E. Smith (scene deleted)
• Helen Schlesinger as Hilary
• Kate Magowan as Yvette
• Keith Allen as Roger Ames

Cameos

• Tony Wilson as Wheel of Fortune director
• Nigel Pivaro as actor at Granada
• Kenny Baker as zookeeper
• Howard Devoto as cleaner/himself
• Rowetta as herself, reprising her time with Happy Mondays
• Terri Seymour as herself, reprising her co-host gig on Wheel of Fortune
• Paul Ryder as drug dealer and head Hacienda doorman Pel
• Clint Boon as Ernie, a train conductor
• Elizabeth Kelly as Ian's nan
• Martin Coogan, Steve's older brother
• Jon DaSilva as himself, reprising his time as resident DJ at The Haçienda
• Mark E. Smith (the Fall) as himself
• Mike Pickering (former DJ at The Haçienda, Factory Records unofficial A&R)
• Dave Haslam (former DJ at The Haçienda)
• Vini Reilly (first artist of Factory Records) scene deleted, clip only
• Gary Mounfield (the Stone Roses)
• Fiona Allen who worked on the door at the Hacienda, playing herself.

Production

Director Michael Winterbottom held talks with the BBC about financing the film, but the studio "weren’t convinced anyone was interested in Tony." Once production got underway, Winterbottom emulated a documentary style of shooting and cinéma vérité, as cast members were encouraged to improvise and blocking was loose or non-existent. The character of Tony Wilson is an unreliable narrator who regularly breaks the fourth wall, referencing Wilson's job as a TV presenter. Real documentary footage of the period was also spliced into the film.

Steve Coogan and Wilson were acquainted before filming, having first met in 1975. When Coogan later worked on a Granada Television late night show, the two men occasionally socialized. Winterbottom recalled that Wilson helped the production team make connections with "everyone involved in the scene."

Production designer Mark Tildesley had the Haçienda nightclub interior rebuilt to its exact proportions in a Manchester warehouse. The original building had been demolished and replaced with luxury flats in 2002. Coogan, who performed at the club in 1986, "got goosebumps when [he] walked into the re-created Haçienda." To achieve the needed atmosphere, the production ran it as a real nightclub for a couple of nights, and New Order worked the DJ booth.

As usual with anything related to Factory Records, the film received its own FAC catalogue number. 24 Hour Party People is known as FAC 401, being first on the hundred that features other video & multimedia releases.

Reception and awards

;Aggregate

;Contemporaneous Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars, writing, "The movie works so well because it evokes genuine, not manufactured, nostalgia. It records a time when the inmates ran the asylum, when music lovers got away with murder. It loves its characters."

Empire gave it four out of five stars, highlighting the film's director.

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, competing against other films the same year, including About Schmidt, and The Pianist.

;Retrospective In 2019, The Guardian ranked the film 49th in its 100 best films of the 21st century list.

Soundtrack

• post-punk
• Madchester
• electronica
• house

The soundtrack to 24 Hour Party People features songs by artists closely associated with Factory Records who were depicted in the film. These include Happy Mondays, Joy Division and the Durutti Column. Manchester band the Buzzcocks are featured, as are the Clash. The album begins with "Anarchy in the U.K." by the Sex Pistols, the band credited in the film with inspiring Factory Records co-founder Tony Wilson to promote music.

New tracks recorded for the album include Joy Division's "New Dawn Fades", from a concert performance by New Order with Moby and Billy Corgan.

Track list

1. "Anarchy in the U.K." (Sex Pistols) – 3:33
2. "24 Hour Party People (Jon Carter Mix)" (Happy Mondays) – 4:30
3. "Transmission" (Joy Division) – 3:36
4. "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" (Buzzcocks) – 2:42
5. "Janie Jones" (The Clash) – 2:06
6. "New Dawn Fades" (New Order featuring Moby) – 4:52
7. "Atmosphere" (Joy Division) – 4:09
8. "Otis" (The Durutti Column) – 4:16
9. "Voodoo Ray" (A Guy Called Gerald) – 2:43
10. "Temptation" (New Order) – 5:44
11. "Loose Fit" (Happy Mondays) – 4:17
12. "Pacific State" (808 State) – 3:53
13. "Blue Monday" (New Order) – 7:30
14. "Move Your Body" (Marshall Jefferson) – 5:15
15. "She's Lost Control" (Joy Division) – 4:44
16. "Hallelujah (Club Mix)" (Happy Mondays) – 5:40
17. "Here To Stay" (New Order) – 4:58
18. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division) – 3:24

Other songs in the film

Several songs appear in the film but are not on the soundtrack album, including:

• "No Fun", performed by the Sex Pistols (archival video footage)
• "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)", performed by Simply Red (archival video footage)
• "Make Up to Break Up", performed by Siouxsie and the Banshees (archival video footage)
• "The Passenger", performed by Iggy Pop (archival video footage)
• "In The City", performed by the Jam (archival video footage)
• "No More Heroes", performed by the Stranglers (archival video footage)
• "Wimoweh", performed by Karl Denver (archival video footage)
• "Lazyitis", performed by Happy Mondays (archival video footage)
• "Old Lost John", performed by Sonny Terry (from the film Stroszek, during Ian Curtis suicide scene)
• "World in Motion", performed by New Order
• "Jacqueline", performed by the Durutti Column
• "Digital", performed by Joy Division
• "Flight", performed by A Certain Ratio
• "Skipscada", performed by A Certain Ratio
• "Tart Tart", performed by Happy Mondays
• "Freaky Dancin'", performed by Happy Mondays
• "Wrote for Luck", performed by Happy Mondays
• "Kinky Afro", performed by Happy Mondays
• "Sunshine and Love", performed by Happy Mondays
• "Satan", performed by Orbital
• "Go", performed by Moby
• "Louie Louie" (partial), performed by John The Postman
• "Louie Louie", performed by Factory All-Stars
• "King of the Beats", performed by Mantronix
• "Solid Air", performed by John Martyn

Chart positions

Home media

As of November 2023, the film was available for free on Roku, Pluto, Amazon and Tubi streaming networks.

References

References

1. "24 Hour Party People (2002)". [[British Film Institute]].
2. "24 Hour Party People".
3. "Festival de Cannes: 24 Hour Party People".
4. Smith, Evan. (2013-12-01). "History and the Notion of Authenticity in Control and 24 Hour Party People". Contemporary British History.
5. Phil Hoad. (6 Feb 2023). "'I did my climactic speech – then took half an E': Steve Coogan on making 24 Hour Party People". Guardian News & Media Limited.
6. "Derek Elley. (28 Mar 2002). "24 Hour Party People". Variety Media.
7. Paul Morley. (22 Feb 2001). "24 Hour Party People: shooting the past". Guardian News & Media Limited.
8. David Ward. (29 Aug 2002). "Hacienda fans rave at plan for luxury flats". Guardian News & Media Limited.
9. "Factory Records: FAC 401 '24 Hour Party People'".
10. "24 Hour Party People".
11. "24 Hour Party People".
12. Ebert, Roger. (16 August 2002). "24 Hour Party People".
13. (January 2000). "24 Hour Party People".
14. (13 September 2019). "The 100 best films of the 21st century".
15. "24 Hour Party People".
16. "OST Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic".
17. Any collection that encompasses A Guy Called Gerald's peerless dance anthem "Voodoo Ray" and Joy Division's exquisite "Atmosphere" is "double double good," as the Happy Mondays' drug-addled singer Shaun Ryder used to quip. [#9, p.158]
18. "Latest Reviews".
19. (19 August 2002). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Various Artists: 24 Hour Party People".
20. This is a sheer visceral delight. [May 2002, p.124]
21. "Various Artists: 24 Hour Party People".
22. Will prove a delight to punters pursuing a Best Madchester Compilation Ever! as long as they forget The Stone Roses ever existed, and assume Morrissey came from another planet. [May 2002, p.116]
23. Nearly every song here can be called seminal without the slightest flinch. [Oct 2002, p.102]
24. "Where to Watch 24 Hour Party People".