Mancunian Factory

After Anton Corbijn's brilliant "Control", which squeezed tears out of the toughest girlfriend of mine, "24 Hour Party People" is another feature dealing with the wild pop music scene in the 70s and 80s in Manchester. Revolving around the figure of Tony Wilson, the man behind the Madchester revolution who created a home for such bands as Joy Division or The Happy Mondays in his loosely managed Factory Records, known for their policy of avoiding contracts.

The film traces Wilson's engagement in pop music from his days as a host in the cult TV show "So it goes" in 1976, and than as he veers towards staging events and promoting bands it shows the early gigs at the Factory club. During one such performance, we witness a famous fit of epilepsy Ian Curtis of Joy Division had before his decline into depression and finally suicide. The story takes us as far as the bankrupcy of both Factory Records and The Haçienda when years of mismanagement and living on the edge start taking its toll on Tony and his partners.

Steve Coogan starring Wilson is much more convincing here than funny as Alan Partridge, but overall "24 Hour" lacks the music pieces which are so nicely scattered all over "Control", giving it a feeling of variety and much speedier pace.

Language to remember:
1. If you live in Manchester, you're a Manc or a Mancunian,
2. When something gets the better of you, it wins over you,
3. You don't want to be called a wanker,
4. The Factory club was a live music venue,
5. Wilson to his wife: Don't beat about the bush. I give you a straight question, I need a straight answer. Are you leaving me?,
6. For fuck's sake is just stronger for god's sake,
7. Wilson to the club audience a minute before the club was repossessed: I'd like you to leave in a disorderly fashion. Take the chairs, music equipment, anything. Just use it wisely,
8. A friend breaks the news of Curtis's suicide to Wilson: Ian's dead. He's hung himself.
9. Wilson to his wife on seeing him getting a blow-job by a hooker: It's not what it seems,
10. A bona fide offer is a genuine offer.