24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British biographical comedy drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film was entered into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival to positive reviews.

It begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s and moves through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture and the "Madchester" scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main character is Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), a news reporter for Granada Television and the head of Factory Records. The narrative largely follows his career, while also covering the careers of the major Factory artists, especially Joy Division and New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutti Column and Happy Mondays.

The film is a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, urban legends and the imaginings of the scriptwriter, as the film makes clear. 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.

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." 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.

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

The soundtrack to 24 Hour Party People features songs by artists closely associated with Factory Records who were depicted in the film.

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.

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score =

| rev3 = E!

| rev3score = B+

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5Score = 7.0/10

| rev6 = Q

| rev6score =

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7Score =

| rev8 = Uncut

| rev8score = 7/10

| rev9 = URB

| rev9score =

Track list

  1. "Anarchy in the U.K." (Sex Pistols) – 3:33

See also

  • So It Goes
  • Control
  • List of cult films

References

  • 24-Hour Party People filming locations