"You're going to see a lot more of that sort of thing in the picture. I don't want to say too much, don't want to spoil it. I'll just say one word: 'Icarus'. If you get it, great. If you don't, that's fine too. But you should probably read more."
— Tony Wilson
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British biopic directed by Michael Winterbottom telling the rise and fall of Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), a local news reporter who attends a pivotal gig by The Sex Pistols in the 1970s which changes his life. Believing he is living in "one of the most important fucking times in human history", he decides to start a record company called Factory Records and a club, the Haçienda. He also decides to Break the Fourth Wall and converse with the audience a lot, because it's that sort of film.
The film follows Tony and Factory Records as money is lost, Joy Division (one of Factory's first signings) lead singer Ian Curtis commits suicide, causing the band to rename themselves New Order and veer off in a totally different direction, Record Producer Martin Hannett goes insane and tries to kill Tony, the birth of "Madchester" music and rave culture, The Happy Mondays sell their equipment and studio for crack and then attempt to hold back their new album from Factory for ransom... You wouldn't get this kinda stuff in a film about EMI.
The film focuses largely on two of Factory's most popular artists, Joy Division (and their later reformation as New Order) and Happy Mondays, although it also features A Certain Ratio and Durutti Column to a lesser extent.
The film is also officially part of Factory Records' quite unusual and outrageously posthumous release catalog
note , complete with its own serial number (FAC 401). The film's website, DVD release and companion book (written by Tony Wilson himself) all received catalog numbers as well (FAC 433, FACDVD 424, and FAC 424, respectively, with the DVD release marking the only use of the "FACDVD" prefix in the entire Factory catalog), as did the reconstruction of the Haçienda used for the film (FAC 451, a significant pick as FAC 51 was the catalog number for the actual club).
Not to be confused with the trope 24-Hour Party People (which is named after the Happy Mondays song that also gives this movie its name) about background extras who show up at parties for or thrown by a work's main characters. Compare Control, a more serious biopic that specifically focuses on Ian Curtis.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Taken almost to Recursive Reality levels. Steve Coogan, who played Tony Wilson, based his comedy character Alan Partridge partly on Tony Wilson, and there are notable similarities between how the characters are presented.
- Accidental Innuendo: In-universe— the band "Joy Division" is named after the euphemistic term for the prostitution and sexual slavery groups of Jewish women were forced to perform in Nazi concentration camps. This leads to accusations of fascism and white supremacist skinheads invading their gigs, which leads to the band spitting on them, which leads to further chaos. Later, after Ian Curtis' death, the band reveal to Tony Wilson that they've decided to change their name to "New Order"— which, as Wilson points out, is possibly even more fascistic.
- Addiction Displacement: While recording Yes Please!, Happy Mondays replace their crippling heroin addictions with more crippling crack addictions.
- Artistic License – History:
- Ian Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his home with an indoor clothesline, not in the living room in front of the TV set as depicted in the film. Additionally, his body was found standing in a half-kneeling position in front of a countertop, as opposed to the film's more conventional image of him dangling from the ceiling. Presumably, the film's liberties with this event were taken to provide a more jarring image to viewers.
- The Hacienda operated for five years after Factory Records went under, and the events of the last night are completely fictional.
Tony Wilson: When forced to pick between the truth and the legend, print the legend. - Ascended Fanboy In-Universe: We see Shaun and Paul Ryder switch the channel on their TV away from the Sex Pistols performance to watch John Denver yodel, which then cuts to Real Life footage of Happy Mondays performing on stage with Denver.
- As Themselves: Rowetta of the Happy Mondays is the only person to have played themself in the film, although there are a large number of cameos, and Howard Devoto appears both played by an actor and as himself. Former UK Wheel of Fortune co-host Terri Seymor also appears as herself in that (nonspeaking) role.
- Award-Bait Song: "Here To Stay" by New Order, notable for being their first single not to be included on one of their proper studio albums (discounting compilations) since "World in Motion" in 1990 and their last to hold such a distinction until "Be a Rebel" 18 years later.
- Biopic: Unlike most biopics, it is not solely dedicated to a single person, but to a whole music scene and, in more general terms, considered to be a love letter to Manchester.
- Blood Oath / Couldn't Find a Pen: the founding document of Factory Records is written in Tony's blood.
- Budget-Busting Element In-Universe, a common problem for Factory:
- Martin Hannet charges 50 pounds an hour to record Joy Divisions "Control", and just after starting declares the drum set has to be re-assembled, and makes clear he's still on the clock while they do that.
- The sleeve for New Orders "Blue Monday" 12 inch single cost so much because of the special manifacturing process, that the label lost 5 pence per every copy sold, and then the single became the highest selling 12 inch single in UK history.
- The Hacienda is a total money sink for years before it becomes popular during the rave scene, but still doesn't turn a profit as the party is fueled by ecstasy and people don't buy drinks from the bar.
- New Order recording their album in Ibiza for two years, and Happy Mondays' fateful trip to Barbados to record their second album cost the label a pretty penny, and the Mondays didn't even record any vocals.
- The table at the new Factory Records office cost £ 30,000, causing Rob to jump and start punching Tony.
- The Cameo Tony Wilson appears as the director for Wheel of Fortune at a TV studio, and many artists from Factory appear in bit parts including Paul Ryder from Happy Mondays as a gangster.
- Chandler's Law:
- Tony talking about the last time he saw Martin prior to the recording of Bummed. Martin showed up at his flat and fired at Tony with blanks.
- When Happy Mondays hold Yes Please! hostage, Shaun makes his negotiation introduction by shooting at Tony and the staff.
- Comically Small Bribe: Tony pulls 50 quid out of his wallet in order to convince Shaun to give the Yes Please! masters to him. Shaun accepts.
- Country Matters: Ian Curtis' first line in the movie is, "Wilson, you fucking cunt!" Later, Rob Gretton also calls him the C-word.
- Creator Killer: In-Universe, the financial failure of the Hacienda, as well as the record that all but kills Factory, Yes Please!, are touched upon.
- Dead Artists Are Better: Of a sort; the movie focuses heavily on Joy Division for the first half, but after Ian Curtis' suicide (and the subsequent reforming of the band into New Order), it goes on to show New Order's subsequent massive success with "Blue Monday", the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. The focus then shifts from New Order to the Happy Mondays, although this largely was because the Happy Mondays had the more entertaining meltdown.
- Deadpan Snarker: Rob Gretton, manager of Joy Division / New Order, is depicted as an incredibly snarky individual, especially towards Tony.
- Descent into Addiction: Shaun Ryder first dicovers Heroin and later Crack Cocaine. Returning from Barbados, he holds the masters hostage for money, but is so strung out he accepts the Comically Small Bribe of £50.
- Demoted to Extra: The other members of Joy Division that became New Order. New Order guitarist/keyboardist Gillian Gilbert gets it worse and only appears twice, briefly and in non-speaking parts.
- Dissonant Serenity See Chandler's Law above. Tony is more bemused than anything else.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Tony Wilson is dissatisfied with his career in TV journalism because he keeps getting assigned silly lifestyle pieces.
- Eccentric Artist: producer Martin Hannett has some oddball quirks, wastes a lot of studio time and once fired a gun loaded with blanks at Tony Wilson.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Tony goes to interview a politician and is warned beforehand not to call him by the nickname Mad Monk that his detractors use, but Tony can't help but slip when the politician makes a church reference.
- Fauxlosophic Narration: Tony Wilson's forté. At one point, he is shown to give the opening narration to Wheel of Fortune, going on a long tangent about the depiction of history as a wheel, only to cut to a Real-Person Cameo of the real Tony Wilson as a director at the TV station calling it crap and saying to cut it all and going straight to "spin that wheel!".
- First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Tony, the narrator, points out in one of his discussions how details of his own life are being glossed over, and while taking time to explain this, he notes that the story isn't about him but the music and Manchester.Tony Wilson: I'm a minor character in my own story.
- Foregone Conclusion: Inevitable, seeing as how this is based on real life. Ian Curtis hangs himself, Happy Mondays blows away the remainder of Factory's money with their last album, and the record label as a whole goes under.
- A God Am I: Of a sort; while smoking a joint after the last gig at the Hacienda, Tony sees a vision of God... who just happens to look exactly like Tony Wilson. When Tony rejoins his mates and tells them this, they are less than impressed.Tony Wilson: It says so in The Bible, though, doesn't it? 'God made man in His own image'.Rob Gretton: Yeah, but not a specific man.
- Good Flaws, Bad Flaws: Despite obviously possessing many flaws, Tony insists that his heroic flaw is his love of Manchester, or as he puts it "his excess of civic pride"
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": the studio engineer for Happy Mondays notices a guitar is out of tune, and asks if the player can "give us an E", to which Shaun laughs and says "yeah, Bez will sort you out", and Bez immediately moves to retrieve a bag of ecstasy pills from his fanny pack.
- Human-Interest Story: Tony Wilson's job at Grenada is to film these kids of segments for the news, a job he considers below him.
- Icarus Allusion: The very first scene of the movie is a local news report involving Tony trying out a hang-glider... Then turning to the camera and delivering the page quote. He later brings it up again, less directly:Tony Wilson: It was like being on a fantastic fairground ride, centrifugal forces throwing us wider and wider. But it's all right, because there's this brilliant machine at the center that's going to bring us back down to earth. That was Manchester. That is the Hacienda. Now imagine the machine breaks. For a while, it's even better, because you're really flying. But then, you fall. Because nobody beats gravity.
- Ice-Cream Koan: Tony often veers to odd similes when trying to explain things his way.Tony Wilson: The smaIIer the attendance, the bigger the history. There were 12 peopIe at the Last Supper. Ha If a dozen at Kitty Hawk. Archimedes was on his own in the bath.
- The Last DJ: Tony Wilson, for all his ego and faults, is portrayed as something like this; he refuses to sell out his beliefs and the other characters, so while they routinely mock him for other things, they nevertheless respect him because of this. It builds to a climax where, facing financial ruin, Factory Records is forced to sell their assets to the London-based London Records, but it's discovered that there isn't actually anything for them to sell:Tony Wilson: Factory Records are not actually a company. We are an experiment in human nature. You're labouring under the misapprehension that we actually have a deal with, er, with our, our bands. That we have any kind of a contract, er, at all, and I'm afraid we, er, we don't because that's, er, that's the sum total of the paperwork to do with Factory Records, deal with, er, their various bands... I have protected myself from ever having to sell out by having nothing to sell out.
Roger Ames: Tony... You're fucking mad.
Tony Wilson: Well, that is a point of view.- In Real Life, Tony had declared that one of Factory Records' fundamental policies was that "All our bands are free to fuck off whenever they please."
- Misaimed Fandom In-Universe, Joy Division and staff at Factory Records grow concerned about the increasing Neo Nazi Skinhead presence at their shows.
- Never Filled Out Official Paperwork: Factory's attempts at negotiating a buyout with London Records falls through when the latter learns that Factory never actually filed proper contracts with their artists, giving them ownership of their material instead of the label. Factory, in the midst of a huge financial downturn, go bankrupt as a result.
- No Animals Were Harmed: Tony Wilson goes out of his way in his narration to the audience to mention that no animals were harmed at the conclusion of a scene involving Shaun and Paul Ryder killing 3,000 pigeons with poisoned bread crumbs.Tony Wilson: ...Although there are those who say they're pests, rats with wings.
- No Fourth Wall: Wilson is aware he's in a film of his life, and frequently comments on the events and puts them into context. It gets to the point where he stops the film to point out the various cameos in the movie, including one from a scene that didn't even make it into the finished film.Tony Wilson: I'm sure it'll be on the DVD. It isn't
- Novelisation: The film was novelised by none other than Tony Wilson himself.
- Oh, Crap!: Tony and the other Factory Records employees' reaction to hearing Yes Please! for the first time, and the realization that Happy Mondays were too drugged out to write lyrics meaning that Factory spent untold amounts of money on a record consisting of instrumentals.
- One-Steve Limit Discussed; the owner of the club Factory first starts showcasing their bands at is owned by a man called Tony, which is his last name, which Tony Wilson says is worse because that makes him "Mister Tony"
- Postmodernism: Most of the movie. Tony Wilson describes himself as "being postmodern before it's fashionable."
- Real-Person Cameo: Tony Wilson himself, Mark E. Smith, Howard Devoto, Keith Allen, Vini Reilly, Paul Ryder and Rowetta... And those are just the cameos that have to do with the Manchester music scene.
- Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: the Happy Mondays live the lifestyle. Things take a dark turn once Shaun starts taking heroin, and goes worse when recording at Barbados, the band switches to crack cocaine.
- Shag Wagon: Mr. Tony owns one of these, where Tony's wife Lindsay finds Tony with his pants down.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Lampooned in-universe. Despite describing himself as "a minor character in my own life story", Tony Wilson's opinion of himself is portrayed as being very... healthy, and he is routinely mocked by the other characters for this.
- Softer and Slower Cover: When Tony goes to meet Mr. Tony, the latter's club has a duo soul act who sing a swinging a capella cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
- Soundtrack Dissonance: There's an unnerving scene of Ian's hanging body with the offbeat final scene of Werner Herzog's Stroszek playing in the background. What's worse? Ian really did hang himself after watching this specific movie.
- Take That!:
- Two to Mick Hucknall of Simply Red; one at the beginning, at the legendary 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, to which he is referred simply as "ginger nut", and one at the end, when God tells Tony to keep up the good work:
God: It's a shame you didn't sign the Smiths, but you were right about Hucknall; his music's rubbish, and he's a ginger.- "Jazz is the last refuge of the untalented. Jazz musicians enjoy themselves more than anyone listening to them does."
- [Trope Name]: The trailer ends with Tony Wilson listing the various elements of the trailer as they appear, including this little meta moment:Tony: Bloke who plays me...
[Credit for Steve Coogan appears; cut back to Tony, who is looking a little confused.]] - Unreliable Narrator: Repeatedly lampshaded, most when Tony Wilson tells the story of how he messed up the interview "Mad Monk" Sir Keith Joseph. Tony is shown to get his car stuck in a snowdrift, despite the lack of snow in every other scene in the flashback.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Happy Mondays.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Yes, a lot of the events in the movie happened, but several are intentionally exaggerated to make the movie more entertaining. For instance, Martin Hannett never tried to shoot Tonynote . In another scene, Tony's wife Lindsay has sex with Magazine singer Howard Devoto (after catching Tony cheating on her); the film Tony (and in the DVD commentary, the real Tony) states that the story never happened, and the real Howard Devoto makes a cameo in the scene as a janitor, only to break the fourth wall and tell the audience "I definitely don't remember this happening."Tony Wilson: This is the real Howard Devoto. He and Lindsay insisted we make clear that this never happened. But I agree with John Ford. When you have to choose between the truth and the legend, print the legend.
- What Could Have Been: An in-universe example at the end of the film— "You should have signed The Smiths."
- Wisdom from the Gutter: Tony Wilson gets a pep talk from a bum on the street who claims to be the philosopher Boethius.
