Hacker Cinema
24 Hour Party People
2002 · Film · 117 min
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.
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24 Hour Party People
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> Our iPhone or Android cameras rival what Panavision was providing in the 80’s.
Can you imagine if Kevin Smith had a reasonably modern phone, a semidecent PC, and a copy of Resolve when he started out? Of course, that's happening, except it's not Kevin Smith, it's some other snotty kid whose name will become associated with cult cinema in a few years. They're still in their backyard making daft wee movies with their friends and sticking them on Tiktok, and one day you're going to be buying a ticket to their film.
> I just returned from Borneo where I was mostly using Sony RX-10 prosumer cameras. I carried 4 RX-10 bodies and never missed a shot.
Even at that there were (in the early 2000s!) real proper feature films shot on standard-def DV, including one of my favourites, 24 Hour Party People. Every time GAS starts to bite I look at my Sony DSR-PD150 and think "you know what, if it was good enough for the guy that did Open Water or Super Size Me, I ought to be able to get by with it" :-D
That's because Haskell is like the programming language equivalent of The Gig That Changed The World[0], although I guess Algol60 also has a strong claim to that title.
Let me explain by quoting these paragraphs Roger Ebert's review[1] of 24h party people:
> As the film opens, Wilson is attending the first, legendary Sex Pistols concert in Manchester, England. (...) Wilson is transfixed by the Pistols as they sing "Anarchy in the U.K." and sneer at British tradition. He tells the camera that everyone in the audience will leave the room transformed and inspired, and then the camera pans to show a total of 42 people, two or three of them half-heartedly dancing in the aisles.
Sounds like the average language designer entranced and inspired by their first time grokking Haskell.
> Wilson features the Pistols and other bands on his Manchester TV show. Because of a ban by London TV, his show becomes the only venue for punk rock. Turns out he was right about the Pistols. They let loose something that changed rock music. And they did it in the only way that Wilson could respect, by thoroughly screwing up everything they did, and ending in bankruptcy and failure, followed by Sid Vicious' spectacular murder-suicide flameout. The Sex Pistols became successful because they failed; if they had succeeded, they would have sold out, or become diluted or commercial. I saw Johnny Rotten a few years ago at Sundance, still failing, and it made me feel proud of him.
I could rephrase that last sentence at "I checked out a contalk by Simon Peyton Jones from a few years ago, still avoiding success at all costs[2], and it made me feel proud of him" and it would be absolutely true.
And no, I also did not expect to find a parallel between Haskell and punk music, but there you go.
[0] https://openculture.com/2015/06/the-sex-pistols-1976-manchester-gig-that-changed-the-world.html
[1] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/24-hour-party-people-2002
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re96UgMk6GQ&t=1372s
then you see movies like '24 hour party people' that have a different view...
In the film 24 hour party people it seems like the band (joy division) is aware of the meaning of the name and uses it for shock value/polemic/postmodernism attitude. IIRC some people shout at them while going on/off-stage regarding this.
I like Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson (the founder of Factory Records) in _24 Hour Party People_ (one of The Great Startup Movies) saying something like "jazz musicians are having way more fun than their audiences". I like jazz! (Or: I like Miles Davis). It's just a great line.
In the same way that George Martin used his experience and expertise in the studio with the The Beatles, Martin Hannett used his studio craftsmanship to shape the sound of Joy Division. As the article states, without his (and others) input they may not have been what they were. Having listened to their albums (an actual perfect discography), their demos, outtakes and other rarities, I think this definitely rings true. My first exposure to their history was the film 24 Hour Party People, which I think actually does justice to them and the scene that they were a part of.
It's a good startup movie! Not in the same tier as "Ghostbusters" or "24 Hour Party People, but a good rival to "Tucker".
"24 Hour Party People" covers the music scene in Manchester at the time, including Joy Division:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274309/
It's good fun (apart from the obvious not fun bit) but nowhere as good as Control.
Just reminded me of a story about the designer Peter Saville (from the film 24 Hour Party People)
Tony Wilson: "You've got the posters? It's the fucking gig!"
Peter Saville: "Yeah, I know - it just took ages to get the right yellow."
Tony Wilson: "The gig's over."
Peter Saville: "I know."
Tony Wilson: "It looks fucking great actually - yeah, really nice. It's beautiful - but useless. And as William Morris once said: "Nothing useless can be truly beautiful."'
Good movies about startups: "Tucker", "24 Hour Party People", and "Ghostbusters".