Punk rock all night

“24 Hour Party People”

Starring Steve Coogan

Directed by Michael…

“24 Hour Party People”

Starring Steve Coogan

Directed by Michael Winterbottom

“24 Hour Party People” is sort of a mess. At times, it is nearly impossible to follow. The camera work is the shakiest since “Blair Witch.” There are far too many characters, pieces of information and pop culture references to keep track of. That said, it’s also a blast.

It’s Manchester. It’s the ’70s. Television journalist Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) is the only one giving play to exciting new musicians like Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols. However, He wants to get more involved in the scene, so he first opens a venue to showcase cutting-edge bands, then creates a record label for them called Factory Records. Factory is all about artistic freedom. The company’s sole bit of paperwork is Wilson’s colorfully worded promise to grant the artists ownership of all recordings and to allow them to leave the label whenever they please. He writes it in his own blood.

Wilson, self-described as “a minor character in my own story,” is the audience’s guide through the epic “party” that is the dozen or so years Factory spends on the scene, aiding in the rise of bands such as Joy Division (later New Order) and the Happy Mondays. The film often moves at a frantic pace; trying to catch everything is futile. The viewer always gets enough to keep going – enough to get to the next bit of chaos.

The single biggest reason the film works is Coogan’s portrayal of Wilson. He frequently addresses the camera, stepping out of a scene to tell the audience about something relevant that happened in the past, to give preview of the future (“he will later try to kill me”), or just to share interesting tidbits about the other people in a scene. He’ll even stop to admit that something is overtly symbolic. It’s a device that has proven difficult to use effectively in the past, but here it’s dynamite. Coogan’s abilities match those of Matthew Broderick in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and John Cusack in “High Fidelity.”

Another potentially hazardous technique that is used brilliantly is the use of actual concert footage. Early in the film, Wilson attends the Sex Pistols’ first Manchester concert. Director Michael Winterbottom seamlessly blends his footage with real footage of the Pistols, creating a memorable sequence that avoids coming off as gimmicky.

The coolness of “24 Hour Party People” is infinitely more genuine than that of anything coming out of Hollywood right now. Through all its lunacy, it remains respectful, intelligent and sincere. And hilarious.