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Manchester, 1976.
4 June 1976, Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester: Cambridge-educated Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan), currently working as a television host, is at a Sex Pistols gig. With him is his wife, Lindsey (Shirley Henderson). Also in the crowd tonight are The Buzzcocks, a young Mick Hucknall (later the singer of Simply Red), and the band members of The Stiff Kittens, soon to become Joy Division. "There are just forty two people in the audience, but every one of them is feeding on the power and strength and magic," says an inspired Wilson, who watches in awe as the Pistols exude their raw energy to a wired crowd. Motivated by this pivotal moment in music history, he heads to the home of his friend Alan Erasmus (Lennie James). Together the pair concoct a plan that, over the next two decades, will change the face of popular music as we know it - and put the city of Manchester firmly on the pop-culture map.
Wilson and Erasmus start with their own club night at Manchester's Russell Club, where they provide a live platform for their favourite local bands. Here they cross paths with band manager Rob Gretton (Paddy Considine), who, with a mutual interest in semiotics, strikes a chord with Wilson. Together the three men set up Factory Records. With a contract written in his own blood, Wilson signs Gretton's band Joy Division, James, Durritti Column and A Certain Ratio, all of whom will go on to become influential artists of the 1980s.
Secret Agent Acid Thunder
Don't have a lot of technical info on this one, but I liked it anyway. I stayed awake all the way through! I was wondering what time it was about four minutes before it ended but it did stick to the theory that if not thoroughly stimulated, the average attention span is only 20 minutes. I liked how they stayed close to the real story (based on real life this was) and when they fictionalised something, they vocalised it in the film. Good shi... stuff. Very professional. That can be hard for me sometimes; when I know what the true story is, I find it difficult to enjoy a movie that is "based on a true story" but is in fact the "loose interpretation of an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter".
Anyway, I can't tell you much about the film but it does take place from the 70s to the 90s. Origins of Punk are explored and the rise and fall of one record label. You have to really enjoy Punk or be from England to understand this one. If you're the former, then it will really open your eyes to what real Punk is; if you are the latter, it will hopefully be a walk down Memory Lane.
MA 15+ (Drug use, medium level coarse language, sexual references)
115 minutes (1:55 hours)
Film: 20 March 2003
DVD rental: 13 August 2003
VHS rental: 13 August 2003
DVD retail: 13 August 2003