Michael Winterbottom (Wonderland) surveys the Madchester scene through the eyes of Tony Wilson, a ridiculous, puffed-up prat of a man who also happened to be a lovable visionary. Playing Wilson as Alan Partridge’s big brother – which, by all accounts, he was – Steve Coogan’s simply irresistible, his fervent straight-to-camera monologues whisking us through the mayhem. And what mayhem: the death of punk, the birth of Joy Division, the death of singer Ian Curtis, the birth of New Order, the birth and death of Factory Records... Wilson recounts the legend with a knowing wink (“I was being postmodern before it was fashionable”), while the improvised dialogue and DV footage give the movie a suitably ragged energy. It’s party time, people.
DVD Extras:
None.
