The 90s are currently in vogue, but they wouldn't have happened without the 80s. Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film, 24 Hour Party People, explores Manchester's music scene from the Sex Pistols' 1976 gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, through Factory Records, Joy Division, New Order, and into the Madchester era with Happy Mondays and the Haçienda. It chronicles Manchester's music before Oasis dominated the world. The film stars Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Andy Serkis, and John Simm, with Steve Coogan portraying broadcaster and Factory Records boss Tony Wilson.
After studying English at Oxford, Winterbottom began his television career in the late 1980s. He directed a range of projects, from documentaries on Ingmar Bergman to episodes of shows like Boon and Cracker. His feature film debut was 1995's Butterfly Kiss, a dark road movie about a serial killer and her lover. Subsequent films include 1996's Jude, the 1997 Bosnian war drama Welcome to Sarajevo, the 1999 London ensemble piece Wonderland, and the 2000 western The Claim. Later, he directed the sexually explicit 9 Songs (2004), the literary comedy A Cock and Bull Story (an adaptation of Tristram Shandy) with Coogan and Rob Brydon, the political docudrama The Road to Guantánamo, and the 2010 noir thriller The Killer Inside Me.
Winterbottom has also frequently collaborated with Coogan, notably on The Trip (2010) and its sequels. These films follow Coogan and Brydon as they travel, dine, and engage in increasingly competitive celebrity impressions, including a Michael Caine impersonation that gained significant attention. The trio is currently preparing a fifth installment, The Trip to the Northern Lights, which will feature Coogan and Brydon journeying through Scandinavia and the Nordic countries, marked by their characteristic eating, arguing, and impersonations.
With 24 Hour Party People returning to cinemas 24 years after its initial release, Winterbottom is joining us for a discussion. Please submit your questions by 6pm on Sunday, October 4th. His answers will be published in our reader interview section. Enjoy!
