Twenty Four Hour Party People :)

Whilst studying this film in class I was incredibly interested in the Postmodern conventions it held. So much so that I bought my own copy of the film to watch at home to see if watching it outside of the 'analytical' situation at school might make me brush over thie bluntly obvious Postmodern aspects within the film. However, it did not.

From this I therefore felt it would be a great example to share further with everyone as I am sure that not all of us have picked up the same notes on this film.

Firstly Twenty Four Hour Party People is a British film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 - 1992. The film largely follows the career of Tony Wilson who is head of Factory Records. The film was distributed by Pathe (UK) and United Artists (USA) and released in the UK on 5th April 2002.

The film's most recogniseable Postmodern feature is lead character Tony Wilson's direct address to camera. This use of self reflexivity is an ongoing Postmodern theme, in which we see Tony address the fact that "he's one of two bonafide geniues in this story, he will later try to kill me" This use of Self Reflexivity is part of the reason why Twenty Four Hour Party People is one of my favourite Postmodern films. I enjoy the fact that the lead character is aware he is in a story and also informs the audience of this.

Furthermore the film relies heavily on Intertextuality; which is also a key feature of a Postmodern text. Continual reference is made to the music genre, for example the band Joy Division, who are involved in the dramatisation of the true events. This can also be a hyper-reality, further enforcing itself as a postmodern text by supporting the postmodern theorist Baudrillard.

Twenty Four Hour Party People also blurs the boundaries of Genre by encorporating media technologies, such as graphics on screen to inform the audience of the name of the band on screen at that time for example New Order. This is another example of the films self refexivity but in a more subtle way.

In some ways Twenty Four Hour Party People takes Postmodernism to the next level. Many argue that it is in fact 'the ultimate Postmodern text'. It's use of self reflexivity and therefore awareness of it's own narrative pushes the conventions of Postmodernism. Therefore, do we think it's possible to ask: Does Twenty Four Hour Party People challenge Postmodernism because it's too Postmodern? I think the confusion is why I enjoy the film so much :)

Jess