The North and Europe in 24 Hour Party People and Control

Abstract

24 Hour Party People by Michael Winterbottom and Control by Anton Corbijn are fictionalised biographies of famous Northerners, who left their mark on popular music in the North, respectively Tony Wilson and Ian Curtis. The main argument of this chapter is that both films present characters who attempt to overcome their predicament of living in an English province by getting closer, literally and metaphorically, to (continental) Europe. This strategy pays off, because Europe proves more receptive to their ideas and their art than the national centre of London and the South-East. Hence, while the South of England is presented in them as a colonial ‘other’, Europe is seen as a ‘friendly other’. However, Corbijn creates a realistic image of the North, which harks back to the New Wave films, Winterbottom’s renders the North postmodern.