Cinema

As part of my research I watched a couple of films to try and get an understanding of indie culture in the past and the present.

Control (2007) is a biographical film about the late Ian Curtis (played by Sam Riley), lead singer of Joy Division. The film replicates right from his 1973 school boy days spent listening to David Bowie and Sex Pistols, to his suicide aged 23 in 1980.

From this film I understood the emotions and feelings behind Joy Division's music and how deprived the area of Manchester/Macclesfield was in those days.

24 Hour Party People (2002), is also based in Manchester circa 1979-1992. The film is based on factual events and follows the life of Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), a BBC journalist and part owner of Factory records. From this movie, I was able to understand how fast moving and progressive the Indie culture became due to seeing the whole decade that it covers.

There are also some films I have already seen that clearly relate to indie culture.

500 days of Summer (2009) is a romantic comedy based on a young architect who is convinced he has found "the one" after an exchange in the elevator over their mutual love of the Smiths.

In the film the couple do a lot of things that Indie's would do, such as go to record stores, listen to music together, socialise in the pub and visit art galleries.