carol morley

The Alcohol Years

Carol Morley's highly acclaimed documentary 'The Alcohol Years' is a courageous, moving and often funny account of five self-destructive years of her life in early 1980s Manchester. Released on DVD for the first time, courtesy of new label Film First, this release also includes two of the director's short films, 'Everyday Something' and 'Stalin My Neighbour'. Almost 20 years after leaving it behind, Carol Morley - winner of the City of Melbourne Award for Best Short Documentary at the 2000 Melbourne International Film Festival - returned to Manchester, where she had spent several years lost in an alcoholic haze at the centre of the city's burgeoning musical and cultural scene. From booze-fuelled nights at the city's legendary Hacienda club to inebriated revelries at New Order's expense, 'The Alcohol Years' is a poetic retrieval of that time, in which Carol's rediscovered friends and acquaintances recount tales of her drunken and promiscuous behaviour. Carol Morley's search for her lost self and the conflicting memories and viewpoints of those around her weave in and out, revealing a poignant portrait of the city, its pop culture, the people who lived it and of a young woman who found herself at the centre of a defining moment in Manchester's cultural history. Among those contributing to Carol's story are many of the most notable and significant figures from the era, including broadcaster, record company executive and entrepreneur Tony Wilson, author and DJ Dave Haslam, Buzzcocks singer Pete Shelley, Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column, musician, journalist and TV presenter Dick Witts, Jesus And Mary Chain bassist Douglas Hart, and Nico's former manager Alan Wise. 'The Alcohol Years' features music by New Order, The Durutti Column, Pete Shelley, Vini Reilly, ToT, Stella Grundy and Fall drummer Spencer Birtwistle.