The Alcohol Years (2000)

"Some of these comments really display a lack of intellectual understanding, sadly enough." Totally agree. Morley draws ATTENTION to the narcissism of autobiography, and its specific relevance given the nature of who she was at that particular time in her life. I think some of the most interesting aspects of this film are when the interviewees reflexively draw attention to these issues, for example when one of them says (roughly) "i don't know why you'd think people would want to watch this, there are more important things to make documentaries about." and basically says how self indulgent she is. It is an incredibly witty and honest documentary. One of the best ways she forms this picture of herself is by letting everyone else talk and not including herself in the doco.Self-indulgent maybe but I don't think that's the point - it makes for a good story, is an interesting take on the documentary form, and is honest and important to herself. Autobiography is a way of dealing with your own stories - and why is it so bad to openly do that? People get hung up on thinking that if you write about yourself or make films about yourself than you are entirely egotistical - but if you have a story to tell who can tell it better than yourself? I'm digressing... I guess I was really disappointed to see how many people clearly didn't GET this documentary. I found it very inspiring in many ways, but particularly in terms of its honesty and its manipulation of the documentary form.

A more realistic precursor to Michael Winterbottom's '24 Hour Party People', this is a compelling, funny, and poignant memoir of Carol Morley's 'lost' years in Manchester in the early 1980's. The story is told through painfully honest interviews with old friends and acquaintances who reveal that the younger Morley was a wild and promiscuous character. Morley herself never appears on screen, a clever device as the viewer is left to piece her story and her character together (although it's also worth watching the DVD as the director's commentary gives Morley a chance to answer back to some of the comments made about her). A beautifully told insight into a fascinating life, time, city and culture.

an interesting, if narcissistic, examination of identity. Carol Morley - sister of journalist and TV pundit Paul Morley - returns to her teenage stomping ground in Manchester, putting an advert in the local paper for people who remember her. And so we're greeted with a series of talking heads, some famous (Tony Wilson, Vini Reilly) but most unknown. They paint a picture of the years that the documentary maker lost to alcohol and sex. In fact, although she was an artist and in a band, most of the interviewees seem to remember her for her sexual exploits. We never get more than a glimpse of Morley herself but, as the cast of friends and acquaintances talk into the camera, we're forced to become her. It's often intensely personal and uncomfortable, and sometime voyeuristic to the point that you wonder about Morley's motives. But it's nonetheless an interesting glimpse of Manchester at a time when the Hacienda was empty and the Happy Mondays were still practicing in a garage.

i studied under carol morley for a semester, and she is one of the most interesting people i ever met. her documentary, the alcohol years, is an exceptional documentary. Her style inspired me, as a film student, to switch from fiction and pursue documentary filmmaking. A documentary can be about yourself, and at the same time be interesting and not look like your full of yourself. The Alcohol Years is as funny as it is touching. A definite must-see.