|
The Spirit of '45
| Released |
15 March 2013 |
| Director |
Ken Loach |
| Writer(s) |
Ken Loach |
Producer(s)
|
Ken Loach, Rebecca O'Brien, Kate Ogborn, Lisa Marie Russo |
| Origin |
United Kingdom |
| Running Time |
94 minutes |
| Genre |
Documentary |
| Rating |
TBC |
|
|
Life after wartime.
Though the Labour government that came to power in the United Kingdom just after World War II pioneered some wonderful, groundbreaking initiatives, what really emerges as startling from Ken Loach’s stirring documentary is the spirit of the title. Having gone through hell and back both overseas and on the home front, the British people had a belief in the power of politics for change that is almost alien to the apathy and dissatisfaction that plagues the relationship between governments and their people today.
Using the wealth of documentary footage available from that period, as well as interviews, The Spirit of '45 documents the wave of social change that swept over post-war Britain. Loach builds a picture of Britain between the wars as a time when child mortality rates were high, disease was rampant and a whole generation of men faced long-term unemployment. Having fought for their country a second time, these men held a belief that anything was possible but also that their country could not go back to those terrible days. The interviews collected by Loach, both from people who lived at that time and from economic and political experts, are by turns touching and illuminating. They give a great human insight into how the establishment of the NHS, unionisation and public housing completely transformed the lives of the regular man and woman.
Of course, being a political animal, Loach has an agenda to hammer home - while the first half of the film is a tribute to the Socialist ethos of the Labour party led by Clement Attlee, the second half shows the shameful dismantling of this work, as Unions were broken and public services underwent an insidious privatisation. Needless to say, the spectre of Thatcher looms large.
It’s not all doom and gloom though and Loach’s polemicising compliments, rather than overshadows, the very personal testaments of his interviewees. In fact, Loach leaves us with a call to arms of sorts - a plea for those remaining pioneers of '45 to stand up for their legacy. This makes The Spirit of '45 a bittersweet and well-made documentary.
- Linda O’Brien |
