In his feature films, Ken Loach tries to advance socialist ideas. This documentary takes audiences back to a time when he thought his society was in better shape – 1945. That’s when the war ended, British voters elected a Labour government, key industries were nationalized and the working class was lifted out of poverty. In the following years, the NHS was created. This lasted until the 1980s when Thatcher’s government started selling everything. There is no narrator, but Loach relies on points of view provided by academics, union leaders and the testimony of people who were there at the time. Simplified, but the stories of how much the class society hurt ordinary workers before the war are touching. As a propaganda piece and a call to arms, Loach hits the nail on the head.
2013-Britain. 94 min. B/W-Color. Produced by Rebecca O’Brien, Kate Ogborn, Lisa Marie Russo. Writtten and directed by Ken Loach. Music: George Fenton.
Last word: “We wanted the film to be an oral history with archive footage. There used to be a radio show called ‘Scrapbook’ – it was a montage of stories, memories and news broadcasts relating to individual years. I’ve always been attracted to that: the juxtaposition of one memory against another. Together, they make the jigsaw that tells you the story. I hate programmes where some TV personality looks you in the eye and tells you what to think – the Andrew Marr version of history. I hate the authorial voice telling you what to think.” (Loach, Time Out)
