The Spirit of '45

15 yrs 94 minutes • 2013 • 7.1

In the black and white documentary The Spirit of 45, the British director Ken Loach asks what happened to the dreams of building a better future. The film begins with the Labor Party's great election victory in 1945, followed by the rise and fall of British socialism, from socialist reforms and empathy to Thatcher's deregulation. Using old journal films, interviews with contemporary experts and those who were building a new world without unemployment and with food and shelter for all. Mats Johnson states in GP that it is a "highly interesting documentary, filled with voices that are rarely heard". He rates the film 4 out of 5.