Cinema Retro was invited to the special preview screening
of the new documentary film My Generation, which is to be screened with a
Q&A with narrator Sir Michael Caine in selected cinemas throughout the UK on
March 14th 2018.
Lt. Gonville Bromhead, Harry Palmer, Jack
Carter, Charlie Croker and simply Alfie: these key names in British cinemaall have one thing in common- they all share
the iconic characteristics of one man and, bar Carter, all come from the latter
part of the era that defined him as one of the
“Faces†of the 60s, Sir Michael Caine. From A-Z, Alfie to Zulu, this is an
actor whose roles literally cover all the bases when it comes to memorable 60s cinema,
although, as Caine himself points out, “The 60s didn’t really end till 1971†so
that being the release date of Get Carter, we’ll happily include it in that
iconic “role callâ€.
There’s no better star to take us through a
documentary of what made the 60s the 60s than Caine. This is the era that
defined him and he knows all the other people who could easily have fronted
such an undertaking, many of whom feature in revealing conversations with the
once Maurice Micklewhite. Incidentally, he famously changed his name to Caine
after speaking to his agent from a phone box in Piccadilly and when asked for a
stage name, saw a sign for The Caine Mutiny starring his favourite actor Humphrey
Bogart and the rest is history- just like the documentary itself. “It’s a good
job I didn’t look up the other way†he says “As I don’t think Michael 101
Dalmatians has the same ring to itâ€.
The colleagues and friends I referred to whose
stories bring many of the still photographs of the time to life include David
Bailey, Paul McCartney, Marianne Faithfull, Roger Daltrey, Sandi Shaw, Donovan,
Penelope Tree and Terry O’Neill to name just a few. The title of the film, once
vocalized so memorably by Daltrey when he fronted The Who, now takes on a
greater meaning; one of reflection rather than the youthful disdain it once did
when Daltrey sang “Hope I die before I get oldâ€. The lyric took on a different
meaning to me after seeing this documentary. I’d always wondered if its writer,
Pete Townshend, had ever regretted singing it so often, especially when he got
into his sixties, but now I see it very differently. The fact that the talking
heads aren’t seen as they are now in 2018 but simply vocalize images of their
younger selves is a master stroke by director David Batty. The wiser words of
hindsight of those featured stars, looking back at themselves as well as the
era as a whole, gives the piece genuine pathos. What I gleaned from this is
that fact that they may have aged but none of them really did get old. There’s
still a fire and a sense of amusement as they divulge their stories over the
footage of their younger selves. They now look upon this time and its seismic
changes with the same wonder and disbelief as the viewer does in 2018. As Caine
himself re iterates “The 60s was and is a mindset, not just a numberâ€.
Michael Caine was and is the face of 1996
rather than just 1966 to me. This is because he was seen by this next
generation of “lads†as the ultimate symbol of Cool Britannia, the granddaddy
of hip. His face adorned just as many magazines as it had 30 years earlier and
the reason for that is that these pictures, like the decade they were taken
from, were seen as iconic; the time when Britain was the epicenter of fashion,
film and music. Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls in those Cool
Britannia days, kept pushing the idea of this documentary film to Caine. It
took three years to complete due to Caine’s still incredibly busy acting
schedule.
Caine as Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965): turning eye wear into a hip fashion statement.
The era the film celebrates is well-represented
on all fronts with the newsreel footage of Carnaby Street and “Swinging Londonâ€
perfectly accompanied by one of the best soundtracks in recent memory. Heaven
knows what the rights cost… This is why I find some of the recent reviews of this
excellent documentary I’ve read to be a perfect example of the joyless and
politically correct world we now seem to live in. In one review I was appalled
to read the male reviewer, desperately trying to stay within the ring of what’s
PC these days, criticizing use of the word “birds†to describe women. Yes, the
world was indeed a different place but you can’t change what was said and done
to suit the tastes (or distastes) of today’s accepted behaviors. The stories and events that are depicted in this expertly compiled documentary
are true testimonials told by those who actually lived it and whose role within
this incredible decade they document; These are the people who helped make this
decade what it was in regard to art, theatre, music and film and their telling
of their stories first- hand is what makes this documentary essential.
The film is mostly made up of footage
which I’ve never seen before- and I’ve seen many a documentary and music
program cover the subject. We have some exceptionally rare footage of The
Beatles, Biba, Twiggy and David Bailey at work, as well as never been seen
footage of David Bowie (then Davy Jones) that I know director David Batty was very
happy to find when Cinema Retro caught up with him after the showing. “We had
to go through 1500 hours of footage to come up with the film we have now†said
director Batty. “There was so much we could have used but we wanted to bring
something as fresh and vibrant as the decade itselfâ€. I really do believe that
Batty and his crew, which included Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais,have done just that. The footage of Twiggy
making a rather snootish Woody Allen look a fool when he asks her to name her favourite
philosopher is worth the admission fee.
Caine
was a key component in breaking down the class barriers in Great Britain in the
early- to- mid-60s, specifically because he sounded like those people paying to
see him in the stalls of the local East End Odeon. This whole wind of change is
beautifully summed up in a reminiscence by Caine of the time he took his Mum up
to the Kings Road during the decade’s zenith. He says he was very conscious of
all of the miniskirts on show at the time and could see the shock on his Mum’s
face but said to her “It’s just the fashion†to which she replied “If it’s not
on sale, don’t put it in the shop windowâ€. That one observation sums up the change
in attitudes and society between the short period after the war when Caine’s Mum
got married to the counter culture her own son helped popularise.
Caine himself apologises to the ladies as
to why women were called “Birdsâ€, explaining its cockney rhyming slang inspiration.
He points out that for every David Bailey there was a Mary Quant and for every George
Best there was a Twiggy. The latter is one of the key characters here- the female version of Caine; the super model
who kept her accent and attitude and projected that image of self-belief for
women in the 60s. It was a belief that simply being yourself was more important
than being a younger clone of your parents. Caine’s look- heavy glasses and
heavier accent had the same effect on the male youth of the 60s and continues
today.
A tag line for the film states “The 60s as
seen through his eyesâ€. They also say that eyes are the windows to the soul but
this hugely entertaining view of what Michael Caine saw through his iconic
black-rimmed lenses was not just rose-tinted,
but rather, a clear and accurate representation of what he and his friends
gathered here remember best about the time. Although we, unlike Caine, will
never get invited to a nightclub and see every member of the Rolling Stones and
The Beatles on the dance floor, we can appreciate the stories told to us by
those who did.
They say that the best story tellers
always get the warmest place next to the fire and even though Sir Michael’s wife
and daughter, sitting in the row in front of us at the screening, may have
heard some of these stories before, they, like we, all laughed in the right
places and you could hear a pin drop when the narrative began with “What was it
all about? I’m gonna show youâ€.
Michael Caine guides those of us watching
and listening from the audience through a remarkable period of time, pointing
out important landmarks as he takes us on a journey back in time- and what a
trip it is.