My Generation

This is an odd movie. It's a documentary about the so-called 'youth revolution' in the 1960s.

It was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, superb writers, who are best known for their many, many UK sitcoms such as Porridge and the Likely Lads as well as several movies. It is a nostalgic look at the time - which the two writers must have lived through - and for anyone who was around in the 60s it's a trip down memory lane.

It's narrated by Michael Caine with voice-over contributions from many others such as Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Marianne Faithfull, Twiggy, Mary Quant and more, although there are also film clips of many of these people taken at the time, too.

Quite what the movie is trying to achieve is not clear. There's nothing here that we don't know or haven't seen before, particularly the film clips, although if you weren't around in the 60s and have no sense of recent history, it may be informing.

It must have been extremely cheap to make - mostly old film clips - with a few quid for the voice overs and the appearance of Michael Caine who is used to sell the movie with him as sole visual on the poster. If one was cynical - perish the thought - one might think he was being used as the major sales pitch as, although there are a few scenes about him, it's not a film about Michael Caine.

If you were around in the 60s then you will almost certainly want to watch it, if only for the soundtrack of pop songs from the time. But it doesn't make any point or statement and, ultimately, you may wonder why they bothered.