Berkeley in the Sixties

Where have all the activists gone, long time passing? That's what I asked myself as I watched this great documentary. We now live in an age where signs and protests in the streets are just another story on the news. We have seen it so much we have become jaded by it all. This documentary takes us back to a time in America when revolution in the streets seemed entirely possible, and it scared the heck out of middle America, politicians and those who had a vested interest in the status quo. It interviews people who were there from the beginning in the very early 1960s through the early 1970s and the stopping of the Vietnam war. Is this film anti-establishment? You bet, it would have to be. We are, after all, showing the viewpoint of people involved in the counter-culture after all. No Rush Limbaugh here. What this movie left me with was a gratefulness that someone recorded these activists stories on film. These people were primarily writers, there still exists a LOT of writing from the time that goes into more detail on what was going on, but by recording these stories on film, it assures that future generations who will not seek out a book as readily as they will a TV remote will hear them. This movie also left me with a feeling of wondering where today's activists were. Where are the people willing to give up freedom and comfort to stand for what they believe in. Oh yeah, they are looking for their remotes...

'I was there as a student - this film is a '10' in explaining the era and what was going on in the Berkeley arena during this time frame. I teach at CAL now, and have used it as a 'primer' to show the way things should be. As a social (2xPh.D.) scientist (and as a Canadian) it seems Americans have lost the drive and initiative to make a change. In many ways the nameless people in this film are heroes, standing up for what they believe should be at any cost. Many who see this film have no idea what the students who were part of this movement went through, it was far from a 'walk in the park' - their sacrifices of family, friends and the indignities they suffered cannot be explained. These are your lost heroes America, learn from them and rise to the occasion again before it is too late.'

This is a superb, valuable documentary.

Berkeley was at the epicenter as the counterculture politics of the '60s emerged. And revisiting the political ferment of '60s Berkeley can offer an unusually helpful overview of these interwoven political currents. This film does that very, very well.

The fascinating footage (including early glimpses at Reagan as a relatively new "pol"), the deft editing, the years-later retrospective reflections of "now-grown-up" participants in the Berkeley "FSM" (Free Speech Movement) -- these are all very engaging, and beautifully assembled. But what makes the film great for me is its clarity in reflecting the interplay of counterculture themes: the movements for free speech and for civil rights, the movement against the Vietnam War, and assertion of the new feminism. Along with the energetic pursuit of "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," these elements – blended into one 'tsunami' of a movement -- were experienced by us all coming of age during that time, throughout the US and throughout much of the world. But as a young person during that era, who became very swept up in the self-proclaimed "dawning of the Age of Aquarius," I recall also feeling unclear on how these ideological components -- which otherwise seemed to me distinct and substantively unrelated – became intertwined in the social politics of that era.

Whether the film is slanted, and whether "The Movement" was positive or negative, seem to me besides the point. The Movement was; like it or not, that reality is indisputable. From varying perspectives, our entire culture experienced it, and was affected by it. Most of the many millions of us on college campuses during that time were forever changed -- for good, for ill, or both. This film presents the most coherent depiction I've seen of how this happened, what it's "logic" was – and manages to do so engagingly, without becoming pedantic. That's a whole lot for one film to do, even for someone who respects and loves film as our culture's greatest current art form.

This documentary, focuses on the turbulence of the Berkeley student demonstrations, during the volatile 60s. There's plenty of interviews, with former Berkeley student radicals. Also included, is commentary from members of the Black Panthers, the Berkeley Mayor, local police, and concerned Bay area citizens. Berkeley, and the San Francisco Bay area in general, were the epicenter of political and social unrest, for young people in the 60s. The chaos of the student movement that began at Berkeley, spread to other campuses throughout the nation. Never before, had college students in America been so thoroughly dedicated to positive change, as they were during the 60s.

I lived in the Bay area, just two years ago. And it's undergone a 280-degree turn from its enlightened, progressive character, that was its signature zeitgeist in the 60s. It's become positively inhumane! It's been overtaken by affluent Yuppie WASPs, who have driven the price of housing to astronomical levels. As a result, homelessness is at epidemic levels there. So is unemployment. Even the most highly educated people, have to beg for low-wage jobs there. Racism, and even gay-bashing, now plague the once warm and tolerant Bay area too. High tech geeks are the new gods of the Bay area, and everyone else there is regarded as useless. Bohemians of all stripes, are no longer welcome there. They can't afford to live there anymore, anyhow.

This film is very informative, about how Berkeley students fought valiant battles for social justice in the 60s. It's a real shame, that the Bay area has become a haven for the Capitalist pigs, that the Berkeley students railed against over 40 years ago.

The recent anti-Bush/war demonstrations sparks deja-vu in anybody over forty, anybody who can clearly remember the similar Vietnam era anti-war demonstrations three decades ago. Mark Kitchell's documentary, BERKELEY IN THE SIXTIES, vividly brings the 1960's sit-in's, marches and riots home. There's plenty of archival footage of student demonstrations on California's Berkeley campus, footage so clear, it seem they were lensed only an hour ago. We begin with Berkeley students protesting the HUAC witch-hunts, battling with fire-hose wielding police in 1960, years before marches and sit-ins became commonplace.