I really enjoyed this. I'm not Michael Caine's greatest fan but he does well here and where the voice of him today relates an instance in the past that we see in an old clip and another in the same clip also speaks from today the effect can be electrifying. Some have spoken of the simplicity and cheapness of putting something like this together and I couldn't disagree more. This is so seamless, even when clearly the clips are from different sources, that there is an excitement in simply watching this come together before us. The script by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, which might seem unnecessary is quite the opposite because the visuals have to constantly be given the right context. Not sure this would be quite so thrilling for anyone born in later years, but I loved it and was incredibly impressed by hitherto unseen clips.
19 Reviews
Michael Caine's 1960s Time Machine
maccas-5636718 April 2019
A very easy-to-watch reminisce of swinging 60s London, with old mate Michael Caine. For those like me, who always wished we experienced the 60s, this is as close as we'll ever get.
There's a lot to like here: Michael Caine, the 1960s, Britain, Beatles, The Who, The Stones, attractive models. It captures the feel and atmosphere of the 1960s well, albeit while being a bit all over the place. But weren't the 60s like that anyway?
It's also a documentary about youth. Something to put on whenever you feel like you're turning into a grumpy old nag. "My Generation" has a killer soundtrack and interesting footage - is like having a time machine back to the 60s, featuring the ingredients that brought about change.
It was fascinating to hear how Michael came up with his "Michael Caine" name, as well as the challenges he faced due to his cockney accent (forced to get rid of it for his first role!). At times it felt like there was too much emphasis on 60s fashion, modeling and photography - though if you're into that, this is the film for you.
Fairly sure I fell in love with every 1960s girl during in this.
The fast montages towards the end made me feel like John Lennon had slipped some LSD into my cup of tea - which I guess was the point while covering drug use of 1960s culture. It wraps up with Michael Caine giving us a mini-inspirational pep talk:
"Never ever look back in anger, always look forward in hope - and never dream small"
I want to go binge Michael Caine's filmography now!
There's a lot to like here: Michael Caine, the 1960s, Britain, Beatles, The Who, The Stones, attractive models. It captures the feel and atmosphere of the 1960s well, albeit while being a bit all over the place. But weren't the 60s like that anyway?
It's also a documentary about youth. Something to put on whenever you feel like you're turning into a grumpy old nag. "My Generation" has a killer soundtrack and interesting footage - is like having a time machine back to the 60s, featuring the ingredients that brought about change.
It was fascinating to hear how Michael came up with his "Michael Caine" name, as well as the challenges he faced due to his cockney accent (forced to get rid of it for his first role!). At times it felt like there was too much emphasis on 60s fashion, modeling and photography - though if you're into that, this is the film for you.
Fairly sure I fell in love with every 1960s girl during in this.
The fast montages towards the end made me feel like John Lennon had slipped some LSD into my cup of tea - which I guess was the point while covering drug use of 1960s culture. It wraps up with Michael Caine giving us a mini-inspirational pep talk:
"Never ever look back in anger, always look forward in hope - and never dream small"
I want to go binge Michael Caine's filmography now!
YEAH BABY!
js-661303 October 2018
Turns out the crumbling of crusty upper class Britain was engineered by a bunch of long haired art hooligans who made dreary old London swing with a rainbow of colours. And who better to flashback to the mid-sixties than Michael Caine?
Don't answer that, just see the movie.
With a bevy of jovial (off screen) interviews, Caine reminisces revolution with old pals McCartney, Daltrey, Twiggy and Marianne. The stories are great, and we are treated to some primo era footage, but it all rests on Caine's ample shoulders. As a Cockney in a princely movie industry, he helped usher in the working class bloke as a screen presence. A significant moment, aligned with the rock and roll explosion, contemporary art and fashion waves, it signalled a way out of the stodgy career paths previously devoid of any detours.
More of a history lesson than exploitation flick, a classy bit of cinema this.
Don't answer that, just see the movie.
With a bevy of jovial (off screen) interviews, Caine reminisces revolution with old pals McCartney, Daltrey, Twiggy and Marianne. The stories are great, and we are treated to some primo era footage, but it all rests on Caine's ample shoulders. As a Cockney in a princely movie industry, he helped usher in the working class bloke as a screen presence. A significant moment, aligned with the rock and roll explosion, contemporary art and fashion waves, it signalled a way out of the stodgy career paths previously devoid of any detours.
More of a history lesson than exploitation flick, a classy bit of cinema this.
This movie leaves no clichés unturned
mehransharmini18 November 2018
Good, but I wanted more
bob99825 September 2020
It's always a treat to see Michael Caine being interviewed; he has so many stories and they're all funny. But for a comprehensive statement about what Britain in the 60's was all about, we need more. The painters who refashioned the visual arts are barely mentioned: David Hockney, Richard Hamilton (whose Just What is it that Makes Today's Homes...? blasted its way into my teenaged mind), R. B. Kitaj and more all deserve more coverage. Instead we get lots of footage of David Bailey, Brian Duffy and other photogs--frankly it just isn't that interesting. If there was a novel or book of poems published during this decade we never hear of it.
The political turmoil of the time isn't mentioned. Tariq Ali, Caroline Coon and Michael X don't get name-checked; you'd never know that Godard made One plus one/Sympathy for the Devil with the Stones and all the London activists he could find. But you can ignore these criticisms and just sit back and enjoy a well-constructed time capsule.
The political turmoil of the time isn't mentioned. Tariq Ali, Caroline Coon and Michael X don't get name-checked; you'd never know that Godard made One plus one/Sympathy for the Devil with the Stones and all the London activists he could find. But you can ignore these criticisms and just sit back and enjoy a well-constructed time capsule.
a nostalgic documentary
dromasca26 January 2019
Revolutions are rare in England's history, but when they happen, they shake off the system and have repercussions not only on the Island but also around the world. More than three hundred years after Cromwell's revolution and 150 years after the Industrial Revolution, the pop culture revolution made in the 1960s of London last century one of the two cultural capitals of the world and the avant-garde model of a reversal values and styles of scale. This is the subject of the documentary 'My Generation', whose director David Batty has been known over the last decade, especially for his films about ... the history of Christianity.
Michael Caine is the producer, the presenter, and receives a lot of screen time in this documentary. It's an interesting choice, but it comes with its problems. Of course, for Caine's fans among which you can always count me, it's always a pleasure to see the clever and articulate actor at the age of 84, sharing his memories and experiences from these times. On the other hand, I felt that Caine is pushing himself too far in front of the stage and he is "gonflating" his role as a cultural hero at the expense of other personalities, the real and significant heroes of the youth of the period.
The film starts from an interesting thesis and develops it convincingly: the pop revolution of the 1960s was not only a cultural revolution but also a social revolution in art. For the first time the younger generations and the classes considered "inferior" in the British system have found a broad stage to express themselves and have conquered the front of the artistic scenes of the world in different fields (music, film, fashion) . However, cultural references are rather limited when it comes to other fields than pop music. I believe, for example, that Pinter and Stoppard's theater would have deserves to be mentioned. Even when talking about cinema, big names are missing - for example those of Losey or Kubrick.
Another cultural dimension is missing. England and London played a central role in the pop culture revolution of the 1960s, but not an exclusive role. There is no mention of the influence of the pop and hippie movement in the United States, the Flower Power phenomenon, the festivals and protests that had the epicenter in the United States rather than in England. It can be said that it was a bi-cephalic phenomenon that had two capitals - London and San Francisco, and the film only deals with one.
In spite of all these observations, it is an interesting film that includes many significant testimonies about what happened in those years on the London artistic scene. The three "chapters" of the film feature the three stages of the birth of the phenomenon, the conquest of the artistic scene, and the appearance of the premises of its decadence. For those like me who lived those years on the alien planet that was Eastern Europe, there is a lot of invaluable information, images that generate nostalgia, places we were dreaming about then without being sure we'll ever get to see them. 'My Genration' is a documentary that generates nostalgia, but not the ultimate documentary about that period.
Michael Caine is the producer, the presenter, and receives a lot of screen time in this documentary. It's an interesting choice, but it comes with its problems. Of course, for Caine's fans among which you can always count me, it's always a pleasure to see the clever and articulate actor at the age of 84, sharing his memories and experiences from these times. On the other hand, I felt that Caine is pushing himself too far in front of the stage and he is "gonflating" his role as a cultural hero at the expense of other personalities, the real and significant heroes of the youth of the period.
The film starts from an interesting thesis and develops it convincingly: the pop revolution of the 1960s was not only a cultural revolution but also a social revolution in art. For the first time the younger generations and the classes considered "inferior" in the British system have found a broad stage to express themselves and have conquered the front of the artistic scenes of the world in different fields (music, film, fashion) . However, cultural references are rather limited when it comes to other fields than pop music. I believe, for example, that Pinter and Stoppard's theater would have deserves to be mentioned. Even when talking about cinema, big names are missing - for example those of Losey or Kubrick.
Another cultural dimension is missing. England and London played a central role in the pop culture revolution of the 1960s, but not an exclusive role. There is no mention of the influence of the pop and hippie movement in the United States, the Flower Power phenomenon, the festivals and protests that had the epicenter in the United States rather than in England. It can be said that it was a bi-cephalic phenomenon that had two capitals - London and San Francisco, and the film only deals with one.
In spite of all these observations, it is an interesting film that includes many significant testimonies about what happened in those years on the London artistic scene. The three "chapters" of the film feature the three stages of the birth of the phenomenon, the conquest of the artistic scene, and the appearance of the premises of its decadence. For those like me who lived those years on the alien planet that was Eastern Europe, there is a lot of invaluable information, images that generate nostalgia, places we were dreaming about then without being sure we'll ever get to see them. 'My Genration' is a documentary that generates nostalgia, but not the ultimate documentary about that period.
It really was My Generation
peterkettle-904-44471721 March 2018
I thought this was going to be an interview with Michael Caine and some clips; it turned out to be a superb documentary on the social revolution I happened to experience. It is the best history of the Swinging Sixties I can imagine. From the social revolution of that time - which is what it was - I found my own history and development. I worked with Duffy, Donovan, Alan Aldridge. Okay, I was on the periphery of so much depicted here, but I was also a classic illustration of it; a working class lad who went to Art School, became an Advertising man, a successful DADA Silver Award winning Art Director, a prize winning illustrator, copywriter, author and painter. Caine was his brilliant self, not showing off, just telling it straight. This has to come out on dvd. And when it does I shall buy it.
Michael Caine narrates a documentary about the British Invasion.
planktonrules5 October 2021
"My Generation" is a documentary hosted by Michael Caine and it's all about the British Invasion and the disintegration of the class system.
The style of the film is a bit unusual. In addition to lots of stock footage and period music, there are some interviews with some of these Brits in more recent times. What's unusual about this is that you never see any of these folks on screen today...only footage of them back in the 60s. It's not bad...just odd.
So is this worth seeing? Yes. It's a nice overview of the period, the style, the concerns and the negatives associated with this youth movement.
The style of the film is a bit unusual. In addition to lots of stock footage and period music, there are some interviews with some of these Brits in more recent times. What's unusual about this is that you never see any of these folks on screen today...only footage of them back in the 60s. It's not bad...just odd.
So is this worth seeing? Yes. It's a nice overview of the period, the style, the concerns and the negatives associated with this youth movement.
Riveting
Leofwine_draca17 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A really nice celebratory documentary looking at Swinging Sixties' London and all of the cool new-fangled celebrity that went with it. Michael Caine is a great choice of narrator, his amiable persona rubbing off on the viewer instantly, and the plethora of famous characters lending their voice to the production is quite impressive. The screen is filled with relevant clips from the era, and the tableau is an involved one, bringing in music, film, showbiz, politics and even a little war. As someone who finds the almost liminal quality of the decade truly fascinating, this is riveting stuff.
Baby Boomer's Delight
phoenixmichaels7 July 2018
This is simply nostalgia... those looking for a plot or a point just won't get it, and they're likely under 60 as well. For those of us who were alive and experiencing all this first hand, prepare for a delightful evening with the beloved Michael Caine.
My Generation
jboothmillard9 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I heard about this documentary on a chat show or news review article, I knew it was about a defining decade in the United Kingdom, and I was most interested to see what topics they would focus on. Presented and narrated by Sir Michael Caine, an icon of the decade himself, this film examines the 1960s, better known as the "Swinging Sixties", and the cultural revolution that occurred in Great Britain. The documentary details the significant changes in the worlds of class (including the Class sketch on The Frost Report with John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett), fashion, sport, and music, as well as discussions of drug taking, the future being shaped by young, and opinions of world conflict. There are clips and talks about British poshness, the contraceptive pill, miniskirts, the British Invasion (British talent going overseas, especially to "break/crack America"), the 1966 World Cup, the Vietnam War, rock music, and The Beatles aka Beatlemania. The key figures and sixties icons that contribute to the film, both in interviews and in the archive footage, are (in alphabetical order): fashion and portrait photographer David Bailey; The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey; singer, songwriter, and actress Marianne Faithfull (who had the hit single "As Tears Go By"); singer, songwriter, and musician Paul McCartney, who achieved worldwide fame as part of The Beatles; fashion designer and fashion icon Mary Quant, who became a figure of the Mod (modernists) subculture; and model Twiggy (Dame Lesley Lawson), who found worldwide fame, appearing on the cover on Vogue and other magazines, and many famous images and advertising campaigns. Caine details his own career along the way, and archive footage of him during the making of his films, in interviews and other captured footage is fitted to match the topic being discussed. Caine, who was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, discusses that when he went into acting, he was told to change, he intended to be "Michael White", but another Michael White was already performing in London. So, speaking to his agent in a phone booth in Leicester Square in 1954, he looked around for inspiration, and saw the Humphrey Bogart movie The Caine Mutiny was playing at the Odeon Cinema, and adopted the new name Michael Caine (he jokes One Hundred and One Dalmatians was playing elsewhere). There are also clips from Caine's most famous films in the decade, his debut in Zulu, The Ipcress File, Alfie, and The Italian Job. Featuring a terrific soundtrack of sixties hits, including" My Generation" by The Who, "Something in the Air" by Thunderclap Newman, "You Really Got Me" and "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, "Gimme Some Lovin'" by Steve Winwood, "She's Not There" by The Zombies, "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles, and "Sunshine Superman" by Donovan. With contributions from singer and actress Joan Collins, Donovan, David Hockney, Lulu, and Sandie Shaw. Caine is a great voiceover with his sharp and witty commentary and fascinating anecdotes, the mix of black-and-white and coloured footage is edited perfectly for a distinctive narrative, there are many interesting things to find out, the soundtrack is of course splendid, and it really gives the sense of nostalgia, a most watchable documentary. Very good!
A trip down memory lane, probably more for the writers than the viewers
iantrader6 June 2018
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.
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.
My Generation
henry8-325 November 2018
The cultural revolution of the sixties is explored by key figures from the time, interviewed, but not seen, by this documentary's host, Michael Caine.
Wonderfully fun documentary that explains the need the country had to move on after the war / the fifties and the youth that lead that vital shift, intersperced with great footage and with Caine just the right host, this really helps capture what was going on and why in the end drugs rather sent it off the rails.
Wonderfully fun documentary that explains the need the country had to move on after the war / the fifties and the youth that lead that vital shift, intersperced with great footage and with Caine just the right host, this really helps capture what was going on and why in the end drugs rather sent it off the rails.
I'm a Believer
jonerogers7 September 2018
Watched this last night and it took me back to a time in my life that i loved. being born in 1964 some of this was before my time and some was after but i could relate to it all as stories around my Home in the early days with the older members of the family were on this subject. Everything from fashion, music, transport, fads and life in general is covered in this. Michael Caine is a Legend and so him fronting it was just peachy. In simple terms it took me back and threw me into an era before the internet, mobile phones and social media. at the end of the film i was left sat there not knowing where i was and what to do, my Partner even asked me 'are you ok?' i thought i was but i guess it opened my mind with all my personal memories, it was a time warp. a must see to get you all nostalgic.
a pity Caine limited his film to Londen
wrv-1685828 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Although London undoubtly was its vulcanic center, the Sixties young generation-culture spread wider. To San Francisco, USA, for instance. And what about Italian Michelangelo Antonioni's world-famous 1966-film 'Blow Up'? Even France had in Francoise Hardy a Sixties-singer of international status.
Given this narrow-minded limitation, 'My Generation' makes a true master-documentary. Set up by a veteran-actor who surely knows what it's all about. Historical correctness, to start with. A fine selection of Sixties-celebreties, both filmed and interviewed. A nice choice of Sixties-popsongs. And, most of all, a dazzling visual spectacle that betrays Caine's lifelong experience in filming.
Given this narrow-minded limitation, 'My Generation' makes a true master-documentary. Set up by a veteran-actor who surely knows what it's all about. Historical correctness, to start with. A fine selection of Sixties-celebreties, both filmed and interviewed. A nice choice of Sixties-popsongs. And, most of all, a dazzling visual spectacle that betrays Caine's lifelong experience in filming.
Brilliant historical look at the decade of the Sixties
cheryl-y-oconnor19 May 2022
For anyone who lived through this era or anyone interested in knowing who the movers and shakers were that steered England through the cultural revolution of the Sixties, this is a must see. Presenter Sir Michael Caine is brilliant at the helm, and it shows how the world changed from the post war Fifties to the Swinging Sixties with interviews with the influencers of the decade.
Good understanding of 60s
jean_darcc21 November 2023
This movie gives a good understanding and impression of that freespirited time. That is so well understood by the people living that period in history. Ofcourse there were downsides like in any other times; but there was hope and a type of positivity that todays society is lacking for a lot of people. Great to see English people living that 60 period in; My Generations telltale movie. Narrative, and depicting in birdseye an interesting period of English history with an accent also showing London. I find this movie colorfull, artistic, maybe part two; would be nice to show other parts of the World as well during that 60 period?
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