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The Spirit of '45 is a 2013 documentary film by British director Ken Loach, focused on and celebrating the radical changes in postwar Britain under the Labour government of Clement Attlee, which came to power in 1945. Relying primarily on archive footage and interviews, and without a narrative voiceover, the film recounts the endemic poverty in prewar Britain, the sense of optimism that followed victory in World War II and the subsequent expansion of the welfare state, founding of the National Health Service and nationalisation of significant parts of the UK's economy. The film documents the extent to which these achievements, as Loach sees them, have since been subject to attack in the decades that followed, particularly under the Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Loach said that the model for the film was "oral history, with pictures".
Original Release
03/15/2013
US Release
03/17/2023
Links
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Eileen Thompson | Self - Nurse |
Julian Tudor Hart | Self - General Practitioner |
Dai Walters | Self - Miner |
Sam Watts | Self |
Ray Davies | Self - Miner and Steelworker |
Dot Gibson | Self - General Secretary, National Pensioners' Convention |
Tony Benn | Self - Labour Minister / Himself - Contributor |
Harry Keen | Self - Consultant Physician |
John Rees | Self - Radical Historian |
Raphie de Santos | Self - Financial Analyst and Radical Commentator |
Directors
Writers
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Eileen Thompson | Self - Nurse |
Julian Tudor Hart | Self - General Practitioner |
Dai Walters | Self - Miner |
Sam Watts | Self |
Ray Davies | Self - Miner and Steelworker |
Dot Gibson | Self - General Secretary, National Pensioners' Convention |
Tony Benn | Self - Labour Minister / Himself - Contributor |
Harry Keen | Self - Consultant Physician |
John Rees | Self - Radical Historian |
Raphie de Santos | Self - Financial Analyst and Radical Commentator |
James Meadway | Self - Senior Economist, National Economists Foundation |
Tony Richardson | Self - Car Worker and Shop Steward |
Dena Murphy | Self - Nurse |
Margaret Battin | Self - Nurse |
June Hautot | Self |
Bill Ronksley | Self - Former President, Train Drivers Union, ASLEF |
Jacky Davis | Self - Consultant Radiologist |
Jonathon Tomlinson | Self - General Practitioner |
Alex Gordon | Self - President, RMT 2010-20012 |
Ray Thorn | Self - Railwayman |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Katherine Butler | Executive Producer |
Lizzie Francke | Executive Producer |
Anna Miralis | Executive Producer |
Anna Higgs | Executive Producer |
Jim Anderson | Producer |
Rebecca O'Brien | Producer |
Kate Ogborn | Producer |
Lisa Marie Russo | Producer |