Days of Hope

This is a brilliant and moving Film Verite that shows the complicated lives of a single family directly after the first world war Loach comments on the chaos, stitch-up, and buried hopes of a world full of hope for a better world after the war to end all wars. The acting is first-class and this film deserves to be seen by everyone. Unfortunately, the BBC were told not to show the film again in the UK, though it was sold abroad to many countries, Rumour has it that the originals were actually destroyed at the behest of the British government. In 1975 we named our lefty football team after it,which played in Bristol on Sundays till 2005. It would be fantastic if someone could admit to having a copy of the film. There are so many who would like to see and appreciate it again.

I was an extra in the Days of Hope as a school child in Langley Park where it was filmed and would dearly love to see a copy of the drama, which is only available now to schools and colleges.Being so young at the time I have very fond memories of taking part, queuing up to be kitted out in the period costume at the make shift costume department on location at the local youth centre. Waiting around in the rain for the weather to clear for shooting, enjoying the black leather boots and scruffy brown dress and shawl.I would love to see it now and follow the plot, which I was too young to appreciate at the time and to try to recognise fellow school mates who sadly I have now lost touch with.

this was a great bbc tv series by ken loach directing ,jim allen writing and tony garnett producing but I can`t find a copy anywhere ,has anyone got one ,please? It seems the bbc are not going to rebroadcast which is a shame as it was a classic like so many Ken Loach films,so it`s a faint hope that someone videod it in 1974/5 slim but worth a try

Okay, let's give credit where it's due: As in other Loach productions, the actors in this grim, earnest series look and sound relatively real. And as for one of the issues raised in the first installment -- whether Britain was wise to have entered the Great War -- I'd probably side, thanks to 20-20 hindsight, with those who wanted to stay out... which is certainly the point of view Loach is advocating.

But throughout his career, every film he's made is meant to convey some sort of heavy-duty left-wing political message - in this case, a numbingly predictable one about how the working class has been duped, screwed, and exploited. And because his movies are less interested in entertaining us than they are about Teaching Us a Lesson, I find myself tuning out. Granted, some lefty friends of mine revere Loach, because his films reflect and confirm their political beliefs. But for me, they're just skillfully made propaganda.

Kenneth Loach's story of three people living through the period between the world wars covers the recovery from the slaughter after 1918, the conflict in Ireland, the Depression and the general strike. Though the overall outcome is a betrayal of the hopes of ordinary people, it is not depressing or preachy. The director's point of view is always overt, but the great impressions are of compassion and of complete truthfulness in the representation of characters. After seeing and hearing one of the group scenes, of conversations in a pub, for example, you realise that every similar scene you've experienced before in film or on television was quite artificial. The rather drawn face of the (then young) Paul Copley in the leading role is unforgettable. This is at the top of my great experiences on television.