Shifty

I absolutely loved this documentary series. I am 65 and felt like my life was passing in front of my eyes. The nostalgia pangs were bittersweet. To me, it felt true to the times.

The treatment of the Thatcher regime challenges the current perception that her works require some kind of sainthood and present the pain and destructoon visited on so many people by her stiff-necked policies. I remember friends having their flats repossessed and the terrible inequalities created by those receiving double figure interest on savings whilst others were having to pay them out on mortgages. The myth that unions destroyed industry is illustrated beautifully. I would love to see more like this.

Using archive material from the Thatcher years, Adam Curtis demonstrates a myth that many on the Left will be uncomfortable with; far from being an underhand experiment, Mrs. Thatcher made it clear from the start what her project was all about. The destruction of the Welfare State. The destruction of solidarity. The decimation of the right of the people to be protected from capitalism. But the Left were more interested in making speeches to each other and ideological purity. The media colluded with the Tories, and the hard earned gains of the working class were lost.

Brilliant and unsettling work from a dwindling pool of sharp and empathetic film maker.

The opening scenes are worth the license fee on their own.

We needed this.. after watching I felt lighter and more engaged in the world than I did before pressing play. This is a must watch. Thank you Adam. The music is perfectly mixed and archive footage tastefully edited and utilised to create a powerful, meaningful experience. We are lucky to have Adam's works freely available in the UK. Perhaps it's a tactic from the deeper levels of Government, security or the intelligence services. Knowledge is power and this series opens the door to so many real elements of our short human existence. I appreciate this is will be difficult for some to digest and process, but Adam has really surpassed all expectations with this work.. Bravo 👏🏼👏🏼

I found the first 3 or 4 episodes a bit confusing. The footage and music are interesting and there is a sense for Britain during that era of time but for me it didnt flow or feel cohesive and i found myself skipping a few scenes that seemed a bit vulgar or indulgent - like whats the point of this? Maybe I didnt get it. Although there are some really good bits too, especially around racial tensions and science with Stephen Hawking - a sense of reality "shifting" in more ways than one. Altogether it was mixed.

The final episode however was excellent. It brought things together and was much clearer and easier to follow. The footage felt more relevant to me and the story felt more deliberate and clear, and it carries you along in that surreal way that adam curtis does.

Shifty is great, shifty is brilliant, shifty is astounding. And then what?

I grew up in the years Shifty retraces, so how biessed am I? Everything illustrated here, i lived through. Every urgence depicted, i fought through. Every exhilaration depicted i danced through. So i accept i cannot watch this documentary/exploration without a pre-defined view. Adam Curtis either tells me we're going into thatcher years again, or we just need to mind what they were.

This is the kind of work that should be aimed at our younger generations. What do they expect of our powers? What do they believe are our goals? England chose a way should the western world follow?