1972 / 46m - UK
Drama
1.5*/5.0*
My Childhood poster

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November 05, 2020

1.5*/5.0*

Scottish social drama (read: poverty porn). As the title suggests, the film is based on the childhood memories of director Bill Douglas. It's not a documentary (though it often looks like one), but the start of a narrative trilogy where Douglas travels back in time and dredges up mementos of his youth.

Douglas grew up in a poor Scottish miner's village, the post-War situation there was pretty dreary and hopeless. He and his brother lived together with their grandma, their parents nowhere in sight. It's a textbook example of social drama, only with a slightly more personal angle.

Grim black and white cinematography, no stylistic polish and many depressing scenes. I will say that Douglas did well to stay clear from overt sentimentality. For such a personal document, he maintains a very dry and factual tone that gives the film some extra weight. I'm sure there's an audience for this, but I'm certainly not it.