‘The underlying message of these films is never trust a liberal…’
Adam Curtis has been at the forefront of English documentary making and sociology for decades now. Beginning with Pandora’s Box in 1992, Curtis has made several attempts to understand why British and global society is the way that it is – often weaving in a number of bizarre and disparate threads to create a compelling and unique narrative. Shifty, his latest documentary series for the BBC, sees Curtis attempt to explain the origins of the fractured and individualistic society that we currently find ourselves in. It’s fascinating…
Beginning with Britain’s deindustrialisation under Thatcher in 1979, and ending with New Labour utterly failing to turn the tide, Shifty breaks down the steps that led to the end of the concepts of ‘society’ and ‘community’ through the use of archive footage, and subtitled narration. It’s a captivating journey. The kind of documentary series that genuinely feels informative.
Aside from the narrative, however, it is the archive footage that really elevates Shifty into the realm of genius. As a chronicling of pop culture, the arts and working to lower-middle class life, Shifty is pretty untouchable. The film provides a real sense of a Britain that is generationally within reach, but still very much gone forever in real terms. Crucially, Curtis does this without resorting to nostalgia or revisionism, instead allowing the mesmorising footage to speak for itself.
Shifty, as with much of Curtis’ work, is top tier television. The kind of show that demands to be discussed and shared with others. I still haven’t quite got my head round it even days after wrapping up the final episode – stellar television.
