My Childhood

19721972
Not RatedNot Rated
46m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

Stephen Archibald in My Childhood (1972)

Biography Drama

The second part (My ain folk) of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the mone... Read allThe second part (My ain folk) of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars - and this escape is reflected most closely at thi... Read allThe second part (My ain folk) of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars - and this escape is reflected most closely at this time of his life as an eight-year-old living on the breadline with his half-brother and ... Read all

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

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Awards
- 3 wins

Trivia
A colour print was accidentally made in 1993 to tie in with the launch of the book "Bill Douglas: A Lanternist's Account". The lab were told to make a new print, but did not know they had to print the film in black and white. The colour version was screened once only, in Edinburgh.

Connections
Featured in Elokuvan tarina: Fight the Power: Protest in Film (2011)

User reviews9

Review

Featured review

9/10

Extraordinarily honest and Accomplished first feature

Firstly, to my surprise, my local lending library had this BFI Bill Douglas trilogy to rent for £1.90, for a week. The lady staff member added its second sticker on which they stamp the due date. It had been in the library since 2008. A few dozen borrowings in 5 years...

Secondly, all the reviews here outline much about the plot and story and its gritty, hard-to-take realism. I agree absolutely with all said. Radio Times online quote 'makes the relentless chill of poverty almost tangible'.

This is simple but extremely effective film-making, sparse dialogue, close-ups that show gestures and silence and natural sounds to accentuate those feelings. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, this is one film that is a must-see for all cineastes who think they know British film and really is on par with anything that the Italian or Russian greats have done.

You feel a certain numbness, a chill after viewing that tells you something - that it's touched you. Not too many films achieve that these days.

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