Michael Cockerell sheds new light on the tragi-comedy of the 1970s by focusing on some of its most controversial characters. With fresh filming and new interviews, along with a treasure trove of rare archive, the film presents the inside story of giant personalities who make today's public figures look sadly dull in comparison. The well-known journalist revisits some of his films on the big characters who helped shaped the 1970s in Britain. Both tragic and comic, it highlights just how much our world has changed in four decades.

The Last Waltz
1978
7.6/10

A Decade Under the Influence
2003
7.9/10

35 Up
1991
7.6/10

42 Up
1999
7.6/10

Becoming Led Zeppelin
2025
7.4/10

WHAM!
2023
7.4/10

The Sparks Brothers
2021
7.3/10

Milius
2013
7.0/10

My Generation
2017
7.1/10

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
2018
7.5/10

21 Up
1977
7.4/10

56 Up
2012
7.2/10

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
2003
7.1/10

I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale
2009
7.0/10

John Candy: I Like Me
2025
7.9/10

I Am Heath Ledger
2017
7.4/10

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
2013
6.9/10

Night Will Fall
2014
7.6/10

The Velvet Underground
2021
6.8/10

Directed by John Ford
1971
6.9/10
Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory
1895
6.687/10