Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

I just watched this on DVD having not seen it for about 30 years and very much enjoyed it. It's a simple story and although set in the 1960s it's a timeless one. Every guy in the world remembers being that age and how desperate you are to experience the pleasures of women. The film also honestly depicts how the reality of losing your virginity isn't the mind blowing experience you imagined it would be and leaves you feeling a bit odd. Although reminiscent of the 70s sex comedies that followed this film has much more heart and depth.

It's also a perfect time capsule of Britain at a unique point in it's history. It shows the brave new world of 1960s architecture just before it all turned sour. This was to be the way we were going to live with. Everything made from concrete with people interacting in strange urban spaces. Of course we know that it failed miserably but there was a brief moment when it must have felt like a bright new future. The Victorian architecture that we now value depressed the people of the 1960s and reminded them of the past and of the war.

The overall experience of watching this was a strange one. It is very much of the 60s and yet it also feels incredibly modern as if it was made later but set in the 60s. Barry Evans wouldn't have looked out of place in the 80s with his jeans and white shirt. Of course the girls all look fantastic in their mini skirts and sexy boots. I don't know if suburbia was really as liberated as this in the 1960s but it's fun to imagine that it was.