Abstract
The sixties were usually referred to as a period of joy and optimism, especially in England, as it was a span of time between two tougher periods in British history. Socially and economically speaking, the fifties was characterized as a period of severe struggle in the United Kingdom. The seventies was laden with several problems that were often linked with the economic crisis of these years and the decline of the British power. Therefore, the cultural movements of this period were often very pessimistic and violent, such as the punk movement. On the contrary, the cultural movements of the sixties appeared to have been a lot more joyful. In this context, Christopher Brooker, a historian, says that "one of the most obvious things that have built our vision of the 1960's is the fact that these years have been idealized as a kind of golden age that has been lost." However some protagonists of this fascinating era have adopted a more pessimistic view and think of all this as nothing but a huge illusion: the illusion of prosperity, freedom and happiness. According to Ray Davies, the leader of the Kinks (one of the major bands of that time) said in 1981: "The sixties was a lie, a total lie". It can therefore be concluded that the sixties was quite an ambiguous period. In order to understand it better, I will first try to present them objectively and then use the famous movie Blow-Up, by Michaelo Antonioni, in order to support and adopt a more critical point of view.
