Me di a I ssues an d

Deb ates
British
cinema
since 1990
 Requirements…
‘Contemporary British Cinema’ is part of the
exam in ‘Media Issues and Debates’
2 hours
3 topics – answer on two of them.
 British Cinema Since 1990
 Broadcast News and Current Affairs
 The Magazine Industry
 Contemporary British Film
What are the issues? What is debated?
• What is a British film?
• The British film industry.
• Britain and Hollywood.
• Genre and narrative in contemporary
British film.
• Elements of realism.
• Representations of contemporary Britain
 Some recent exam questions

2003:

British Cinema Since 1990

What factors determine whether or not

a film can be defined as ‘British’?
2004

British Cinema Since 1990

What factors have contributed to the

success, in the UK and/or abroad, of British
films produced since 1990?
2005:

British Cinema Since 1990

How far has the success of British

films since 1990 been due to their
representation of ‘Britishness’?
2005:

British Cinema Since 1990

How far has the success of British

films since 1990 been due to their
representation of ‘Britishness’?
2006

British Cinema Since 1990

How has the British film industry

managed to survive?
 Make two lists…
Make a list of British films that you have
seen
Make a list of British films that you have
heard about.
Are you sure that all the films you have
listed are ‘British films’?
How can you tell? What is a ‘British film’?
 Why have a B riti sh ci nema in du stry?

 Diff erent f rom Ho llywood and othe r

na tional cine mas in t erm s of ideolog y and
values.
 Prov ides ‘us’ with a sens e of ident ity.
 ‘We’ can relate to B ri tish film s m ore
rea di ly.
 Draws at te ntion to social iss ues in B ri tish
life.
 Raises m one y…prof it…t ax es.
 Prov ides an o utlet fo r B ritish film -m aking
an d prom otion al ta len t (acting, directing,
tec hni cal ex pertise).
 FU NDIN G BRI TI SH FI LMS
There are no British studios that can finance their
own films independently.
 Television companies (BBC, Channel Four)
 The Film Council (in 1995 the British government
allocated £84m to be spent over five years)
 British Screen Finance (grants up to £500,000 for
projects have problems getting mainstream funding)
 Local funding (e.g. Screen Yorkshire, Glasgow Film
Fund, London Production Fund)
 European Co-Production Fund (grants up to
£500,000)
 American Co-Production (significant for some recent
films)
 Ho ll ywo od… and British cinema
• Big name star or stars
• Glamorous representations of
gender
• Often idealistic
representations of America
• Clear narrative goal…and
strong end closure
• Shots/dialogue strongly
motivated by narrative
• CGI and other special fx
• Strong sense of genre
• Romantic interest/
heterosexual goal
British film genre since 1990
• Social Realist (Raining Stones, Nil By Mouth,
Dirty Pretty Things)
• Gangster (The Krays, Lock,Stock and Two
Smoking Barrels)
• Heritage (Sense and Sensibility, Elizabeth,
Gosford Park)
• Romantic Comedy (Sliding Doors, Notting Hill)
• Horror/Thriller (The Hole, 28 Days Later…
Shaun of the Dead?)
• Animation (Wallace and Gromit)
 So me of the mos t pop ul ar
Bri ti sh f ilms s ince 199 0…

The Full Monty

Bridget Jones’ Diary
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Notting Hill
Love Actually

Can you draw any conclusions from this list?

 Exam preparation: finding examples
Raining Stones – the scene with the loan shark
Dirty Pretty Things – an outsider’s view of
London
Last Resort – the opening sequence

…and Fever Pitch – the school, at the match,

winning the league.
Is Fever Pitch an example of social realism?
 Realism and British Cinema
Reali sm: a style that aims to represent the ‘real world’ honestly
and accurately. The term is central to discussions of British
cinema. British rea list c ine ma v. escapist Hollywood films (or
Hollywood-influenced films).
Reali sm i s a com plex co nce pt be ca use …
 The concept is used across a range of art forms
 The concept can mean different things in different contexts (e.g.
‘social realism’ is a specific type of realism)
 Unlike other art styles, realism changes over time
 What appears to be realistic to one generation, may seem
exaggerated or artificial to later audiences.
 Cha rac teristic s of a realis t f il m
An aesthetic of codes and
conventions that the audience
recognises as realist.
 Loc ation s ho oting
(th e ‘re al w orld’) Raining Stones

 Eve ryd ay mis e en sc èn e

 Natu ra list ic ac ting an d co stum e
 Impr ov ise d dialog ue
 Linke d t o rep res en ta tions
of wor king cla ss ?
 What does Th e Fu ll Mo nty (1997)do?
Is it just a funny film?
Are there other reasons for its popularity?

Dancing?
Humour?
Realistic portrayal of life?
Being out of work?
Friendship?
Nudity?
 THE FUL L MO NT Y …and the problems of
defining realism
 In the 1980s – a shift from class politics to the politics of race,
gender, sexuality. Fewer images of collective action.
 THE FULL MONTY : a ‘working-class film’ of the 1990s.
 An upbeat narrative about the future of working-class men?
 The reality of industrial and economic decline…
 …and the optimism of THE FULL MONTY?
 Working-class or underclass? Whatever it is, is it male or
female?
 Move away from economic, class concerns to loss of male
confidence? Where is male self-doubt located in the film?
 Women are successful and are resented for usurping the male
role…but are ultimately supportive.
 The need for men to support each other is part of the film’s
message…
 …but what overcomes economic hardship?
 What role does the use of comedy play?

The film moves to Broadway

 The Full Monty: a few facts
• Director: Peter Cattaneo.
• Production companies: Twentieth Century Fox / Channel
Four.
• Budget: £2.2 million.
• The film has taken in excess of £120 million at the box office
worldwide. It was more successful than Jurassic Park in the
UK.
• Marketing: Fox spent over £850,000 promoting the UK
release and to ensure good ‘word of mouth’ invited over
100,000 people to free preview screenings.
 Working Title : a British success?
Working Title – currently the most successful
British film production company. Established in
1984…and still going!
Strategy: to make films with American stars to
appeal to an international market.

Should the British film industry make

culturally specific films which appeal to a
British audience or broader, generic films
that appeal to a wider market?
 Success…
 Wo rk ing T itle is started in 1984.
 Begins collaboration with Channel Four Films: My Beautiful
Launderette. 15 films produced during the 1980s.
 Production deal with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
 1991: Wo rk ing T itle sets up Hollywood office…
1992 PolyGram buys Working Title
1998 Universal buys PolyGram…a big increase in budget

 Wo rk ing T itle retains autonomy in creative decisions but is owned

by a media conglomerate.
 Wo rk ing Ti tle can ride out commercial difficulties in a way that
smaller British film production cannot.
 Some Working Title films

Film Budget (£m) Takings UK (£m)

1996 Bean 16. 2 18

1997 Elizabeth 13 5. 5

1998 Not ti ng Hill 15 31

2000 Bridget Jones 14 42

2001 About a Boy 13. 5 16. 9

2004 Lov e Ac tually 30 36. 2

2004 Wim bledon 20 6. 9

 Richard Curtis and Working Title
 Richard Curtis: co-wrote Blackadder and The Vicar of
Dibley (both BBC).
 Films: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget
Jones’s Diary, Love, Actually.
 Popular and commercially successful but..
 …has been accused of creating a fantasy Britain
 …has been criticised for relying on stereotypes
 …has been criticised for being sentimental.

Is the reason for the commercial success of these

films internationally (and particularly in America)
due to their representation of Britishness?
 What are characteristics of a
Richard Curtis / Working Title film?

• Genre?
• Narrative? Plot twists? Ending?
• Ideology?
• Humour?
• Stars?
• Settings?
• Weather?
• Representation of race / gender/ disability?
 Bridget Jones’s Diary
The first twelve minutes The last twelve minutes
 Notting Hill
Representation in Notting Hill
Look at two extracts from the film:
1. The opening sequence
2. Honey’s birthday party
Representation of Nott ing Hil l and of London in
general
Representation of clas s
Representation of gender
 Preparing for the exam
Watch and make notes on how these
notions are represented in at least one
other Working Title film:
- ‘Britishness’ (or ‘Englishness’)
- youth and age
- the world of work
- gender and sexuality
- class and wealth
SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Consider SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

in terms of
 the type of film it is
 how it shows ideas of ‘Britishness’
 whether you can regard it as a ‘British film’
 the reasons for its commercial success
 SHAUN OF THE DEAD Released 2004

Director: Edgar Wright

Screenplay: Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg
Genre: Comedy-Horror
Stars: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Dylan
Moran, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton
Filmed on location in London and at Ealing Studios.
Production: Working Title Films in association with
Big Talk Productions
Distributor: Universal Pictures

“A ROMANTIC COMEDY. WITH ZOMBIES”

 The Wrong
Trousers
Where w ould t he ‘W all ace
(1993)
and Gr omi t’ fi lms fi t i nto
yo ur work on re ce nt British
ci nema ?
Th ink a bout th e ke y a re as
we h ave st ud ied.

TRY LO OK ING AT
www.wallaceandgromit.com
for film clips and more information.
 What m akes a go od
answ er? Remember the
• Types of British film need for
• debate.
What makes a film ‘British’?
Refer to
• Production and funding particular films
• Marketing and distribution to demonstrate
your points.
• Where films are shown Where possible
give facts and
e q u e s tio n t h ese figures.
t h
Depending on e a t u re in
areas sh o u ld f Use media
in y o u r a n s w er.
s
varying degree terminology.