Representation of

Britishness

Comparison of films through the decades:

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Educating Rita
Up The Junction
Up The Junction
 Up The Junction
 Director: Peter Collinson

 Year of release: 1968

 Based on the Book called

Up The Junction by Nell Dunn

 Production companies:
 BHE Films, Paramount Pictures
(Distributor, USA)

 Principal cast: Dennis Waterman,

Suzy Kendall, Maureen Lipman.

 Notable personnel:
Soundtrack was written by Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg.
The Plot
Polly Dean (Suzy Kendall) gives up a
privileged life in Chelsea and moves to
a working class community in
Battersea where she takes a job in a
confectionery factory in an attempt to
distance herself from her moneyed
upbringing and learn to make a living
for herself.

She becomes friends with two

working class girls and forms a
relationship with a working class boy
who envies her access to an easy life
and is frustrated by her denial of it.
 Key Events in Britain in the
1960s
 The decade was labeled the Swinging Sixties because of the libertine attitudes that
emerged during this decade. A ‘counterculture’ was created in the second half of the
decade which consisted of young people revolting against the conservative norms of
the time, as well as remove themselves from main stream liberalism.
 The 1960s have become synonymous with all the new, exciting, radical, and
subversive events and trends of the period, which continued to develop in the 1970s,
1980s, 1990s and beyond. In Africa the 1960s was a period of radical political
change as 32 countries gained independence from their European colonial rulers.
 Popular Culture
 The counterculture movement dominated the second half of the 1960s, its most
famous moments being the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967, and the
Woodstock Festival in upstate New York in 1969. Psychedelic drugs, especially LSD,
were widely used medicinally, spiritually and recreationally throughout the late 1960s.
 Films defining the decade:
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s

 Some of Hollywood's most notable blockbuster

films of the 1960s include: Psycho,
Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Birds,
The Pink Panther, Mary Poppins,
The Sound of Music; The Jungle Book,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid;
Bonnie and Clyde; The Graduate;
Night of the Living Dead; Easy Rider;

Planet of the Apes; The Lion In Winter;

The Wild Bunch.

 The counterculture movement had a

significant effect on cinema. Movies turned
increasingly dramatic, unbalanced, and hectic
as the cultural revolution was starting. This was the beginning of the New Hollywood era that
dominated the next decade in theatres and revolutionized the movie industry. Films such as
Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde (1967), and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968) are
examples of this new, edgy direction.
 Films of this time also focused on the changes happening in the world. Dennis Hopper's Easy
Rider (1969) focused on the drug culture of the time.
Representation Of Britishness
 Up The Junction focuses on working
class life in Battersea in the 1960s and
the contrast between the working class
life and the lives of the privileged.

 Up The Junction is set in Battersea,

London which then in the 1960s was
seen as a very working class and
rather depressed district, the main
female protagonist (Polly) represents
the contrast between Battersea and
Chelsea with Chelsea being a wealthy
area and the residences being mainly
upper middle class.
 Polly, the main female protagonist, is a
countertype of a typical Chelsea girl in
the 1960s, she moves to Battersea to
prove to herself that she can be
independent.
 Representation Of Britishness
 Up The Junction is part of the
British New Wave cinema which
focuses on social realism within
Britain.
 Social realist texts usually focus on
the type of characters not
generally found in mainstream
films. This has usually involved the
representation of the working class
at moments of social and
economic change.
 Free Cinema and New Wave
chose to represent the working
class neither in victim mode, nor in
heroic worker mode as had been
done previously. The working class
were to be seen as more energetic
and vibrant.
Source: http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/michaelwalford/tag/film_genres/
Educating Rita
 Summary
 GENRE(S): Comedy | Drama | Romance
 WRITTEN BY: Willy Russell
 DIRECTED BY: Lewis Gilbert
 TAGLINE: A comedy about a teacher and a very
memorable student
 STARS Michael Caine and Julie Walters

 Bored with teaching undergraduates English

literature, Frank Bryant (Michael Caine) reflects
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his attempt at becoming a poet. His world is turned
upside down by the arrival of Rita (Julie Walters), a
hairdresser who has decided to find herself by
taking an Open University course. Excited by her
freewheeling and acute observations, Frank also
feels a deep sadness as he watches her warm
impulsive reactions being replaced by the sort of
cold analytical approach he so much loathes in
other students and colleagues. (IMDB)
 Awards
 Won Best Actor,
Actress and Film at the
1984 BAFTA awards.
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Actor, Actress and

Writer at the 1984
Oscars.
 Films of the 1980’s
 The 1980s saw the continued rise of the
blockbuster, an increased amount of nudity
in film and the increasing emphasis in the
American industry on film franchises,
especially in the science fiction, horror, and
action genres. Much of the reliance on QuickTime™ and a
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part to the Star Wars films at the advent of
this decade and the new cinematic effects
it helped to pioneer.
 The teen comedy sub-genre saw its
popularity rise during this decade
 The 1980’s
 In the 1980’s was also known as the Thatcher era. Unemployment
skyrocketed and social ills such as homelessness and absolute
poverty, which had been almost entirely eradicated in Britain during
the post-war era, became common features of British life again.
 The 1980s: Renaissance and Recession
 Although major American productions, such as The Empire Strikes
Back and Superman II, continued to be filmed at British studios in
the 1980s, the decade began with the worst recession the British
film industry had ever seen. In 1980 only 31 British films were made,
down 50% on the previous year, and the lowest output since 1914.
 The play deals with England's class system, the
shortcomings of institutional education, and the nature
of self-development.
 The film focuses on how Rita struggles to interact
anymore with the largely uneducated and sub-literate
peers from her own background, but similarly struggles
to interact with the educated classes. Rita's original
preconceptions of the educated classes are that they
lead better lives and are happier people. (Wiki)
 Representations of
Britishness
 The Working Class – uneducated, sub-
literate and poverty stricken.
 The Middle Class – wealthy, educated and
privileged.
 How the two do not mix in society.
 How education is a foundation.
Bridget Jones: The
Edge of Reason
 Key Facts
 Director: Beeban Kidron

 Date of release: 12th November 2004

 Budget: $70m (est.)

 UK box office: £10,400,000 (504 screens)

 US box office: $8,700,000 (530 screens)

 Cast: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh

Grant

 Other noticeable personnel: Helen Fielding

(screenplay and novel) Richard Curtis
(screenplay) Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner
(producers)

 Nominations: Nominated for a Golden Globe,

(best performance by an actress in a motion
picture) UK Empire Award for best British
film
 The Plot

http://www.bridgetjonestheedgeofreason.co.uk/
 The decade – key features
 The 2000’s was a popular decade
for your average rom-com
 With films such as The Holiday and
Something's Gotta Give
 The director Nancy Meyer’s was
often referred to as ‘the queen of
romantic comedy’
 Figures suggest films made in
Britain and staring British stars
have dominated the UK box office
in this decade
 Mamma Mia! The Movie was the
top film in UK cinemas
 Bridget Jones Diary was 18th in the
top 20 films in the UK cinema
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http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/nancy-meyers-the-romcom-queen-1862430.html
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/article-23787184-british-films-are-stars-of-noughties.do
 Quotes
 So basically, when Richard Curtis calls, you seem to be ready to go to work.
Yeah, old friends and things, and this one — that seems fine. “But I'm not in a hurry to
go and sit in big development meetings and make great, big commercial films. I do
have a touch of apathy about that.” Hugh Grant
 Would you work with Richard Curtis again?
“I like Richard and I think Richard wants to strike out to new territory. So if he did call
again, I'd think it'd be something different, interesting.” Colin Firth
 We didn't want it just to seem like an homage to something else. Colin Firth
 “I was more comfortable with the idea of making this film because it’s not a sequel in
the traditional sense. There is a book that has been written and so her journey has
continued and I had nothing to do with it.” Renee Zellweger
 “The dialect on the other hand… Boy, that I had to pay a lot of attention to. Because
Bridget has kind of a lispy thing that she does. So there was a lot to pay attention to.
But let me tell you, I had a lot of help.” Renee Zellweger

http://movies.about.com/od/bridgetjonesedgereason/a/bridgethg103004.htm
http://movies.about.com/od/bridgetjonesedgereason/a/bridgetcf103004.htm
http://movies.about.com/od/bridgetjonesedgereason/a/bridgetrz110404.htm
 Critical reception
 “There's a big empty space where the heart of this movie
should be.” Film Journal International 01/03/07
 “It's testament to Zellweger's likeability and skill that the
film is still enjoyable, but it lacks the element of
surprise.” BBC 11/16/04
 “There are some true moments of revelation, but they're
neither substantial enough nor inspired enough to touch
the original.” Film Focus 11/06/04
 “Instead of laughing with Bridget, The Edge of Reason
laughs at her.” Aboutfilm.com 21/11/04
 “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is not as good as the
original – the Thai prison sequence makes certain of that –
but it still works.” Aisle Seat 11/20/04

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridget_jones_the_edge_of_reason/
 Britishness - characters
 Bridget Jones – larger woman
with weaknesses the British can
associate with
 Mark ‘Darcy’ – inter-textual link
– English Literature Pride and QuickTime™ and a
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Prejudice and Colin Firth’s most
famous role as Mr Darcy
 Daniel Cleaver – the ‘charmer’
 Jermemy Paxman – cameo
appearance – has a
stereotypical image of upper
class Britishness
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Britishness - Setting
 London –
recognisable location
 Countryside – typical
English countryside
 Thailand – maybe
attract other
audiences?
 Britishness - Stereotypes
 The accent – Hugh Grant
 The larger woman
 The upper class – Mark Darcy and
lawyers
 Upper class location with Bridget
Jones finding it difficult to fit in
 The locations – stereotypical English
countryside
 The family Christmas gatherings –
the Christmas jumper and buffet food
 The fight between Daniel Cleaver
and Mark Darcy – ‘very British’ http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v
=bfKXbS7f5Xw&feature=related
Representation of Youth
 Not so much youth but age
 In the film a lot of emphasis is put
on Bridget Jones’s age and the
relationship between her age and
her marital status
 Bridget Jones is portrayed as
being very self-conscious about
being in her 30’s and not settled
down
 Example – one scene after she
argues with Mark Darcy she walks
past a grave that has ‘Bridget
Jones – spinster’ this signifies her
thoughts and worries at the time
Working Title – A signature style
 Bridget Jones Diary: The
Edge of Reason is typical
of Working Titles British
Romantic Comedies
 Hugh Grant and Richard
Curtis are involved again to
create a stereotypical
British film similar to other
films by Working Title:
debut Four Weddings and
a Funeral, Nottinghill and
Love Actually
Comparison of the 3
films…
 Similarities and differences between Up
The Junction, Educating Rita and Bridget
Jones Diary: The Edge of Reason
 Main female protagonists
 Up the junction and Educating Rita both communicate the gap
between the working class and middle class.
 They all show class differences however, Educating Rita and Up
The Junction represent the differences between the working class
and middle class whereas Bridget Jones represents the
differences between middle class and upper class.
 This could be in relation to the eras these films were set in and
the interests of the target audiences of each film.