Directory of World Cinema: Britain 2

Neil Mitchell

Description

The first volume of the Directory of World Cinema: Britain provided an overview of British cinema from its earliest days to the present. In this, the second volume, the contributors focus on specific periods and trace the evolutions of individual genres and directors.



A complementary edition rather than an update of its predecessor, the book offers essays on war and family films, as well as on LGBT cinema and representations of disability in British films. Contributors consider established British directors such as Ken Loach and Danny Boyle as well as newcomer Ben Wheatley, who directed the fabulously strange A Field in England. This volume also shines the spotlight on the British Film Institute and its role in funding, preservation, and education in relation to British cinema.



A must read for any fan of film, the history of the United Kingdom, or international artistic traditions, Directory of World Cinema: Britain 2 will find an appreciative audience both within and outside academia.

Introduction

Film of the Year: The Selfish Giant (2013)

Disability In British Cinema

Industrial Spotlight: The British Film Institute

Cultural Crossover: British LGBT Cinema

On Location: Manchester

Directors

Ben Wheatley

Gurinder Chadha

Ken Russell

Danny Boyle

Comedy

Crime

Documentary

Horror

Short Films

Science Fiction

Social Realism

War

Musicals

Family Films

Arthouse

Heritage 

Sujets

• Directories
• Película fotográfica
• Reference
• Directory
• Cinema of the United Kingdom
• History of film
• Film

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783203987
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

MITCHELL
DIRECTORY OF WORLD CINEMA BRITAIN 2
DIRECTORY OF
WORLD CINEMA
BRITAIN 2
EDITED BY
NEIL MITCHELL
The first volume of the Directory of World Cinema: Britain provided an overview of
British cinema, from its earliest days to the present. In this, the second volume, the
contributors focus on specific periods and trace the evolutions of individual genres
and directors.
A complementary edition rather than an update of its predecessor, the book offers
essays on war and family films, as well as on LGBT cinema and representations of
disability in British films. Contributors consider established British directors such as
Ken Loach and Danny Boyle as well as newcomer Ben Wheatley, who directed the
fabulously strange A Field in England. Directory of World Cinema: Britain 2 also
shines the spotlight on the British Film Institute and its role in funding, preservation
and education in relation to British cinema.
A must-read for any fan of film, the history of the United Kingdom or international
artistic traditions, Directory of World Cinema: Britain 2 will find an appreciative
audience both within and outside academia.
DIRECTORY OF
WORLD
CINEMA
Directory of World Cinema ISSN 2040-7971
Dirorld Cinema eISSN 2040-798X
Directory of World Cinema: Britain 2 ISBN 978-1-78320-397-0
Dirorld Cinema: Britain 2 eISBN 978-1-78320-398-7 EDITED BY
www.worldcinemadirectory.org NEIL MITCHELL
intellect | www.intellectbooks.com
BRITAIN2Volume 32
directory of
world cinema
Brit ain 2
Edited by Neil Mitchell
intellect Bristol, UK / Chicago, USAFirst published in the UK in 2015 by
Intellect Books, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2015 by Intellect Books, The University of Chicago Press,
1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2015 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Publisher: May Yao
Publishing Managers: Jelena Stanovnik and Heather Gibson
Cover photograph: Submarine, 2010, FILM4 / THE KOBAL COLLECTION
Cover designer: Holly Rose
Copy-editor: Emma Rhys
Typesetter: John Teehan
Directory of World Cinema ISSN 2040-7971
Dirorld Cinema eISSN 2040-798X
Directory of World Cinema: Britain 2 ISBN 978-1-78320-397-0
Dirorld Cinema: Britain 2 eISBN 978-1-78320-398-7
Printed and bound by Short Run Press, UK.
contentsdirectory of world cinema
Britain 2
a cknowledgements 5 short films 136
Essay
introduction 6 Reviews
film of the year10 science fiction 142
The Selfsh Giant (2013) Essay
Reviews
disability in British c inema 13
social r ealism 156
industrial spotlight 21 Essay
The British Film Institute Reviews
c ultural c rossover 24war 174
British LGBT Cinema Essay
Reviews
o n l ocation 32
Manchester musicals192
Essay
directors 40 Reviews
Ben Wheatley
Gurinder Chadhafamily films 210
Ken RussellEssay
Danny Boyle Reviews

comedy 64arthouse 226
Essay Essay
Reviews Reviews
crime84Heritage244
Essay Essay
Reviews Reviews
documentary 102 r ecommended r eading 260
Essay
Reviews British c inema o nline 268
Horror 118 test your Knowledge 274
Essay
Reviews n otes o n c ontributors 277
filmography 282
contentsDirectory of World Cinema
acKnowledGementsDirectory of World Cinema
Neil Mitchell would like to thank all the staff at Intellect for their dedicated
hard work in bringing this project to fruition. He would also like to offer his
deep gratitude to all of the contributors, whose collective knowledge, passion
for flm, opinions and writing skills, drawn from the worlds of academia, flm
journalism and the flm industry, have made this edited collection possible.
For various reasons, Neil is indebted to Gabriel Solomons, John Berra, Alan
Hodge and Scott Jordan Harris. His parents, family and friends are a constant
source of encouragement, he loves them all dearly.
This book is dedicated to the memory of Masoud Yazdani.
Acknowledgements 5
acKnowledGementsDirectory of World Cinema
introduction
By t He editor
Picking up where the frst volume of Directory of World Cinema: Britain (2012) left off,
this follow up edited collection widens the net with newly commissioned essays on
different topics covering numerous genres and avenues of interest, as well as critiques
of over 100 British flms, from high profle award winners to many lesser known gems.
Taking the initial volume’s essays as ‘overview’ pieces that laid out the history of British
cinema, the majority of the pieces presented here zero in on specifc areas; be they
directors, studios, political issues or other mediums, all of which act as microcosm
insights into the constituent parts that form what we understand to be British cinema.
Where the frst volume included separate pieces on flm-making in and flms deriving
from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this collection brings the respective
countries under one umbrella, focusing more on the overall socio- political and
cultural themes and eras that have played an ongoing part in the evolution, reception
and production of British flms.
With the political debates surrounding same sex marriage and the success of the
2012 Paralympics both creating endless column inches, timely essays on LGBT cinema
and representations of disability offer thought provoking insights into the changing
face of both British society and British cinema over the decades. Hotly contested
social, cultural and political issues off screen, on screen these areas have proved
equally challenging, with flms such as Weekend, Sebastiane, Mandy and My Left Foot
questioning, provoking and refecting the social norms of their respective eras and
thematic concerns. Issues surrounding representations of gender are addressed in
two contrasting essays; a follow up essay on Social Realism focusing on flms featuring
female central characters and a piece on Heritage cinema looking at period flms
with male central protagonists. The hybridized nature of social realist flm-making in
stthe 21 Century is also touched upon throughout the book, as that most British of
genres is shown to often be employed in contemporary times as the foundation stone
from which flm-makers extrapolate, thematically and stylistically. The Heritage essay
and subsequent reviews, meanwhile, bring into play the nature of how ‘Britishness’
is perceived by and presented to foreign audiences. One of our most popular and
fnancially lucrative genres, the Heritage flm/costume drama/period piece, is at once
a refection and a confection; drawn from history and re-constructed with a frm eye on
the, always receptive, American market.
Essays on the reemergence of Hammer Studios and Alfred Hitchcock’s British crime
flms highlight the continued popularity of the Horror genre and a fresh perspective
on The Master of Suspense respectively. The fractious but often complementary
6 Britain 2Directory of World Cinema
ties between television and flm comedy is explored, with the particular diffculties
inherent in turning popular television sitcoms into feature length offerings just one of a
number of the defning characteristics of the relationship. The infuential period known
as the ‘Golden Age’ of documentaries opens up avenues of debate surrounding the
very nature of the form itself, with subjective narration, propaganda and reconstructed
scenes revealed to be as much an historical issue as a contemporary one. Away from
feature length flms,the short flm has been an integral part of many of Britain’s most
celebrated flm-makers’ careers. Often overlooked when British cinema is discussed, it
is rightly argued here that the form is as deserving of mainstream and critical attention
as its lengthier sibling.
To complement the follow up essays, volume 2 introduces British Family Films,
Musicals and War Films as genres ripe for analysis and debate. Given that the Harry
Potter franchise and Les Miserables have both struck gold at the box offce, now is
the perfect opportunity to present grounding essays on two genres that haven’t been
at the centre of academic or critical debate in relation to British cinema. Similarly,
with the centenary of the outbreak of World War I occurring at the time of this book’s
publication, a pertinent look at British War flms not only illustrates the evolving nature
of representations of confict, but that of the changing shape of conficts themselves.
From The Battle of the Somme to Battle for Haditha, via Zulu and How I Won the War,
reportage, satire and anti-war sentiment course through a genre that began in the
silent era of flm-making and has continued into the age of drone strikes.
Bios of Ken Russell, Ben Wheatley, Gurinder Chadha and Danny Boyle focus on
directors who have all presented us with unique takes on ‘Britishness’, their individual
backgrounds giving each one a different outlook on the nation and flm-making as a
means of artistic expression. While Women in Love, Kill List, Bend it Like Beckham and
Shallow Grave may be wildly different flms, they all contain versions of Britain and
its people recognisable from the past and the present. It is by honing in on specifc
flm-makers and their visions that the often contradictory nature of what it means to be
British at any given time and in any particular place can be more fully appreciated.
Off screen, the performance of home grown flms at the UK box offce continues
to be a cause for some concern, with Hollywood’s tight grip, on and off screen, not
likely to dissipate any time soon. Falling UK cinema audience fgures also do nothing
to help British flms already struggling to fnd screen space, 2013’s 1% drop in box
offce revenue the most pronounced year-on-year fall since records began in 1991.
The dichotomy that exists in British c