British Film Culture - Essay Example

British film culture is one of the most critically acclaimed, honored and most spectacular in the sphere of cinematography. Starting from the very beginning of the century and movie making Great Britain provided and still provides world with most beautiful, really incredible and deeply spiritual as well as innovative films. British movie writers, producers and most of all actors and directors are known as highly professional masters of their craft (Wheeler 1994). Basing on the criteria of expansion and popularity British movie production can cede only to the Hollywood. But when talking about spiritual, artistic and humane values the best representatives of the English movies are not any less important for the sake of genre than American or any other films. That is because truly English authencity and originality cannot be left without attention. Great and full of massive historical events British nation provides a lot of themes and issues which can be described and shown in movies because film is the best conductor of ideas and opinions and the easiest way to attract a curious consumer (Aldgate & Richards,1999). National cinema is not a clear and certain definition. The term “national cinema” itself is a theme of numerous discussions between critics, directors and producers. But most of the participants of this discussion agree that cinema becomes national when some important factors are present. Among such factors are the following: country which produced film, language used in the film, cultural and ethnical atributes used in the film (music, art, costumes, places, buildings) and sometimes even the origin of the director. Based on this factors national cinema represents not only a story or idea within a film but also national and cultural extra background due to which film can be named national. This background shows how different nations and cultures live, what are their historical and moral values, how do their language sound, how their cities look like and what makes the core of their original ethnicity. With the presence of all this details national film becomes not only a story about something but also a document which represents an individuality of a certain nation and country(Vitali & Willemen, 2008). Such document is kind of a face of nation which provides the possibility for other people from other parts of the world to know and look at the culture represented in a national film. National cinema is a significant part of the process of globalization and breaking barriers between different nations and countries. Now when the neccessary basics are clear it is reasonable to procede to the nature of our question. In my composition I will discuss the connection between the concept of “national cinema” and the British film culture. The question which ia crucial to answer is whether the theory of national cinema a good way to understand better the nature of British film culture. The polemic will be provided with the examples of some major and legendary truly British movies because it will help to make a deeper connection between British best movies and spiritual values of the nation. I myself is a huge fan of high quality movies and for my little research I chose two movie lists to pick films from: 100 Best British films (The 100 best British films as chosen by a panel of 150 film industry experts, including directors Sam Mendes, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Wes Anderson, actors David Morrissey, Sally Hawkins and Thandie Newton, newspaper and magazine critics and the heads of the UKs major cultural organisations.) BFI 100 (The best 100 British films were chosen by 1,000 people from the UKs film industry, including producers, directors, writers, actors, technicians, academics, exhibitors, distributors, executives and critics. The final selection spans seven decades and accommodates the work of 70 film directors) “If…” by Lindsay Anderson with Malcolm McDowell playing main role is a very significant movie in the history of British cinema. The plot of the movie will not be mentioned even in its brief form but after all just the plot is not a film. This movie talks about the problem of estrangement, loneliness, rebellion and protest. It is about the armed revolt in the private school where young people feel opressed. The locations in film are English as well as all other details: language, names, clothes, music etc. Film talks mainly about the problem of education and discipline in the private schools. Chronologically film takes place at the same time it was made and released and this time is 1960s. If you remember the hippies then will you know that this was their time, the time of their protest, the time which they used to state their rights and make their voice heard. This historical event was in a sharp contrast with traditional English values and conservative approach towards everything. If I wanted to tell most easily what this film is about then I would describe it as a battle between young and rebelluous identities on the one side and old, conservative and inveterate relics on the other side. But age and location in this film are symbolical and it shows the historical struggle between the old and new way of thinking. The theory of national cinema provides a better approach to undertsand this film because the reality of English private schools of that time and times before was very similar if not identical to the one shown in the movie. In the sphere of education as well as in a lot of other spheres England always was on one of the first positions. English methods and principles are examples and standards for the other schools even now. This is true because of the high authority of English universities and the long history of the educative methods in Britain. “If” wants viewer to see the other side of the coin and it criticizes the national and social approach of the government and adults towards the education of their children. Children see their time in school like time in jail. So eventually we can call movie “If” and the gunfighting in a little school as a small reenactment of what happened in the 1960s throughout the whole Western world but most brightly in England. Private school was chosen not only to criticize the education system but also to create a contrast between the spirit of freedom and ugly conservative discipline (Hedling,1998). Our next example of a national movie will be a brilliant picture named “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” or “The Adventures of Colonel Blimp” by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger which came out in the trouble year of 1943. “Colonel Blimp” is completely and deep to the core truly British movie. All in this movie and most of all main hero talk, act and feel British. Film tells the story of a noble, honored, wise and brave real English gentlemen and his life during the first part of the 20th century (Christie & Moor, 2008). Film came out during the World War II when Nazi Germany bobmed civil cities of the Great Britain. It is truly national film not only because it is full of English atributes, history and behavioural patterns but also because it was made to serve national interests. “Adventures of Colonel Blimp” can and should be understood as a hymn to national values and inspiration of patriotism and love to your nation (Moor, 2013) . For the next example I chose two films of a famous and masterful Alfred Hitchcock. Before moving to Hollywood Mr. Hitchcock directed a dozen of high quality movies and these movies are a content of the “British Period” of his artistic work. “39 Steps” and “The Lady Vanishes” are detective, suspense stories with the espionage as a leitmotive. During the time between two great wars the theme of spies and their activities was very popular. These films that are truly national (made in Britain, English clothes and language, locations, names) are also national in a way they introduce the viewer to a problem of espionage and how such problem can affect average simple people as well as whole nations. Hitchcock was a real professional and I admire his work greatly. I chose him because British movies and their history would not be complete if not for Mr. Hitchcock. Though these of his films are national they however not as national as a previous movie that I described. There are no patriotic excitement or great historical events but, nevertheless, this film shows the true talant of their creator and because Alfred Hitchcock was an Englishman so his films have the a print of “Britishness” (Ryall, 2000). Hitchcock also started the idea of “spy movies” which eventually led cinema to the Bondiana. For those of you who might be interested I will point out that the best classical movies about James Bond are considered British as well, included in both English top lists and can be interpreted as national movies. Our next example that will help to understand the connection between the best British movies and their interpretation as national movies is the work of one of the most impressive and important British directors. That is “The Bridge Over the River Kwai” by brilliant David Lean. It is significant to point out that almost all major works of David Lean are included in both top lists from which I picked my favourite English movies as examples. “Bridge Over the River Kwai” is my favourite and it shows a lot of national characteristics but above all it is a film about the courage and great spirit of a soldier, patriot and gentleman (Santas, 2012). The story is about the camp for the prisoners of the war during World War II. It is set in the exotic location of Thailand under the Japanese occupation. The movie can be called national because of the British soldiers not to mention language, clothes and music. The film is about great English soldiers who fought the War, their brave actions and unstoppable will to survive and to win (Silver, 1992). The most national and spiritually significant as a truly British value is the concept of the British soldier, the best of the best. British might and its courage was always impressive but it is interesting that one of the most spectacular movies about the war almost doesn’t have the pictures of war in it. Only minutes before the end will the viewer see some action but most of all this film is about the protest against captivity which is put in a moral and ethical way. To understand the nature of this film it will be better to consider the factor of the British Soldier because this film is about him (Phillips, 2006). My final example is “A Man for All Seasons” by Fred Zinnenman. It is a historical drama about very significant event in the history of England. Film received a lot of national and international awards and was praised by the critics. But such things can be said about all the mentioned above movies. “A Man for All Seasons” is based on the play of the same name by an English author. The story takes place in the 16th century Engalnd during the ruling of King Henry VIII. The main hero is Sir Thomas More (known to some for his literature work “Utopia”) who is a counselor of the king. The event which takes place in the film was a very important in the history of Great Britain. It is the divorce of the King with his wife Catherine of Aragon who could not provide him with male children as succesors. Thomas More did not agree with such King’s choice and that became a reason for his imprisonment and beheading (Nolletti 1999). Thomas More was a noble and faithfull catholic and this did not allow him to agree with the divorce because it was strongly forbidden by Rome, Pope and catholic principles. Thomas More paid his price. After that King Henry VIII has separated England from the Roman Church to remarry which eventually led to the starting point of historical and civilazation period known as Reformation. I apologize for the plot but it was necessary to provide significant facts. This historical event as well as the identity of Thomas More are national in so many ways. “A Man for All Seasons” shows this period of history very accurately and interesting (Sinyard, 2003). The costumes, language, country that produced film as much as the plot itself, actors and locations are British. This allows me to name it national from all the perspectives, and to analyze and feel this movie deeply one must take in consideration English history and the greatness of some people like Sir Thomas More who helped to build it. In my essay I reviewed six great British movies which allowed to develop a pattern that shows the connection between great British cinema and even greater English nationality, its values and some of its principles. Each movie shows national aspect in a different way but all mentioned films can become not only great stories but also the document which could present national values to the representatives of other countries. This national aspect also allows to understand movie better taking into consideration its value not only to any viewer but to the country and nation that created this film. References Aldgate, A., Richards, J. (1999) Best of British: Cinema and Society from 1930 to Present. London: I.B.Tauris Christie, I., Moor, A. (2008) Michael Powell: International Perspectives on an English Film-maker. London: British Film Institute Hedling, E. (1998) Lindsay Anderson: maverick film maker. Chicago: Cassell Moor, A. (2013) Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema of Magic Spaces. London: I.B.Tauris Nolletti A. (1999) The Films of Fred Zinnemann: Critical Perspectives. Cambridge: SUNY Press Phillips, G. (2006) Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean. Louisville: University Press of Kentucky Ryall, T. (2000) Alfred Hitchcock and the British Cinema: Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Santas, C. (2012) The Epic Films of David Lean. Chicago: Scarecrow Press Silver, A. (1992) David Lean and His Films. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press Sinyard N. (2003) Fred Zinnemann: Films of Character and Conscience. London: McFarland Vitali, V., Willemen, P. (2008) Theorising National Cinema. London: British Film Institute Wheeler, W. D. (1994) Re-Viewing British Cinema, 1900-1992: Essays and Interviews. Cambridge: SUNY Press Read More