British Cinema and Industry 1980 and Present - Essay Example

?What are the chief characteristics of British cinema, in terms of themes and styles, today? How have they changed since the British cinema of the 1980s? Cinema is a very important medium of entertainment for people all over the world. Films are generally regarded based on their genre which means they have different characteristics and styles. Films can belong to the genre of Western, comedy, horror, romantic, thriller and many more. Each genre of cinema has distinct narratives and themes. They are also known by their specific iconography and characters. Another important aspect that marks the identity of a film is its styling element like lighting, camera, sound etc. General audiences usually enjoy repetitions of elements that they can recognise from their experience of movie watching along with certain amount of novelty (Genres and Themes, 2010). This paper focuses on the characteristics of British cinema from 1980s to the present. British cinema: genres and themes British cinema is known for distinguished genre and themes that separate it from other national cinemas. There are few Western movies made in the United Kingdom for obvious reasons. British cinema works on putting their own distinctive mark on existing genres and is always inventing new genres and themes. Many British comedy movies have their origin in the era of silent movies when the comedy was slapstick. The British documentary movies have their roots in the 1890s although they have taken their current form in the 1930s (Genres and Themes, 2010). Adaptations from literature have always formed major themes in many British movies. In the 1980s, classic novels almost gave rise to a virtual film industry. This is because such themes and styles were adored by the audiences. Even today classic adaptations remain high in demand, although contemporary writers are also making their mark in the British film industry (Duguid, 2010). British cinema (1980s) The British film industry was going through an ailing period in the 1980s. The industry was not embraced by the Thatcher administration. The Conservative government did not extend any support to the industry and saw cinema as a “commercial enterprise which would need to sink or swim on its own” (Lay, 2002, p.83).Margaret Thatcher treated the film industry indifferently and her government passed a Bill in the 1984-85 that abolished a previous law that allowed a percentage of box-office receipts to be invested in the British film industry. The government also abolished the 25 percent tax benefit of film investors. This encouraged the filmmakers to take more economic risks and experience with new innovations. The culture created by Thatcher became implicit or explicit themes in many popular movies of this era (Friedman, 2006, pp.21-22). 1980s was an era of realism in the British film industry and most themes were based on realistic social matters. During this period British filmmakers found specific ways to portray the social problems and matters which they viewed as “contemporary reality”. Such filmmakers were more often not concerned with the aesthetic depiction of matters concerned with reality. Any issues that concerned the society were reflected and amplified in the movies in the way they were recognised by the socially aware filmmakers. In the 1980s, many films were made to reflect the realistic conditions of the working class in Britain. The British film director Derek Jarman saw Britain as a country where morals have perished. He made films like Britannia Hospital (1982) and The Last of England (1987) which reflected the real issues of the prevailing social structure. Although 1980s saw racial riots in parts of London, few movies were concerned with issues relating to racism. One major exception was the documentary movie Handsworth Songs (1986). Unlike the previous decades when women were portrayed only as objects of desire, 1980s was also an era when British movies depicted “strong female protagonists”. These movies reflected the rising position of women in the British society (Lay, 2002, pp.83-86) 1980s also brought back the style of “domestic-oriented comedy and regional humour” with two noteworthy but low-budgeted movies like That Sinking Feeling (1980) and Gregory’s Girl (1981). Both the movies had actors who were newcomers and they were able to “combine colloquialism with traditional themes”. The comedy of these two movies was of non-metropolitan style (Street, 2009, pp.111-112). British cinema (1990 to present) In 1990s, Britain witnessed the arrival of the New Labour government which brought an “optimistic atmosphere” in British film industry. This was proved when 128 films were released in 1996 which was more than twice the number of films made in 1990. Many films of this era like Trainspotting (1996) and The Full Monty (1997) depicted the working class who were unemployed. The styles of these movies were youth and comedy. The new Labour government supported the trend of “cool” images in the British art industry which includes the theatre, music and cinema (Seino, 2010, pp.15-16). During the 1990s British cinema has emphasised on artistic creativity and has considered the audience appeal as secondary. The tendency was to make more art films than commercial movies with specific cultural criteria. This had hindered the industry from expanding into the common market (The Strategic Development of……, 1999, p.44). As the financial crisis in the British film industry increased, 1990s British cinema began to adopt formulaic “triumph-over-adversity” themes. Such themes combined the British realism with the appealing individualism of Hollywood. This strengthened the national cinema in the era of multiplexes (Armstrong, 2010). In recent times British cinema is going through a high phase. The winning of Oscars for best movie and best director by the 2010 movie The King’s speech has catapulted British cinema into the spotlight. In the last couple of years there has been a number of “cinematic gems” and this shows that UK is having one of its best phases in the movie industry. However, in 2010 under the new political rule the entire infrastructure of finance for the British movie industry has taken a major shift which has adversely affected the industry. During the last decade till 2010 tax credits and similar infrastructure had encouraged the emergence of new initiatives that had created a golden era for the British movie industry. The movies made in UK have always been popular for their variety in themes and styles. From 2000 onwards there have been many commercially successful movies whose themes and styles had astonishing breadth and depth. For instance, there has been a newcomer director Andrea Arnold who has made lyrical urban movies like Red Road (2006) and Fish Tank (2009) which have been critically acclaimed and praised by the audiences. But the political change in UK that begun in 2010 has slashed tax credits and other financial support of film makers. This is a threat to the filmmakers specifically those who are new and are yet to make their mark in the industry. On the positive side, this new turmoil can bring back a more “politicised independent screen culture” that encourages filmmakers to be more courageous so that they can take risks and make movies with more variations of themes and styles (Barrow, 2011, p.9). Conclusion In UK, the film industry is a major contributor to the economy of the country. It plays an important role in shaping the socio-culture of the country. In spite of its rich and successful history, the British film industry is highly influenced by America and its film industry. It is a common matter that American producers are investing in the making of many British movies. Many British actors perform in American movies on a regular basis. Many British filmmakers whether or not they create mainstream commercial movies, reject or even openly oppose prevalent specific categories to portray ideas, themes and styles that till now have not been experimented. References 1. Armstrong, R. (2010) Social Realism, Screen Online, available at: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1037898/index.html (accessed on May 20, 2012) 2. Barrow, S. (2011). The British Film Industry: Creativity and Constraint. British Politics Review. 6(1), 9, available at: http://www.britishpoliticssociety.no/Barrow_1-11.pdf (accessed on May 20, 2012) 3. Duguid, M. (2010) Literary Adaptation, Screen Online, available at: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/444951/index.html (accessed on May 20, 2012) 4. Friedman, L.D. (2006). Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism. Great Britain: Wallflower Press 5. Genres and Themes, (2010) Screen Online, available at: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/446108/full.html(accessed on May 20, 2012) 6. Lay, S. (2002). British Social Realism: From Documentary to Brit-Grit. Great Britain: Wallflower Press 7. Seino, T. (2010), Realism and Representations of the Working Class in Contemporary British Cinema, dora.dmu, available at: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2086/4720/SOCIAL%20REALISM%20AND%20REPRESENTATION%20OF%20THE%20WORKING%20CLASS%20IN%20CONTEMPORARY%20BRITISH%20CINEMA.pdf?sequence=1 (accessed on May 20, 2012) 8. Street, S. (2009). British National Cinema. USA: Taylor & Francis 9. The Strategic Development of the Irish Film and Television Industry 2000-2010, (1999) IFTN, available at: http://www.iftn.ie/strategyreport/filmin.pdf (accessed on May 20, 2012) Read More