ABSTRACT
British Cinema: Past and Present responds to the commercial and critical success of British film in the 1990s. Providing a historical perspective to the contemporary resurgence of British cinema, this unique anthology brings together leading international scholars to investigate the rich diversity of British film production, from the early sound period of the 1930s to the present day.
The contributors address:
* British Cinema Studies and the concept of national cinema
* the distribution and reception of British films in the US and Europe
* key genres, movements and cycles of British cinema in the 1940s, 50s and 60s
* questions of authorship and agency, with case studies of individual studios, stars, producers and directors
* trends in British cinema, from propaganda films of the Second World War to the New Wave and the 'Swinging London' films of the Sixties
* the representation of marginalised communities in films such as Trainspotting and The Full Monty
* the evolution of social realism from Saturday Night, Sunday Morning to Nil By Mouth
* changing approaches to Northern Ireland and the Troubles in films like The Long Good Friday and Alan Clarke's Elephant
* contemporary 'art' and 'quality' cinema, from heritage drama to the work of Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman, Terence Davies and Patrick Keiller.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|29 pages
Re-Framing British Cinema Studies
part II|43 pages
The Distribution and Reception of British Films Abroad
chapter 3|12 pages
Stepping Westward
chapter 5|12 pages
From The Third Man to Shakespeare in Love
part III|42 pages
Cinema, Popular Culture and the Middlebrow
chapter 6|15 pages
British Cinema as Performance Art
part IV|55 pages
Authorship and Agency
chapter 10|14 pages
Outsiders in England
chapter 11|13 pages
Betty Box, ‘The Lady in Charge'
part V|55 pages
Genres, Movements and Cycles
chapter 15|12 pages
‘Under-The-Skin Horrors'
part VI|52 pages
Contemporary Cinema 1
chapter 17|12 pages
From the New Wave to ‘Brit-Grit'
chapter 18|13 pages
Film, Class and National Identity
chapter 19|14 pages
Underbelly UK
chapter 20|11 pages
Thinking the Unthinkable
part VII|53 pages
Contemporary Cinema 2