ABSTRACT
To write about British cinema is to operate, however implicitly, with some understanding of what that cinema is, what its limits are, what distinguishes it from other cinemas. Innocent though they may seem, these are far from straightforward matters, which can be approached from a variety of perspectives. Each perspective will inevitably offer a different way of thinking through what it is that makes cinema ‘British’. Legislation laid down by the state provides one set of definitions, but critics and historians have rarely seen legislation as a sufficient means of defining the Britishness of British cinema. Ideological criticism might explore the role that cinema has played in shaping and maintaining the idea of the British nation, imagining its inhabitants as members of a national community with a shared identity. A cultural historical perspective might explore the ways in which British films are rooted in national traditions. A reception studies approach might look at the ways in which promotional discourses, reviewing practices and audiences have worked with particular ideas of national identity and nationhood.
