Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:08:10.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Contemporary British cinema

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2010

Michael Higgins
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde
Clarissa Smith
Affiliation:
University of Sunderland
John Storey
Affiliation:
University of Sunderland
Get access

Summary

Introduction

The UK Film Council, the government-sponsored body responsible for allocating public funds to film-making, declares that 'Cinema is an immensely powerful medium at the heart of the UK's creative industries and the global economy. Cinema entertains, inspires, challenges and informs audiences. It helps shape the way we see and understand ourselves and the world'. Yet the task of examining the extent to which British cinema encourages us to 'see and understand ourselves and the world' is not entirely straightforward, since British cinema is, and always has been, a complex site of representation. Additionally, the cinema audience for British films is relatively small since US films dominate the box office and DVD sales; many British films do not get released or only reach art-house audiences, while some are broadcast on television. There is also the complicating issue of classification. Indeed, most analyses tend to begin with a preamble about how difficult it is to define a British film, especially since much of current production is funded by a variety of sources originating from several countries. The debate generally considers the amount of British 'cultural content' which may or may not be reflected in its personnel, locations and subject matter.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×