Working Title - Representing Britishness

Working Title - Representing Britishness

• 1.
  Representing Britishness L.O: toanalyse and comment on how the concept of ‘Britishness’ is represented in a variety of Working Title films. How would you describe each of these characters? What does it mean to be British?
• 2.
  Representing Britishness –‘identity’ cinema Working Title – 1980s • Representing minorities and dealing with issues of race and sexuality. • My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). Questions: • How does the scene show and represent Britishness? • How can we link this to political and social context of Thatcherite Britain?
• 3.
  Representing Britishness –the romantic comedy Working Title – 1990s • Exporting an image of Britishness to an international audience. • Rise of Curtis’s romantic comedies (encouraged by success of Blackadder and ideals presented). • How does the opening of Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral represent Britishness?
• 4.
  Notting Hill openingscene • Reference to typical British past-times (newspapers). • Accents – RP Hugh Grant, many accents shows diversity and elevates narration. • Mise-en-scene – Notting Hill and market stalls to emphasise iconic location. • Juxtaposes UK and USA in montages (Cookie Monster, Beavis and Butt, Harrison Ford). Explicit reference to USA. • Voiceover establishes connection.
• 5.
  Representing Britishness –heritage cinema Working Title – 2000s • Working Title made many historical heritage films. “a linked body of films which invoke a common sense of British history, literature and/or approved cultural tradition. […] The election of New Labour in 1997 with its modernist agenda and the continuing economic upturn of the late 1990s saw a significant shift in these types of heritage film. [… This has] contributed to a widening of the heritage tag, by primarily locating films in present-day London and tapping into this newfound sense of monetary confidence.” • These include: Atonement, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, About a Boy and Notes on a Scandal. • How does Atonement represent 1930s Britain?
• 6.
  Britishness in Atonement– opening scene • Type writer diegetic sound reinforces traditional values – linked to adaptation? • Character – linked with playwriting – signifying of education. Dolls house establishes youth and innocence of pre-war. • Establishing shot – dolls house to show us the importance of character. But also, imposing closing shot shows cultural dominance of upper class and stately home links. • Pans over name “Coroner” – associated with austerity Britain and typewriter manufacturing. • Links of writing and authorship to Britain (rise of novel in 17th century was rooted in Britain). •
• 7.
  • “Stupendous” –establishes upper class, education, acts as stereotypical signifier of character. • Pan over animals – links to Empire and colonisation (dominance of UK) • Speech of servants as lower class and common – contrasts against “big house ideas” • Briony – interrupts and is seen as entitled. Mother indulges her, cooks will not. • Robbie – costume establishes him as working class – clashes of class. Proxemics and high angle to establish power of upper class. Class obsession.
• 8.
  Heritage - RepresentingLondon • Consider films such as About a Boy, Love Actually, Notes on a Scandal. • Mise-en-scene contributes to ‘selling point’. • Highly recognisable shots of London seek to increase the export value of film.
• 9.
  Representing Britain…sort of WorkingTitle – 2000s • Screwball comedies used an image of Britain to appeal to audiences. • How is a typical village in Britain represented in Hot Fuzz?
• 10.
  Why represent Britain? •Why do you think Working Title has so much success representing Britain?
• 11.
  Making contextual connections Howcan you make connections to the political, social and economic context in Britain? • Look carefully at your context table, can you make links? • Think about the way that characters are represented and what messages and values these might communicate.
• 12.
  Study work • Youshould develop your own case study which explores how Britishness and British identity is represented in WT films. Perhaps you can find a film which is very typical (an early rom-com) and a film which subverts Britishness due to contextual factors.
• 13.
  • Explore therepresentations of either male or female characters in the films you have studied for this topic