Description
Book SynopsisNeil Archer's original study makes a timely and politically-engaged intervention in debates about national cinema and national identity. Structured around key examples of culturally English cinema' in the years up to and following the UK's 2016 vote to leave the European Union,
Cinema and Brexit looks to make sense of the peculiarities and paradoxes marking this era of filmmaking. At the same time as providing a contextual and analytical reading of 21st century filmmaking in Britain, Archer raises critical questions about popular national cinema, and how Brexit has cast both light and shadow over this body of films.Central to Archer's argument is the idea that Brexit represents not just a critical moment in how we will understand future film production, but also in how we will understand production of the recent past. Using as a point of departure the London Olympics opening ceremony of 2012,
Cinema and Brexit considers the tensions inherent in a wide range of films, incl
Trade ReviewThrough perceptive and nuanced analyses of a refreshingly wide and varied range of British films which, ostensibly, have nothing to do with Brexit, Neil Archer shows how certain forms of popular British cinema have worked to produce an historical imaginary of Britishness (and, in particular, Englishness) that embodies so many of the same cultural assumptions that led to Brexit. An extremely timely book, but also one which deserves a long life on British cinema bookshelves. -- Julian Petley, Professor, Brunel University London, UK
This innovative, well-written, and carefully prepared book may thus be seen as an early intervention in the emerging field of Brexit studies. * MEDIENwissenschaft *
Cinema & Brexit challenges renderings of the recent “zeitgeist” to offer an insightful analysis of “popular English cinema” within the globalised film industry. Whether discussing “very British blockbusters” like Bond or “culturally European” family films featuring Paddington,
Cinema & Brexit takes a hard look at issues of soft power and ‘soft’ patriotism. Addressing inward-looking myths of resilience alongside inward investment from Hollywood, Neil Archer will change how you think about your favourite films. -- Matt Hills, Professor, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Table of ContentsList of illustrations Acknowledgements General Editor’s Introduction Introduction: Film through the looking glass 1Film politics: Brexit, brand Britain and soft power 2Comedians and sunscreen: The English holiday film and the idea of Europe 3‘Not to Yield’: Globalization, nation and the epic imagination of English cinema 4Genius of Britain: The English scientist film and other science fictions 5Through a screen, darkly: Austerity genres, Brexit topographies and the precarity of national cinema 6Just follow the bear? StudioCanal, transnational franchises and a European English cinema Conclusion: Longing for yesterday? Notes Bibliography Index
