Description
Book SynopsisCritically explores the interactions of comedy and drama within a group of popular and influential British films released during the 90s, demonstrating that this was an innovative period in British film history. Films discussed include: 'Brassed Off', 'The Full Monty', 'East is East', 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Love Actually'.
Table of ContentsCONTENTS
Introduction ‘Tears of laughter’: comedy-drama in 1990s British cinema
Chapter one
‘Things can only get better…’- comedies of class, culture and community
2.1 Concepts of community, ‘comical’ cultural clashes and British cinema
2.2 The ‘Ealing spirit’ and 1990s regional comedies
2.3 Case studies: Brassed Off (1996)
The Full Monty (1997)
2.4 Conclusion
Chapter two
Racial discourses, ethnicity, and the ‘comic mode’ in contemporary British cinema
3.1 ‘To love (or hate) thy neighbour?’ Situational comedy and racial conflicts in 1970s British film and television culture
3.2 My Beautiful Laundrette (1986), a 1980s ethnic ‘soap opera’, and ‘Rita, Sue, Bob and Aslam Too’
3.3 Developing notions of ethnic comedy-drama in 1990s British cinema
3.4 Case Study: East is East (1999)
3.5 Conclusion
Chapter three
Romantic comedy and new beginnings in 1990s British cinema
4.1 Conceptualising the ‘comic romance’
4.2 Trends and traditions of romantic comic drama in British film culture
4.3 Constructing romantic scenarios in 1990s British cinema
4.4 Case studies:
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Notting Hill (1999)
Love Actually (2003)
4.5 Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Filmography
