What makes a film British?
The advantages of British films are that if less than 20 millions is spent, the film company can give y0u up to 25% tax relief and if you spend more than 20 million. they’ll give you up to 20% tax relief. This is beneficial especially if the film becomes successful.
In the British film “Green Street” (2005), directed by Lexi Alexander and produced by Deborah-Del Prete is identified as a British film. It is identified as a British film because of its cultural content for example, the characters accents, British sense of humour, pub fights, football, drugs, alcohol and council estates. The British cast are Charlie Hunham, Claire Forlan, Leo Gregory and the American yank Elijah Wood who has starred in other films. Green Street was sold world-wide.
The plot of this British film Green Street is about football rival hooligans, West-ham and Mill-Wall. A young American student is excluded from uni because a bully set him up and stashed drugs in his room. He is sent to England to stay with his sister and her husband is an ex football hooligan who’s brother still is. They refer to him as being the ‘Yank’. His sisters brother in law takes him out and introduces him to the that scene until they find out what he studied at University and that his father is a journalist, there are consequences to this. Throughout the film there is strong language and contains violence. Green Street was funded by, Odd Lot Entertainment, which is a company located in the United States. OddLot Entertainment, based in Los Angeles is a film and television production company that produces, arranges and develops the distribution for both the domestic and international markets. Green street chose this company because they knew, to get a broader audience they needed to invest in the most appropriate commercial marketing.
Another of example of British film that was successful was “Trainspotting” (1996), directed by one of the most successful directors, Danny Boyle. This was made on only his second film and had a youthful energy while making it and you can tell this by the frenetic camera movement. It was written by Ivrine Welsh who also wrote the book “Exctacy”, Trainspotting also sold worldwide. The film is based in Scotland, Glasgow and is about the lifestyle of heroin addicts and what the life of an addict involves and how their peer group may influence them even if they’re desperate to get clean. Renton, the main character is desperate to get clean but can’t do it around his peer group because they are all in the same predicament as him. You also get to see the consequences of what can happen being in that lifestyle, such as violence, enemies, crime and even death. It was funded by Channel Four Films and costed £1,550,000 to make and in total, took seven weeks to film.
Four Lions (2010), directed by Christopher Morris is about four islamic men who are setting a plan out on an act of terrorism. You are able to identify this as a British film by the events that have once occurred in England with terrorism but having an insight to some of their personalities strangely has an impact of how we feel about them and that they aren’t all bad people. Throughout the film it has strong language and violence. It contains bomb making and an English man who converted to Islam who claims to be the leader of the group. It also contains a small dose of the Urdu language. You are able to identify some British humour throughout the film although it has a sad ending. There were three studios who helped bring the four Lions together, all being British. Film 4 productions, Wild Bunch and Warp Films. Film 4 productions helped make films such as 12 years of a slave, 127 hours and East Is East, these are all very well known and successful films.
You are able to identify it as a British film by the language and content in it. It was known to have made British cinema seem exciting again and not about the cliche story lines such as period dramas. But different genres you are able to identify being British too with the content, language/accent and humour. In my opinion I believe that the examples that I have given are identifiable British films content are knowledgeably British even by the viewers viewing who are not British themselves.
Perrie Kurban 