English Films Essay

It was an unpromising period for the British film industry, the World War II (WWI). With its outburst on the third of September 1939, â€Å"all cinemas in Britain, along with other such venues as theatres and sports arenas, were closed† 5. However, when the cinemas reopened and the films started to reproduce, some of the notable works were that of McAllister and Jennings. McAllister was viewed to have â€Å"symbolic† approach while Jennings was â€Å"articulating a robust Socialist patriotism, a full-blooded love of England and the English centred on an unashamed admiration for the qualities of the common man,† 6 a very suitable theme during those periods. During the phase approaching 1960s however, English films portraying the â€Å"English working life† 7 in a realistic approach started some production and popularity. Currently, what suits the public and what satisfies them are films related to society, politics and culture: the three common aspects of humanity where anyone can almost relate with. One satirical and famous English celebrity for this is Mike Leigh. What does the aforementioned themes in the film production suggest? This means that a film must coincide with events and societal demands as well as the requirements of regulatory bodies behind it. At present in Great Britain, English films must be approved by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) which is an independent, non-governmental body responsible for classification of cinema films beginning 1912 and the regulation of videos since the Video Recordings Act passage in 1984 8. Some of the rules administered by the Board is to ensure that violence, crime, foul nature, criminal behaviour, illegal drugs, horror and sex, as well as videos teaching criminal techniques in the films are closely examined and must not be shown to inappropriate audiences, especially to the children as mandated by various legislations the likes of Obscene Publications Act or the Protection of Children Act 9. In the past three years, 2005 until last year, the Board has made seven, ten and five cuts, respectively, on all the movies that passed through the inspection. 10 Aside from the previously mentioned set of rules and regulations for the films, another thing that must be well thought-out before producing films are the subjects that the national government is promoting and supporting, or, in another case, what that government is banning. This is obvious as what the government wants (or does not want) to be shown in public, thus they subsidize and/or reduce taxes for some films while others are not shown at all. In fact, government tactics in film propaganda was already rampant since the WWII to support what they want to convey such as the production in 1941 of â€Å"The Big Blockade, a feature-length propaganda film dramatizing the activities of the Ministry of Economic Warfare (MEW),† 11 a peculiar film, mixing stylized reconstructions of life in Europe, newsreel, and a barrage of information on the vital importance of MEW, At present the British government has the UK Film Council to support the production of films the government encourages. There are eight kinds of funds available for the program such as development fund, new cinema, festival, international festival sales and support, premiere, prints and advertising, short film completion and film publication fund. 12 In a way to promote the national lottery together with the films it funds, the UK Film council was created and it is funded from national lottery funds. It is currently the richest funding film body with approximately 38 million sterling pounds in budget. 13