British film is often entering into a dialogue about what Britishness means. The film is not necessarily about nationhood, but even as James Bond is plying his trade, his film world is offering definitions of what it is to be British. Who makes the film and what period it comes from will change the observations, but at heart they are presenting a version of nationality and entering a debate.
British film has produced many famous directors, but in this course we will limit ourselves to five of them - Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Michael Powell, Carol Reed and Alexander MacKendrick - and will study one film of each and its contribution to that myth of Britishness. We will also be studying the art of British film, its use of film language and its manipulation of the key elements of cinematography, lighting, editing, mise-en-scène, sound and performance.
We will start with Hitchcock’s The Thirty Nine Steps. Its movement between London and Scotland contrasts different identities, its music hall locations and railway carriages show us different class types. Its stars show us British aspirations.
David Lean’s Brief Encounter and Michael Powell’s Black Narcissus look at the British self-mythologising their attitude towards love. The two films’ ideas of clumsiness and repression cast a very long shadow.
One of the most celebrated films of all, Carol Reed’s The Third Man offers images of British doggedness and decency, the small man and his final success, something treated comically by Alexander MacKendrick’s The Man in the White Suit.
Five films, all enjoyable in their own right, all key art works and all bearing the stamp of the national beliefs of their creators.
Learning outcomes
- To understand the use of film language;
- To be aware of time and place of production;
- To gain knowledge of foundational directors.
