ORIGINAL: Neilster
ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: Neilster
Yes. My original point was that the British Empire was the largest the world has ever seen and there are lingering cultural ties. This is perhaps not obvious to our American friends. Cricket anyone? [;)] Plucky underdogs battling menacing Nazis is a universally popular theme anyway.
Meh. Were that central premise true, British global 'cultural ties' to cinema would still be meaningful. What was the last British movie that was popularized in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, En Zed, Ozz or Canada? Seriously.
Or do you think this ephemeral cultural touchstone of which you speak is exclusively relegated to British military films involving non-American audiences? Because I don't see it. Obvious or subtle, I just don't see a universality to British-focused films.
Since, say, 2010...The King's Speech, Sherlock Holmes, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, X-Men: First Class, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Anna Karenina, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Les Misérables, The Bling Ring, Man of Steel, The Wolverine, Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks, The Trip to Italy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Interstellar, Paddington, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Martian.
According to Wikipedia, all these are British films and all have been popular to various degrees in Commonwealth countries. Seriously [;)]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_British_films
Cheers, Neilster
Not to put too fine a point on it, but your list includes a majority of films that were decidedly non-British in origin.
Sure, there may have been sound editing or some green screen contributions from a special effects studio in the UK, but that doesn't make a British film, except by the loosest definitions. Per the Wiki:
This article fully lists all films, including short films that have a release date in that year and which were at least partly made by the United Kingdom.
Take "The Imitation Game" for example. A quintessential piece about Bletchley Park codebreakers. Produced by...a FRENCH company (StudioCanal). Directed by a Norwegian, written by an American. The film's Oscar for Best Original Score? By a FRENCHMAN. International distribution rights largely held by Weinstein Brothers distribution (American) and Warner Brothers (American).
True, Cumberbatch, Kinghtly and Goode are English headline actors. But, other than being shot partially in the UK, I'm not seeing much of a UK focus here. About this movie about
Bletchley bleedin' Park.
In general, the UK does
not punch above its weight regarding international film production. Yes, the BBC have made or produced or co-produced some fine films. But to say that the British Empire of old=current societal ties to the UK from abroad= world leading film production is inaccurate.
Even "Dunkirk" was written and directed by an American-Englishman (reverse emphasis mine [:'(]), shot on site in France, the Netherlands, United States and the UK with a musical score by a German and distribution by an American company. It's a co-production by the United States, France and the UK. So, this most British of experiences during WWII has to be some multinational conglomerate in order to get international buzz and production value.
