Twenty British films: A guided tour - Softcover

McFarlane, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719087147 ISBN 13: 9780719087141

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Anyone who has loved British films will want to read this book. In choosing twenty films, many of them classics of their kind – think of Brief Encounter, The third man, Genevieve – as well as some less well-known titles, the author communicates his enthusiasm for the sheer range of British cinema as well as a keenly critical interest in what has made these films stay in the mind often after many decades and many viewings. Not that it is just a nostalgic wallow: it comes nearer to the present day with titles such as Last Orders and In the Loop and it is intended to provoke discussion as much as recollection. Though it is rigorous in conducting its ‘guided tour’ of these films, it does so in ways that make it accessible to anyone with a passion for cinema. You don’t have to be a specialist to enjoy the tour.

About this title

About the Author

Brian McFarlane is Honorary Associate Professor, School of English, Communication and Performance Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, and Visiting Professor, Film Studies, University of Hull

From the Back Cover

This book examines twenty major British films from a seventy-year time span, offering a lively account of what has made them valuable and provocative over many viewings. It aims both to communicate a critical enthusiasm and to stimulate readers, large numbers of whom will know and value these films, many of them classics of their kind. The author’s personal engagement with such titles as The Lady Vanishes, Brief Encounter and Four Weddings and a Funeral will be likely to call up the readers’ own responses.

Each film focuses a particular strength significant in the history of British cinema. This may, for instance, reflect its strong ties with literature, or represent a high spot in British comedy or some other genre in which it has excelled, or it could be a matter of rescuing a ‘B’ film from obscurity and critical condescension, or of celebrating a star performance.

There will inevitably be something strongly personal about any such choice, and any defence of that choice. These are films that have stayed in the mind, when hundreds of others are forgotten. They speak of a rich national cinema too often undervalued as a poor relation of Hollywood.

Celebratory but critically acute, this book is designed for both film students and for those with an interest in and affection for British film.

From the Inside Flap

This book examines twenty major British films from a seventy-year time span, offering a lively account of what has made them valuable and provocative over many viewings. It aims both to communicate a critical enthusiasm and to stimulate readers, large numbers of whom will know and value these films, many of them classics of their kind. The author s personal engagement with such titles as The Lady Vanishes, Brief Encounter and Four Weddings and a Funeral will be likely to call up the readers own responses.Each film focuses a particular strength significant in the history of British cinema. This may, for instance, reflect its strong ties with literature, or represent a high spot in British comedy or some other genre in which it has excelled, or it could be a matter of rescuing a B film from obscurity and critical condescension, or of celebrating a star performance. There will inevitably be something strongly personal about any such choice, and any defence of that choice. These are films that have stayed in the mind, when hundreds of others are forgotten. They speak of a rich national cinema too often undervalued as a poor relation of Hollywood. Celebratory but critically acute, this book is designed for both film students and for those with an interest in and affection for British film.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719087147
• ISBN 13: 9780719087141
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288