British Cinema and Industry 1980 and Present Essay

British Cinema and Industry 1980 and Present - Essay Example General audiences usually enjoy repetitions of elements that they can recognise from their experience of movie watching along with certain amount of novelty. This paper focuses on the characteristics of British cinema from 1980s to the present. British cinema: genres and themes British cinema is known for distinguished genre and themes that separate it from other national cinemas. There are few Western movies made in the United Kingdom for obvious reasons. British cinema works on putting their own distinctive mark on existing genres and is always inventing new genres and themes. Many British comedy movies have their origin in the era of silent movies when the comedy was slapstick. The British documentary movies have their roots in the 1890s although they have taken their current form in the 1930s . Adaptations from literature have always formed major themes in many British movies. In the 1980s, classic novels almost gave rise to a virtual film industry. This is because such themes an d styles were adored by the audiences. Even today classic adaptations remain high in demand, although contemporary writers are also making their mark in the British film industry. The British film industry was going through an ailing period in the 1980s. The industry was not embraced by the Thatcher administration. The Conservative government did not extend any support to the industry and saw cinema as a â€Å"commercial enterprise which would need to sink or swim on its own†.Margaret Thatcher treated the film industry indifferently and her government passed a Bill in the 1984-85 that abolished a previous law that allowed a percentage of box-office receipts to be invested in the British film industry. ... treated the film industry indifferently and her government passed a Bill in the 1984-85 that abolished a previous law that allowed a percentage of box-office receipts to be invested in the British film industry. The government also abolished the 25 percent tax benefit of film investors. This encouraged the filmmakers to take more economic risks and experience with new innovations. The culture created by Thatcher became implicit or explicit themes in many popular movies of this era (Friedman, 2006, pp.21-22). 1980s was an era of realism in the British film industry and most themes were based on realistic social matters. During this period British filmmakers found specific ways to portray the social problems and matters which they viewed as â€Å"contemporary reality†. Such filmmakers were more often not concerned with the aesthetic depiction of matters concerned with reality. Any issues that concerned the society were reflected and amplified in the movies in the way they were r ecognised by the socially aware filmmakers. In the 1980s, many films were made to reflect the realistic conditions of the working class in Britain. The British film director Derek Jarman saw Britain as a country where morals have perished. He made films like Britannia Hospital (1982) and The Last of England (1987) which reflected the real issues of the prevailing social structure. Although 1980s saw racial riots in parts of London, few movies were concerned with issues relating to racism. One major exception was the documentary movie Handsworth Songs (1986). Unlike the previous decades when women were portrayed only as objects of desire, 1980s was also an era when British movies depicted â€Å"strong female protagonists†. These movies reflected the rising position of women in the British society