I haven’t done a theme of the month in a while. I spent the summer sort-of casually going through my life in movies chronologically, but I haven’t been steadfast about it. I’ll probably continue to do that for the remainder of the year (or until I’m finished whatever comes first) but again I’m not gonna try that hard. But before we move into 31 Days of Horror and then Noirvember I did want to do one more new theme.
A few months back the Criterion Channel did a thing where they showed a bunch of British Noirs. I really liked the ones I watched. I’m obviously a big fan of film noir but in some ways, it seems a very American genre. And yet it is also very nebulous. No one seems to be able to completely define exactly what a film noir is and thus it is a genre that can fairly easily be applied to all sorts of films from all sorts of places.
What I loved about those films is that they were very much film noirs, but they were also distinctly British. That got me thinking about British films and that led me to make this month’s theme.
For the month of September, I’m going to watch as many British films as I can. Now British cinema is a very big box to play in so I’m going to try and narrow it down a bit. I do mean films financed by, produced by, made by, and starring British people. I don’t want American films set in Britain.
I’m looking for films that feel distinctly British, even if I don’t know exactly what that means. I’m less interested in Harry Potter and James Bond and more interested in Ealing comedies and Hammer horror.
But honestly, we’ll just see how it goes. Who knows what I’ll wind up watching and talking about. If you are British or are just a fan of British cinema please chime in and let me know your recommendations.
Also, yes, that is my title for this theme “Great British Cinema”. I was aiming for a play on Great Britain but couldn’t quite make it work. Nothing else worked either. My wife suggested Brit-ember like British and September bumped into each other but that seems silly. If anybody has a suggestion, I’m all ears.
themidnightcafe.org 
British films I like or remember liking
Michael Powell: The Red Shoes, I know Where I’m going, Life and Times of Colonel Blimp
Comedies: Whisky Galore, The Ladykillers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, also Two way Stretch
Directors from the Sixties: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, If, Sons and Lovers, Tom Jones, Billy Liar
Independents: Poor Cow, Kes, Get Carter, Withnail and I, Bend It Like Beckham, Clockwise
David Lean pre Hollywood money, especially Great Expectations
Joseph Losey, American of course, but his films often very British, especially Accident and The Go-Between, maybe Secret Ceremony; also his earlier black and white semi-noirs
I’d include Local Hero which may have American money as well as Burt Lancaster, but is very British
Of course there are many everyday British films, think Carry On….
I don’t go for horror but there is The Wicker Man
I could go on
Have an interesting month
Chris
Thank you for this. I know some of those (love Michael Powell films) but haven’t heard of quite a few of them so I’ll add them to the list.
There’s an INCREDIBLE episode of the Pure Cinema Podcast called Underrated British Horror. Edgar Wright is the guest and I’ve really enjoyed the ones I’ve watched from his list. (Related: the Empire Magazine podcast episode with Wright and Quentin Tarantino goes VERY deep into cult British cinema, especially in the second half. Wright busts out the British movie list that Scorsese sent him!)
I’ll have to check that podcast out, it sounds right up my alley. I’ve seen that Scorsese list somewhere but had forgotten about it. I’ll have to dig it up again because I always like his recomendations.