Critical Research: Textual Analysis Of British Films

There are many aspects that make British films British. Ranging from the ethnicity of the actors, the scenary to the producers, there are many things that make films British. But then again, there could be a deeper meaning to films being British.

One of the most famous British films known to man would be Notting Hill. Though the director (Roger Michell) was not British, in fact born in South Africa, the very fact that the film was shot in England and the main character being Hugh Grant (British), explains a lot. There is nothing foreign about the film, apart from the actress Julia Roberts co-starring.

According to the BBC in 1999, new rules were made to boost the UK film industry.

• British films can now be called British even if they were largely shot outside the UK.


• Films will count as British only if more than 70% of its budget is spent in the UK.


• Films will count as British if more than 70% of its payroll costs goes to European and Commonwealth talent.

It has even been found to say that the British film industry is worth about £900m a year.

The British Film Council has an article posted on the 'Britishness' of films.

'It is extremely difficult to finance British films at the moment and there are undoubtedly a good many producers wandering around London thinking about giving up the uneven struggle to keep their offices open. Nor have the Government's policies, intended to aid matters, always borne fruit. Some of them, indeed, have simply made matters worse by swallowing so much up into what some people think is the bureaucratic wasteland of the Film Council.'

'Then there is the undeniable fact that if a British film is financed and shot, the distribution and exhibition system in the UK is so dominated by Hollywood product that a fair crack of the whip for home product is very rare. Even established and highly praised directors like Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Michael Winterbottom could legitimately complain that their films have insufficient exposure in British cinemas and, perhaps through the lack of the kind of publicity your average Hollywood production expects, don't do the business they could. Others who have far less recognition, either at home or abroad, have an even harder task. A good many British films over the last twelve months or so have made so little at the box-office that the figures look deeply depressing for their makers.'