How to sell classic British films to the Film Studies students of today.....

[julian_craster]

How to sell classic British films to the Film Studies students in our universities of today.....



Deborah Ross: Classic British films re-sold to the cinema-goers who matter

Deborah Ross: Classic British films re-sold to the cinema-goers who matter - Commentators - Opinion - The Independent

Tuesday 24 January 2012


If you ask me, David Cameron's recent plea to the UK film industry requesting it should "try to support more commercially viable pictures" has made me think that the only way this might be possible is by aiming all movies at the youth market and, in particular, the popcorn-munching, Coke-slurping teenagers who are almost solely responsible for the success of mainstream blockbusters.

Alternatively, though, why not just re-sell classic British films to this demographic with, perhaps, age-appropriate, enticing poster taglines? They could be as follows:

Walkabout: "A well brought-up young lady swims in the buff! Seriously!" ("I sniggered so hard I thought I'd never stop" – Nuts magazine. "I sniggered so hard I snorted my drink out my nose" – Loaded)

One Million Years BC: "Think no one and nothing can be as old as your dad? Think again"

The 39 Steps: "Fated to be mated with the one man she hated – but that's Lynx for you"

Whisky Galore: "Getting pissed for free" ("Even better than raiding your parents' drinks cabinet" – Cosmo Girl)

The Go-Between: "The past is a foreign country: they do things different there, and didn't have televisions or mobile phones or PlayStations or Facebook or Topshop or Nike or anything. Would you survive? Could you?" ("Chilling" – Just Seventeen. "Terrifying and haunting" – Bliss)

The Killing of Sister George: "Lessies!!!!!!!"

Black Narcissus: "High in a hidden mountain village, extravagant dreams and desires become exciting realities, so not unlike Westfield with a pocket full of birthday money! Yay!"

Don't Look Now: Check out the fab red coat, as available from Asos. ("It's darling" – Teen Vogue)

Chariots of Fire: "You'll laugh. And laugh. And laugh!" ("The funniest film about running in slow motion we have ever seen. Hilarious" – Zoo magazine)

Kes: "Birds. Football. Bunking off school. Is there a problem here?"

Lawrence of Arabia: "A mighty motion picture of action and adventure and quite a bit of camel toe"

Brief Encounter: "Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, nearly. (Warning: May contain scenes in which sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex is nearly had)"

Brighton Rock: "If it's on your GCSE syllabus, you won't need to suffer the book which is, like, so boring. What's the point of reading anyhow?"

The Red Shoes: "So in, so now, so darling!" ("But don't wear with the red coat, as you don't want to be all matchy-matchy like your dumb old mum who thinks she knows everything but knows absolutely nothing yet still won't get out your face" – Just Seventeen)

[MikeB]

Youth (and classic films) are generally wasted on the young...

Seriously, this reminds me of the argument that 'colorizing' B & W films would bring would bring a whole new audience to old films. I once saw 'The Bells of St. Mary's' colourised - I might not have been a huge fan of the film in B & W, but I hated it in those horrible fake colours.

Young people might have got used to super fast cutting and CGI, but a classic is a classic. They will find 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' far darker than anything made now. Brighton Rock is still pretty nasty, Ipcress File still holds you and Dont Look Now would still play on their minds. If they watch Rear Window they will still watch it to the end. And Some Like it Hot is...well, probably the best comedy ever made.

You only have to look at the rise in retro and nostalgia (there is a whole annual festival) to see that 'young people' tend to like quality when they see it, and thanks to DVD, Blu Ray, streaming and film revivals, they can get quality films pretty easily.

I like one of the comments to the article:

Sorry, but as a teen I don't really find this very funny. This is just basic stereotyping, a lot of us actually give a damn about what sort of film we see and I'm always keen to take my friends to an independent cinema I know of. I don't get this whole "Teenagers are stupid morons, who only care about food, music, drugs and drink." We do have our own opinions, likes and dislikes. And yes I may like Lady Gaga, but that doesn't mean I care less about Tchaikovsky or Beethoven.

Well said.

[sippog]

I don't think the article is terribly witty or on target - 'selling movies to Nuts readers' might have been more accurate.

But, from my teaching experience, it was hard to get South London teenagers interested in some classic films - even ones that you would imagine would have a 'sure fire' popular appeal (Psycho, Some Like It Hot, Dr Zhivago). A complex or slowly developing narrative exceeded their narrow attention span - and even narrower range of interests.

Mostly however it was a failing of the conveyor belt education they had been given, which had never encouraged them to develop much flexibility in approaching a wider cultural context. That was one of the benefits of a 'liberal' education but you have to be rich to afford one these days. It's my bet the Tchaikovsky lover belongs to a fairly well to do family . . .