Why do you think British films have become so popular?

[dom2097]

Hi. I am new to this forum and was searching for information on modern British films (the past 10 years), and found this forum. I am currently writing an article to be published for a major film magazine and unfortunately the interview I had organised fell through. Which is why I am here. I was wondering if anybody could spare just 5 or 10 minutes to read through the questions below and voice their own opinions on the matter. Any opinions and thoughts are very welcome. Thank you.

Dom



Why do you think British films have become so popular? As Hollywood had always dominated the market, do you think people are welcoming the change in style/content etc? What do you like about British films which make them different from Hollywood films?



British films are not just popular in the UK, they are increasing becoming more popular in America. Why do you think this is? Does it have something do to with the introduction of American actors into British films (Greenstreet) or British actors in American films (Jason Stratham in The Transporter, The One etc) making other audiences more aware of the British presence?



Do you think that British films are important to us/our culture? And why is this?



Again, all opinions are very welcome

[Steve Crook]

name='dom2097']Hi. I am new to this forum and was searching for information on modern British films (the past 10 years), and found this forum. I am currently writing an article to be published for a major film magazine and unfortunately the interview I had organised fell through. Which is why I am here. I was wondering if anybody could spare just 5 or 10 minutes to read through the questions below and voice their own opinions on the matter. Any opinions and thoughts are very welcome. Thank you.

Dom



Why do you think British films have become so popular? As Hollywood had always dominated the market, do you think people are welcoming the change in style/content etc? What do you like about British films which make them different from Hollywood films?



British films are not just popular in the UK, they are increasing becoming more popular in America. Why do you think this is? Does it have something do to with the introduction of American actors into British films (Greenstreet) or British actors in American films (Jason Stratham in The Transporter, The One etc) making other audiences more aware of the British presence?



Do you think that British films are important to us/our culture? And why is this?



Again, all opinions are very welcome

You seem to be making some initial assumptions that need clarifying.

Which do you count as British films that are very popular here and abroad?

How do you judge a film to be popular or a success?

How do you judge a film to be a British film? The IMDb considers all the ones you mention to be either American films or American led co-productions.



You mention The Transporter. The IMDb reports that that had a budget of €20 million (approx US$30 million) but that it only took $9m in the first weekend and $25m thereafter. OK, it didn't lose money, but hardly a huge success.



Don't you think that with all the Brits already in Hollywood (and there have been Brits there for a long time) that American audiences would already know about the British presence? Not all of them are known to be British, but many are and are promoted as such.



Not wanting to put you off, just querying some assumptions and asking for clarification on various points



Steve

[christoph404]

Sounds like an intersting topic for an essay.... What ideas and theories about the topic have struck you so far?

Be interesting to hear your own views and where your research has taken you up until now , it might be easier to expand and comment on that if we could hear a bit more clarification from you.

[DB7]

name='Steve Crook']

You mention The Transporter. The IMDb reports that that had a budget of €20 million (approx US$30 million) but that it only took $9m in the first weekend and $25m thereafter. OK, it didn't lose money, but hardly a huge success.

I'd consider that French and similar to other Besson films like Taxi.

[cletus awreetus]

Call me a cynic, but the questions do sound to me like a college assignment

[Bulldog Jack]

Dom2797



I assure you that UK films have always had a wide following in the USA. There is nothing new in this. Actors moved from Hollywood to UK studios & vice versa in search of work almost from the beginning. A few UK stars refused to do this out of some sort of misplaced patriotism (Joan Greenwood), but I don't know of a single USA star who refused to make a UK film out of a similar misguided patriotism (read: petty chauvinism).



CLARA