British cinema has delivered us many iconic movies with a quirky edge, from ‘Trainspotting’ to ‘Submarine’, but are we currently in a golden age?
By Aimee Ferrier
British cinema has thrived in periods where it has produced memorable movies that have defined the country’s creativity and periods that we’d rather just forget. One thing is for certain, though: British filmmakers know how to make something a little offbeat. This is likely due to our emphasis on humour in almost every aspect of life and our never-too-serious attitude.
Thus, the comedy genre has always championed, even when the topics explored within these films are heavy-hitting and intense. As a result, many British films have blended serious drama and humour with an expert sensibility, resulting in some rather quirky and charming films.
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, kitchen sink dramas emerged as a form of British social realism, with characters experiencing issues ranging from social discontent to interracial relationships. While there were certain movies from this era that were quite offbeat, like Billy Liar, the more lighthearted movies of the period, such as Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and Joanna, reflected the eccentricity at the heart of British culture.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, bawdy sex comedies, such as those in the Carry On franchise or the Confessions of a… series, became popular, with their strange plotlines and shamelessly crude dialogue and imagery becoming some of the quirkiest cinematic offerings Britain had to share. There were some rather unconventional horror movies released during this time too, like Goodbye Gemini and The Vampire Lovers.
What classifies a movie as offbeat is somewhat subjective, but these films often focused on strange characters and storylines, used a quirky or bizarre sense of humour, or were genuinely inventive and unique. While some of these films hit the mainstream, they were movies that felt British to a tee, emerging from the mind of some eccentric writer or producer and somehow ending up on screen.
Through the 1980s and ‘90s, there were many iconic British movies – some less conventional than others. Many of Mike Leigh’s movies, like Naked and Life Is Sweet, could be considered offbeat, while titles like Trainspotting and Human Traffic explored British culture through an unusual lens, too. There were a lot of movies that emerged during this time that went relatively unnoticed, like Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, and This Year’s Love, but these films proved that the ‘90s was a fantastic time for British cinema, particularly for stories that felt a little different from your average mainstream fodder.
Into the 2000s and the early 2010s, British cinema continued to thrive, with many unconventional and comedic stories being told through the likes of filmmakers like Edgar Wright, Michael Winterbottom, and Shane Meadows. From Fish Tank to Four Lions, and Submarine, British cinema proved to be at its best when drama and comedy were deeply intertwined.
Now, thanks to continued funding by the likes of Channel 4 and the BFI, British cinema is still producing some great titles, many of which are quirky, strange, hilarious, and idiosyncratic. Peter Strickland’s tales of killer dresses (In Fabric) and ASMR (In Flux) are prime examples, while Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers offers up a weird take on folk horror, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris delights in haute couture dreams, and Brian and Charles explores robot companions. We’ve also had creative experimentations with masculinity in movies like Pretty Red Dress and motherhood with Days of Bagnold Summer, and even rather unorthodox horror movies in the form of Censor and Saint Maud.
Are we in a golden age of offbeat British cinema, though? It seems as if the movies that define this term have changed over the course of decades, and only time will tell which films from this era will endure. While there have been many great British movies released over the past decade featuring unusual narratives and cinematic devices, it feels as though the 1990s, 2000s, and early 2010s were much more fruitful for producing successful yet, at their core, rather odd British movies.
Source: Are we living in a ‘Golden Age’ of offbeat British cinema?