Jeremy Havardi

Projecting Britain at War

The National Character in British World War II Films

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This detailed chronological analysis of British World War II movies from 1939 until the present explores how films projected recognizable stereotypes of British national character and how the times in which a film was made shaped its perspectives. Several chapters look at films made during and immediately after the war. In depictions of the Home Front, characters display resolve as well as emotional restraint and present an image of an undivided society cooperating to fight evil. By contrast, duty and service are the paramount virtues of combat films while spy melodramas exemplify the British love of improvisation. Fifties war films are examined against the backdrop of alarm and uncertainty caused by the Cold War. Such films reflect traditional national character stereotypes, though the stiff upper lip begins to be questioned by the end of the decade. The book then traces the radical effect of the 1960s revolution, revealing how the fondness for skeptical antiwar movies went hand in hand with the questioning of Britain's place in the world. The book ends by looking at recent war films and asks whether these reflect the cult of narcissism so prevalent in modern Britain.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: McFarland
• Seitenzahl: 234
• Erscheinungstermin: 18. Februar 2014
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 14mm
• Gewicht: 387g
• ISBN-13: 9780786474837
• ISBN-10: 0786474831
• Artikelnr.: 38476543

Autorenporträt

Journalist Jeremy Havardi's articles have appeared in The Guardian, The Commentator, The Jewish News, Times of Israel and many other publications. He lives in London, England.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents Preface Introduction 1.
Our Obsession with 1940 2.
The Development of the English National Character 3.
Projecting Britain in the Early Documentaries 4.
The Home Front: Muddling Through with a Stiff Upper Lip 5.
Service Films: The Triumph of Duty 6.
Cloak and Dagger: The Victory of the Amateur 7.
Heroic Johnny Foreigner: Resistance and the Triumph of the Underdog 8.
History and Heritage as Propaganda 9.
The Postwar Interlude: War Films 1945-1950 10.
Obsessive Nostalgia: The British War Films of the 1950s 11.
The Critique of Deference in the Aftermath of Suez 12.
How We Lost the War: Anti-Heroism and the New Wave 13.
The Dominance of Narcissism: British War Films from the 1980s and Beyond Conclusion Chronological List of Films Covered Chapter Notes Bibliography Index