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Heritage film

January 08, 2024

Heritage film is a critical term to refer to a cluster or cycle of late 20th-century British films that were argued to depict the United Kingdom of the pre-World War II decades in a nostalgic fashion.[1][2] Although this term was originally used to discuss the film genre polemically, its use has broadened out, and it is now also used more loosely to refer to period films with high-quality visual production values, including those produced in France, other European countries and beyond.[1]

Many – but not all – heritage films were adapted from classic literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries.[3] For its critics on the political Left, however, the heritage film was defined more centrally by:

  • A particular aesthetic approach (the "heritage" or "museum" aesthetic), marked by scrupulous attention to period detail and the use of splendid scenes of the English landscape, which was argued to have conservative ideological effects.[4][5][6]
  • A perceived relationship to the rise since the 1970s of the heritage industry and the discovery of heritage (stately homes, etc.) as a marketable commodity.[7]
  • The official promotion of a politically conservative, pro–free enterprise and upper-class-biased notion of the British heritage by successive 1980s British Conservative Governments under the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher.[8][9]

At a time of British industrial decline, stagnant economic growth, political polarisation and social unrest, heritage films were appealing to many because they projected a nostalgic image of Britain as a prosperous, powerful and socially cohesive nation.[10][11] Many cinematic and televised films focused on the British Empire, particularly the British Raj in India.[12][13] However, while these films glorify and romanticize the past, they also provide a critique of the oppressive restrictions of British society and the superiority, arrogance, and controlled manner of the ruling classes.[12] Maurice (1987) and Another Country (1984) were concerned with sexual repression and the intolerance of English society in the early 20th century, while Heat and Dust (1983) and A Passage to India (1984) criticized the ignorance of British authorities in India and the inequities of colonialism. Other critics point out that the representations, themes and perspectives presented in heritage films are varied, not homogeneous, and many of them are romance narratives, suggesting that the pleasures they offer to audiences are more diverse and less necessarily conservative than those assumed by their original critics.[1]

Critical debate edit

The heritage film has been criticised from a socialist perspective for its romanticised portrayal of the past, its emphasis on the bourgeoisie or aristocracy rather than working class, and its fascination with luxurious settings, clothing, and lifestyles.[14] Its critics argued that the films reduced the past to a lavish consumer experience, presenting it as spectacle rather than offering audiences historical or critical understanding. This argument was strongly coloured by the wider, politicised and polarised, debates around British film, culture and society taking place in the Thatcher era, including similar critiques of the heritage industry itself, vehement opposition to Thatcherism among many British filmmakers and other prominent cultural figures, and counter-attacks on "anti-Thatcher" films (almost always, by contrast, set in present-day Britain) by Thatcher’s supporters in the British media.[15]

A further important strand in the critical debate around heritage films argues – from a feminist and pro-LGBT position – that, in contrast with their conservative reputation, many of the films are strongly progressive in their gender and sexual politics.[16][4][5] Many of the best-loved heritage films focus on strong and complex female characters (more than many other popular film genres), and some focus directly on the personal struggles, social position, rights of women and LGBT individuals in ways that remain relevant and deeply moving to their contemporary audiences.[17] In short, although the heritage film became popular by providing an escape from the present – particularly in the divided social and political climate of 1980s Britain – the full picture of the films' appeal, politics, and personal value for their audiences is more complex.[15]

Not all British films made since 1980 and set in the historic past are heritage films.[18] The heritage film can be distinguished from period films that take a more self-conscious, less naturalistic, even anachronistic approach to screening narratives set in the past (the "post-heritage film"); and from those set in more recent decades (usually 1940s onwards) that focus on characters from ordinary or working class social backgrounds, biographical subjects (biopics) and/or popular culture (the "retro film" or "alternative heritage film").

Cinema edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Kuhn, Annette; Westwell, Guy (2012). "Heritage film". A Dictionary of Film Studies. OUP Oxford. p. 203. ISBN 978-0199587261. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  2. ^ Voigts-Virchow 2004, pp. 9-34.
  3. ^ Higson 2003, p. 92.
  4. ^ a b Dyer 1995, pp. 204-205.
  5. ^ a b Monk 2011a, p. 2.
  6. ^ Voigts-Virchow 2004, pp. 125-134.
  7. ^ Higson 1993, p. 95.
  8. ^ Powrie 2000, pp. 324–325.
  9. ^ Monk 2002, p. 177.
  10. ^ Higson 2003, p. 12.
  11. ^ Wollen 1991, p. 181.
  12. ^ a b Monk 2002, pp. 144-162.
  13. ^ Singh, Vijaya (January 2008). "The Colonial Discourse of the British Heritage Films of the 1980s". Creative Forum. 21 (1–2).
  14. ^ Vidal 2012, p. 86.
  15. ^ a b Luckett 2000, pp. 96-97.
  16. ^ Monk, Claire (1995). "The British 'heritage film' and its critics". Critical Survey. 7 (2): 116–124. JSTOR 41555905. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  17. ^ Williams 2005, pp. 92-101.
  18. ^ Higson 1993, p. 93.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Monk 2002, p. 179.
  20. ^ Higson 1993, pp. 96-97.
  21. ^ Larson, Stephen (27 March 2018). "A Summer Story Blu-ray Review". blu-ray.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  22. ^ Dave 1997, p. 122.
  23. ^ Luckett 2000, pp. 90-91.

Bibliography edit

  • Dave, Paul (July 1997). "The Bourgeois Paradigm and Heritage Cinema" (PDF). New Left Review (224). Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  • Dyer, Richard (1995). "Heritage Cinema in Europe". In Vincendeau, Ginette (ed.). Encyclopedia of European Cinema. Cassell. ISBN 978-0304341641.
  • Higson, Andrew (2003). English Heritage, English Cinema: Costume Drama Since 1980. ISBN 978-0199259021.
  • Higson, Andrew (1993). "Re-Presenting the National Past: Nostalgia and Pastiche in the Heritage Film". In Friedman, Lester (ed.). Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism. UCL Press. ISBN 978-1857280722.
  • Monk, Claire (2002). "The British Heritage-Film Debate Revisited". In Monk, Claire; Sargeant, Amy (eds.). British Historical Cinema: The History, Heritage and Costume Film. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0415238106.
  • Monk, Claire (2011a). "The Heritage Film Debate: From Textual Critique to Audience". Heritage Film Audiences: Period Film and Contemporary Audiences in the UK. pp. 10–24. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638246.003.0001. ISBN 9780748638246.
  • Luckett, Moya (2000). "Image and Nation in 1990s British Cinema". In Murphy, Robert (ed.). British Cinema in the 90s. British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0851707624.
  • Powrie, Phil (2000). "On the Threshold between Past and Present: Alternative Heritage". In Ashby, Justine; Higson, Andrew (eds.). British Cinema, Past and Present. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415220613.
  • Vidal, Belén (2012). Heritage Film: Nation, Genre and Representation. London and New York: Wallflower Press. ISBN 978-0-231-16203-6.
  • Voigts-Virchow, Eckart, ed. (2004). Janespotting and Beyond: British Heritage Retrovisions Since the Mid-1990s. Gunter Narr Verlag. ISBN 978-3823360964.
  • Williams, Michael (2005). "Room with a Gay View? Sexuality, Spectatorship, and A Room With a View". In Furby, Jacqueline; Randell, Karen (eds.). Screen Methods: Comparative Readings in Film Studies. Wallflower Press. ISBN 978-1904764342.
  • Wollen, Tana (1991). "Over Our Shoulders: Nostalgic Screen Fictions for the 1980s". In Corner, John; Harvey, Sylvia (eds.). Enterprise and Heritage: Crosscurrents of National Culture. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0415047029.

Further reading edit

  • Vincendeau, Ginette, ed. (2001). "Rooms Without a View". Film/Literature/Heritage. British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0851708416.
    • Cairns, Craig. Rooms Without a View. pp. 3-6.
    • Monk, Claire. Sexuality and Heritage. pp. 6-11.
  • Eley, Geoff (3 May 2019). "History, Heritage and the National Past in British Cinema of the 1980s and 1990s". In Hill, John (ed.). A Companion to British and Irish Cinema. doi:10.1002/9781118482889. ISBN 9781118477519. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  • Gibson, Pamela Church (2002). "From Dancing Queen to Plaster Virgin: Elizabeth and the End of English Heritage?". Journal of Popular British Cinema. 5: 133–142. ISSN 1461-104X.
  • Hewison, Robert (1987). The Heritage Industry: Britain in a Climate of Decline. Methuen London. ISBN 978-0413161109.
  • Higson, Andrew (2011). Film England: Culturally English Filmmaking Since the 1990s. New York and London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-454-3.
  • Kilpi, Harri (22 February 2002). British Historical Film: Its History and Generic Classification (Speech). Renvall Institute, Helsinki University.
  • Krämer, Lucia (2005). "Oscar Wilde as an Object of the English Heritage Industry". Irish Studies Review. 13 (3): 359–367. doi:10.1080/09670880500172015. S2CID 143954074.
  • Monk, Claire (2011b). "Heritage Film Audiences 2.0: Period Film Audiences and Online Fan Cultures". Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies. 8 (2): 431–477.
  • Pidduck, Julianne (2004). Contemporary Costume Film: Space, Place and the Past. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1844570249.
  • Wright, Patrick (1985). On Living in an Old Country: The National Past in Contemporary Britain. University of Michigan. ISBN 978-0860911272.

January 08, 2024
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The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints Please improve the article or discuss the issue May 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Heritage film is a critical term to refer to a cluster or cycle of late 20th century British films that were argued to depict the United Kingdom of the pre World War II decades in a nostalgic fashion 1 2 Although this term was originally used to discuss the film genre polemically its use has broadened out and it is now also used more loosely to refer to period films with high quality visual production values including those produced in France other European countries and beyond 1 Many but not all heritage films were adapted from classic literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries 3 For its critics on the political Left however the heritage film was defined more centrally by A particular aesthetic approach the heritage or museum aesthetic marked by scrupulous attention to period detail and the use of splendid scenes of the English landscape which was argued to have conservative ideological effects 4 5 6 A perceived relationship to the rise since the 1970s of the heritage industry and the discovery of heritage stately homes etc as a marketable commodity 7 The official promotion of a politically conservative pro free enterprise and upper class biased notion of the British heritage by successive 1980s British Conservative Governments under the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher 8 9 At a time of British industrial decline stagnant economic growth political polarisation and social unrest heritage films were appealing to many because they projected a nostalgic image of Britain as a prosperous powerful and socially cohesive nation 10 11 Many cinematic and televised films focused on the British Empire particularly the British Raj in India 12 13 However while these films glorify and romanticize the past they also provide a critique of the oppressive restrictions of British society and the superiority arrogance and controlled manner of the ruling classes 12 Maurice 1987 and Another Country 1984 were concerned with sexual repression and the intolerance of English society in the early 20th century while Heat and Dust 1983 and A Passage to India 1984 criticized the ignorance of British authorities in India and the inequities of colonialism Other critics point out that the representations themes and perspectives presented in heritage films are varied not homogeneous and many of them are romance narratives suggesting that the pleasures they offer to audiences are more diverse and less necessarily conservative than those assumed by their original critics 1 Contents 1 Critical debate 2 Cinema 3 References 3 1 Bibliography 4 Further readingCritical debate editThe heritage film has been criticised from a socialist perspective for its romanticised portrayal of the past its emphasis on the bourgeoisie or aristocracy rather than working class and its fascination with luxurious settings clothing and lifestyles 14 Its critics argued that the films reduced the past to a lavish consumer experience presenting it as spectacle rather than offering audiences historical or critical understanding This argument was strongly coloured by the wider politicised and polarised debates around British film culture and society taking place in the Thatcher era including similar critiques of the heritage industry itself vehement opposition to Thatcherism among many British filmmakers and other prominent cultural figures and counter attacks on anti Thatcher films almost always by contrast set in present day Britain by Thatcher s supporters in the British media 15 A further important strand in the critical debate around heritage films argues from a feminist and pro LGBT position that in contrast with their conservative reputation many of the films are strongly progressive in their gender and sexual politics 16 4 5 Many of the best loved heritage films focus on strong and complex female characters more than many other popular film genres and some focus directly on the personal struggles social position rights of women and LGBT individuals in ways that remain relevant and deeply moving to their contemporary audiences 17 In short although the heritage film became popular by providing an escape from the present particularly in the divided social and political climate of 1980s Britain the full picture of the films appeal politics and personal value for their audiences is more complex 15 Not all British films made since 1980 and set in the historic past are heritage films 18 The heritage film can be distinguished from period films that take a more self conscious less naturalistic even anachronistic approach to screening narratives set in the past the post heritage film and from those set in more recent decades usually 1940s onwards that focus on characters from ordinary or working class social backgrounds biographical subjects biopics and or popular culture the retro film or alternative heritage film Cinema editChariots of Fire 1981 19 Another Country 1984 19 A Passage to India 1985 19 A Room with a View 1985 1 Maurice 1987 1 Little Dorrit 1987 20 A Handful of Dust 1988 19 A Summer Story 1988 21 Where Angels Fear to Tread 1991 19 Howards End 1992 1 19 Indochine 1992 Shadowlands 1993 The Remains of the Day 1993 The Madness of King George 1994 22 Sense and Sensibility 1995 1 Emma 1996 Elizabeth 1998 23 Shakespeare in Love 1998 Pride amp Prejudice 2005 The King s Speech 2010 References edit a b c d e f g Kuhn Annette Westwell Guy 2012 Heritage film A Dictionary of Film Studies OUP Oxford p 203 ISBN 978 0199587261 Retrieved 3 November 2023 Voigts Virchow 2004 pp 9 34 Higson 2003 p 92 a b Dyer 1995 pp 204 205 a b Monk 2011a p 2 Voigts Virchow 2004 pp 125 134 Higson 1993 p 95 Powrie 2000 pp 324 325 Monk 2002 p 177 Higson 2003 p 12 Wollen 1991 p 181 a b Monk 2002 pp 144 162 Singh Vijaya January 2008 The Colonial Discourse of the British Heritage Films of the 1980s Creative Forum 21 1 2 Vidal 2012 p 86 a b Luckett 2000 pp 96 97 Monk Claire 1995 The British heritage film and its critics Critical Survey 7 2 116 124 JSTOR 41555905 Retrieved 2 November 2023 Williams 2005 pp 92 101 Higson 1993 p 93 a b c d e f Monk 2002 p 179 Higson 1993 pp 96 97 Larson Stephen 27 March 2018 A Summer Story Blu ray Review blu ray com Retrieved 14 November 2023 Dave 1997 p 122 Luckett 2000 pp 90 91 Bibliography edit Dave Paul July 1997 The Bourgeois Paradigm and Heritage Cinema PDF New Left Review 224 Retrieved 14 November 2023 Dyer Richard 1995 Heritage Cinema in Europe In Vincendeau Ginette ed Encyclopedia of European Cinema Cassell ISBN 978 0304341641 Higson Andrew 2003 English Heritage English Cinema Costume Drama Since 1980 ISBN 978 0199259021 Higson Andrew 1993 Re Presenting the National Past Nostalgia and Pastiche in the Heritage Film In Friedman Lester ed Fires Were Started British Cinema and Thatcherism UCL Press ISBN 978 1857280722 Monk Claire 2002 The British Heritage Film Debate Revisited In Monk Claire Sargeant Amy eds British Historical Cinema The History Heritage and Costume Film Psychology Press ISBN 978 0415238106 Monk Claire 2011a The Heritage Film Debate From Textual Critique to Audience Heritage Film Audiences Period Film and Contemporary Audiences in the UK pp 10 24 doi 10 3366 edinburgh 9780748638246 003 0001 ISBN 9780748638246 Luckett Moya 2000 Image and Nation in 1990s British Cinema In Murphy Robert ed British Cinema in the 90s British Film Institute ISBN 978 0851707624 Powrie Phil 2000 On the Threshold between Past and Present Alternative Heritage In Ashby Justine Higson Andrew eds British Cinema Past and Present Routledge ISBN 978 0415220613 Vidal Belen 2012 Heritage Film Nation Genre and Representation London and New York Wallflower Press ISBN 978 0 231 16203 6 Voigts Virchow Eckart ed 2004 Janespotting and Beyond British Heritage Retrovisions Since the Mid 1990s Gunter Narr Verlag ISBN 978 3823360964 Williams Michael 2005 Room with a Gay View Sexuality Spectatorship and A Room With a View In Furby Jacqueline Randell Karen eds Screen Methods Comparative Readings in Film Studies Wallflower Press ISBN 978 1904764342 Wollen Tana 1991 Over Our Shoulders Nostalgic Screen Fictions for the 1980s In Corner John Harvey Sylvia eds Enterprise and Heritage Crosscurrents of National Culture Psychology Press ISBN 978 0415047029 Further reading editVincendeau Ginette ed 2001 Rooms Without a View Film Literature Heritage British Film Institute ISBN 978 0851708416 Cairns Craig Rooms Without a View pp 3 6 Monk Claire Sexuality and Heritage pp 6 11 Eley Geoff 3 May 2019 History Heritage and the National Past in British Cinema of the 1980s and 1990s In Hill John ed A Companion to British and Irish Cinema doi 10 1002 9781118482889 ISBN 9781118477519 Retrieved 3 November 2023 Gibson Pamela Church 2002 From Dancing Queen to Plaster Virgin Elizabeth and the End of English Heritage Journal of Popular British Cinema 5 133 142 ISSN 1461 104X Hewison Robert 1987 The Heritage Industry Britain in a Climate of Decline Methuen London ISBN 978 0413161109 Higson Andrew 2011 Film England Culturally English Filmmaking Since the 1990s New York and London I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 84885 454 3 Kilpi Harri 22 February 2002 British Historical Film Its History and Generic Classification Speech Renvall Institute Helsinki University Kramer Lucia 2005 Oscar Wilde as an Object of the English Heritage Industry Irish Studies Review 13 3 359 367 doi 10 1080 09670880500172015 S2CID 143954074 Monk Claire 2011b Heritage Film Audiences 2 0 Period Film Audiences and Online Fan Cultures Participations Journal of Audience amp Reception Studies 8 2 431 477 Pidduck Julianne 2004 Contemporary Costume Film Space Place and the Past Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978 1844570249 Wright Patrick 1985 On Living in an Old Country The National Past in Contemporary Britain University of Michigan ISBN 978 0860911272 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Heritage film amp oldid 1192053559, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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