What Happened To The British War Movie?

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I am not really in to war movies as such but I am for the retelling of history, I very much enjoyed Private Ryan and I also thought the TV series band of brothers was very interesting.

But to be honest I can't really remember the last time we told a story about the British Troops contribution in the Second World War on the big screens. At one time this country used to be very good making big movies based upon the Second World War.

Also I think it is important that this country sometimes makes the effort to tell the story of what the troops had to endure so that people don't forget the great sacrifices made during that era. I am not talking about glorifying war - which I don't care much for, but I am for remembering history.

People moaned that Spielberg and Hanks forgot to mention about the British participation when making Private Ryan and Band of Brothers TV series. Well to be honest, why should the American movie makers tell the British story, we should be doing it ourselves. Fair play to Spielberg and Hanks for making sure there countrymen never forget the history of the Second World War.
 
I think there are several reasons. Firstly, there's a fairly solid body of films that already effectively retell Britain's involvement in WWII created in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Movies such as: The Password Is Courage, The Great Escape, In Which We Serve, This Happy Breed, The Way to the Stars, The Colditz Story, The Wooden Horse, Reach for the Sky, The Dam Busters, etc all do a fair job at representing the British war effort.

Secondly, there are financial considerations. Movies of any kind tend to be very expensive, and television dramas are a far more effective way of presenting images of war nowadays (perfect case in point is Band of Brothers, Foyle's War, etc).

Thirdly, the climate isn't exactly suitable with recent wars proving very unpopular - jingoistic & fiercely patriotic cinema is likely to cause much discontent and unlikely to be a box-office draw (the prime motivation for making a movie).

There are obviously other factors, but you may be surprised at just how much material is out there in one form or another already.

But regardless of all these factors - If your intentions are for 'remembering history' then you really shouldn't be looking to film for answers - don't forget that the screen, by its very nature, always lies...
 
Fortunately it is not me who neeRAB to be reminded about history there is a lot of people in this country who don't even know who Churchill was. History in the movies does mislead facts. However when a movie is tells a story about history it does get people interested in the topic. A lot of people became fascinated with Roman history after Gladiator.
 
U571 is good proof about why they have stopped making them, in it americans stole the enigma maching. (for those not good at history the english were the ones that actualy stole it.
 
I agree with your point - movies provide an extremely accessible format for youngsters to learn about previous wars, etc. However, perhaps people not knowing about Churchill is more a issue about poor history teaching in our schools rather than the fault of cinema...

I admit that I'd love to see a wider understanding of war on both sides - both Britain's and Germany's role should be explored far more in film. I know how angry I was watching Mr Blair march around with a poppy in his breast pocket after supporting Bush in the Iraq war; regardless of your view on the war itself, it felt like the point/message attached to the flower was totally lost on the man! :(
 
Well, do you think we really would make a war film in this current climate? Now, when we reconstruct Trafalgar with a "red" and "blue" fleet?

I hate to sound cliched, but a lot of it comes down to b*oody political correctness.
 
No - as I said earlier...



It's all about the money - if it's unlikely to make any money then it's unlikely to be made. The unfortunate world of the movie industry!

Mind you, a small indie company might want to have a crack at it...
 
I don't know why it wouldn't make a lot of money. Look at the success for Private Ryan. If you look in to our movie history, some of our best has come from the war movie genre.

I never understand why our budget for making movies is so small, especially when we have a very wealthy country. Also we have some of the best studios in the world - I often thought we should adopt a similar strategy to what the French have in place for making movies.

Lets hope some small company does take a crack of it and earn a lot of money from it because I think it is a worth while venture and I am sure a lot of people around the world would watch a movie about the second world made by a British company.
 
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