Why are British films so dreary ?

bourne was us.
harry potter is us. 2 of the directors were americans. it is filmed in the uk.
this is how it is, productions are mixed. its how batman is british and so is the director. if the budget for the film is high, its probably backed by american production companies.
 
:confused::rolleyes::confused:

Gritty = Depressing?
I must disagree.

"Gritty" = Choosing HarRABhips, punishment, both mental and physical, choosing the rough path. Fighting-on no matter what's ahead. Digging down to survive and overcome all consciences!

"Depressing" = Suffering and striving on to overcome without much hope of winning in the end, and then dieing gracefully.
 
I think this is one of those films that really separates the uk style of movie making from the US. i mean this is billed as a 'feelgood' movie (i saw it described as a heart warming comedy somewhere), yet it has themes of torture, rape, murder, child slavery and the infamous scene eyeball scene. I mean, when i think of feelgood movies i usually think of something light and fluffy like Napoleon Dynamite or the 40 Year Old Virgin.

not that it is a bad thing at all (i loved Slumdog) but i think we definitely like our movies with a bit of grit
 
A lot of modern American comedy leaves me cold, I'm afraid. A movie like Hot Fuzz is leagues in front of anything Adam Sandler can concoct.

This is a genre in which Britain could really excel but all too often we turn out mass crowd-pleasing mush like Love Actually or the Full Monty and we're capable of so much better.

Where we really have an edge occasionally in in mixing drama and comedy (look at TV shows like Shameless) and that used to be a speciality of writer-directors like Mike Leigh (and Happy Go Lucky is proof that he's still got that in him.)

But like I said earlier, for anything on a larger budget or with a broader vision we must look to Hollywood. While Mamma Mia! was largely a British effort (writer, director, most of the principal actors) it was funded and distributed by Universal.
 
We love to sneer at Hollywood for its lack of originality and "formula" film-making, but British movies are amongst the most formulaic in the world.

There seem to be only a few types of British film:
1. The gritty kitchen sink drama
2. The gritty feel-good drama/comedy
3. The light-hearted Rom-Com
4. The "Oscar bait" literary adaptation/costume drama
5. The Gangster crime thriller/caper

When one of the above happens to have a success, a slew of imitators follow it, as we have seen with costume dramas (after Merchant Ivory's success), gangster capers (after Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Rom Coms (Four Weddings) and so on.

We can look forward to an avalanche of Slum Dog clones in years to come.

As to the subject of "realism", as film is an artificial medium the pursuit of "realism" and "authenticity" is somewhat of a silly notion.
 
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