A group of young filmmakers and critics founded the British Free Cinema Movement in 1956.
Directors Karel Reisz, Lindsay Anderson, John Fletcher and Tony Richardson struggled to get their films shown in the commercial circuits so they joined together and had their short documentary films screened in a single programme. This was held at the national Film Theatre as Reisz was event programme manager there.
They chose the name Free Cinema to say that their films were produced outside of government funding and control. Therefore the films were free to be radical, personal and adventurous.
The manifesto that they wrote stated a belief in freedom, the importance of people and the significance of the everyday.
The free Cinema movement led to the British New wave. This titles applies to a series of films released between 1959 and 1965. They are known as "kitchen sink" drama films because they depict grubby, gritty everyday life. The films tended to be based on Plays and Novels that centre on the experiences of aggressive, rebellious working class males, referred to as 'Angry young men".
The British New Wave films were influenced by the French New Wave and Italian Neorealist films and were shot in black and white, using mainly unknown actors using their regional accents. They were shot on location, loosely structured and set in domestic, industrial and rural spaces.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, made in 1960 is an example of British New Wave film. It was groundbreaking for it's depiction of Northern working-class characters, focused on the perspective of young white men like most British New Wave films. This was challenged in later decades by films that focused attention on the experiences of women, homosexuals and ethnic groups.
The mid 1990's onwards, films like The Full Monty (1997), Nil By Mouth (1997) and Fish Tank (2009) addressed underclass cultures and individuals struggling to exist outside the mainstream.
Billy Elliot (2000) is another example of a film that has been influenced by the British New Wave movement. It shows the life of everyday working class people. Although, it deviates slightly from the "Angry young Man" theme, as Billy rebels in a way that isn't aggressive and angry, often to the disappointment of his father.
Directors Karel Reisz, Lindsay Anderson, John Fletcher and Tony Richardson struggled to get their films shown in the commercial circuits so they joined together and had their short documentary films screened in a single programme. This was held at the national Film Theatre as Reisz was event programme manager there.
The manifesto that they wrote stated a belief in freedom, the importance of people and the significance of the everyday.
The free Cinema movement led to the British New wave. This titles applies to a series of films released between 1959 and 1965. They are known as "kitchen sink" drama films because they depict grubby, gritty everyday life. The films tended to be based on Plays and Novels that centre on the experiences of aggressive, rebellious working class males, referred to as 'Angry young men".
The British New Wave films were influenced by the French New Wave and Italian Neorealist films and were shot in black and white, using mainly unknown actors using their regional accents. They were shot on location, loosely structured and set in domestic, industrial and rural spaces.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, made in 1960 is an example of British New Wave film. It was groundbreaking for it's depiction of Northern working-class characters, focused on the perspective of young white men like most British New Wave films. This was challenged in later decades by films that focused attention on the experiences of women, homosexuals and ethnic groups.The mid 1990's onwards, films like The Full Monty (1997), Nil By Mouth (1997) and Fish Tank (2009) addressed underclass cultures and individuals struggling to exist outside the mainstream.
Billy Elliot (2000) is another example of a film that has been influenced by the British New Wave movement. It shows the life of everyday working class people. Although, it deviates slightly from the "Angry young Man" theme, as Billy rebels in a way that isn't aggressive and angry, often to the disappointment of his father.
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