“Heritage is dead! Long live heritage!” British Cinema in the Face of a Political Crisis
Abstract
Political crises provoke questions about the past and the identity founded on it. The uncertain tomorrow directs us towards a history in which we try to find confirmation of our stable (national) “we”. Who we are is growing out of nostalgia for the past – provided, however, that this past returns in the form of compensation narratives. Pierre Sorlin’s thesis that historical films provide knowledge only about the period in which they were made is confirmed by films made on the British isles following 2016. They are manifested in the interest of these moments of history, which proved to be significant for the fate of not only Britain, but also all of Europe. Strategies implemented by the cinema “after Brexit” remind us of ideological discussion from Margaret Thatcher era focused around “heritage cinema”. But do the international successes of the British “films about the past” (Dunkirk, Twilight Time, Favorite) allow us to look at Brexit as a “useful catastrophe” and recall the slogan of the Thatcher era The British are coming (or Up your bum)?
Keywords:
British CinemaReferences
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Authors
Natasza Korczarowskarozio@wp.pl
Unversity of Łódź Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3130-128X
Dr hab. prof. nadzw. w Zakładzie Historii i Teorii Filmu Instytutu Kultury Współczesnej Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego. Specjalizuje się w historii filmu polskiego i problematyce historiofotii. Opublikowała książki: Ojczyzny prywatne. Mitologia przestrzeni prywatności w filmach Tadeusza Konwickiego, Jana Jakuba Kolskiego i Andrzeja Kondratiuka (2007) oraz Inne spojrzenie – poświęconą wyobrażeniom historii w polskim filmie fabularnym po 1965 r. Od 2008 r. współpracuje w Polskim Instytutem Sztuki Filmowej oraz Filmoteką Narodową przy projekcie Akademia Polskiego Filmu. Od 2010 r. pełni funkcję opiekuna naukowego APF w Łodzi.
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