Tears of laughter : comedy-drama in 1990s British cinema / Nigel Mather.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mather, Nigel (Writer on film)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Comedy films--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Comedy films.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

viii, 211 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2006.

Summary:

British cinema underwent a number of exciting transformations during the 1990s and Tears of laughter identifies the interactions of comedy and drama that were a fundamental feature of many of the films that were produced during that decade. Nigel Mather explores three specific strands: comedies engaging with issues of class, culture and community in modern Britain (Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997)); 'ethnic' comedy-dramas exploring complex issues of identity and allegiance in British society (East is East (1999)); and romantic comedies (Four Weddings and A Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999) and the post-1990s Love, Actually (2003)), featuring characters searching - sometimes rather frantically or desperately - for a suitable and desirable partner.

The study discusses these films together with a range of other recent British comedy-dramas, within the context of community-orientated Ealing comedy classics, contentious situation comedies treating race relations as both a laughing matter and a site of verbal conflict and aggression, including Till Death Us Do Part and Love Thy Neighbour, and earlier examples of romantic comedies set and produced in Britain.

The book seeks to demonstrate that the combination of comic and dramatic modes of narration in many of the films discussed, led to the construction of innovative and exploratory stories based around characters striving to realise particular aspirations and hopes within a complex and challenging society. It constitutes a significant contribution to our understanding and appreciation of British cinema in its past and more recent forms.

Tears of laughter will to appeal to students of Film Studies, cinema enthusiasts and readers with an interest in British culture.

Contents:

Introduction: 'Tears of laughter': comedy-drama in 1990s British cinema 1

1 'Things can only get better ...': comedies of class, culture and community 5

Concepts of community, 'comical' cultural clashes and British cinema 7

The 'Ealing spirit' and 1990s regional comedies 22

Case studies: Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997) 29

2 Racial discourses, ethnicity, and the 'comic mode' in contemporary British cinema 67

'To love (or hate) thy neighbour?' Situational comedy and racial conflicts in 1970s British film and television culture 70

My Beautiful Laundrette (1986), a 1980s ethnic 'soap opera', and Rita, Sue, Bob and Aslam Too 82

Developing notions of ethnic comedy-drama in 1990s British cinema 85

Case study: East is East (1999) 97

3 Romantic comedy and new beginnings in 1990s British cinema 119

Conceptualising the 'comic romance' 120

Trends and traditions of romantic comic drama in British film culture 125

Constructing romantic scenarios in 1990s British cinema 143

Case studies: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999) and Love Actually (2003) 149.

Notes:

Filmography: pages [196]-199.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [200]-207) and index.

ISBN:

0719070767

0719070775

OCLC:

61757272

Publisher Number:

9780719070761

9780719070778