Screening Scotland: The 'New' Scottish Film since the 1990s
Dietmar Böhnke
In seinem Überblick über das neue schottische Kino geht Dietmar Böhnke (Leipzig) auf die politischen, öko• nomischen und kulturellen Gründe der 'Renaissance' nach und diskutiert eine Reihe neuerer Filme, neben international bekannten wie Brave Heart und Trainspotting auch andere, die die Themen und stilistischen Merkmale dieses Kinos typisch zum Ausdruck bringen, etwa Lynne Ramsays Morvern Callar und Ken Loachs Ae Fond Kiss.
In comparison to England, and and Comfort and Joy ( 1984) three years between 1994 and also to some extent to lreland, as well as the more recent 1996. Taken together, their im Scotland has not enjoyed a group of films following Danny pact on the Scottish film scene high profile in cinematic terms Boyle's Shallow Grave (1994) can hardly be overestimated. in the twentieth century. In and Trainspotting, such as My Mel Gibson's film Braveheart fact, Scotland is conspicuous Name is Joe ( 1998), Ratcatch about the thirteenth-century for having been depicted on er and Orphans (both 1999), Scottish freedom fighter William screen from outside and often Morvern Callar and Sweet Six Wallace, which won five Os in a cliched way. From Whisky teen (both 2002), Young Adam cars including best film in 1996, Galore! (1949) and Brigadoon (2003), Ae Fond Kiss (2004), The could perhaps be dismissed as (1954) through countless cos Flying Scotsman and Red Raad just another of those Hollywood tume films and Kailyard movies (both 2006), and Hai/am Foe versions of Scottish history in the from Hollywood all the way to (2007). 2 This "new Scottish cin Tartanry tradition, were it not for Braveheart ( 199 5), the celluloid ema" (cf. Petrie 2000) has tobe its enormous impact on Scot Scot has been represented by seen in the context of changes tish culture and even politics, many stars such as Katharine in the film industry and in fund which has led critics to speak of · Hepburn and Errol Flynn, Laure! ing structures, particularly since the "Braveheart phenomenon" and Hardy, Liam Neeson and the establishment of the Glas (cf. McArthur 2003) . Mel Gibson, but less frequently gow Film Fund and Scottish Even though the historical until recently - by actual Scots, Screen in the mid-l 990s, as well accuracy of the film is at least · or in a complex and challeng as the growing involvement of doubtful and it has been heavily . ing way.1 Perhaps because of TV channels. At the same time, criticised, and notwithstanding that, the desire for a real Scot an increasingly self-confident its having been filmed mainly in tish national cinema is power critical discourse on Scottish lreland, it was a huge success ful, and it seems that parallel to film has been developing (cf. with the Scottish public and the literary and cultural revival McArthur, Dick, Hardy, Petrie, was almost immediately used in Scotland since the 1980s, Pendreigh, Blandford). for Scottish (nationalist) po and particularly since the politi- litical and tourist propaganda. cal changes of the mid- to lote The Braveheart and Trainspot The strongly anti-English mes l 990s (New Labour govern fing Phenomena sage of the film clearly struck a ment, devolution, Scottish Par lt is a curious coincidence chord with a population tired liament), a 'new' Scottish film that in the mid-1990s a duster of a Conservative government movement is finally emerging, of important and high-profile that kept disregarding Scot with Trainspotting ( 1996) mark films either made or set in Scot tish interests and sensibilities, ingthe breakthrough. In a sense, land was released after the and consequently the Scottish the failure of the first devolution nation had been almost invis National Party used the film in referendum in 1979 can be said ible cinematically for a lang their election campaign. lt is to have diverted the energy time. Besides Shallow Grave, also certainly no coincidence of the nation to creative terri Braveheart and Trainspotting, that after the resounding suc tory, starting a film revival that there was also Michael Caton cess of New Labour in the 1997 included Bill Forsyth 's That Sink Jones's Rob Roy (1995) and Lars general election (when the ing Feeling ( 1979), Gregory's von Trier' s Breaking the Waves Tories were completely wiped Girl ( 1981), Local Hero ( 1983) (1996), all made in the span of out in Scotland), the promised
HARD TIMES - Nr. 83 (Frühjahr 2008) 9 Screening Scotland ------. it referendum on devolution was was memorably expressed in er-profile non-Scottish films such ! held precisely on the 700th an the statement by central pro as Mrs Brown, The Governess, 1i niversary of the Battle of Stir tagonist Mark Renton: "I hate Skagerrak and Wilbur Wants to ~ ling Bridge on 11 September being Scottish. We're the low Kill Himseff, but mainly, 1 would ~ 1. 1997. When the new Scottish est of the fucking low, the scum argue, to the dozen or so ' real' ~ Parliament was finally opened of the earth, the most wretch Scottish films mentioned at the ~. on 1 July 1999, television pro ed, servile, miserable, pathetic beginning of this article. In par- ~ grammes used the soundtrack trash that was ever shat into ticular, it is the variety and high lt from the film for their coverage c ivilization." Of course, part of artistic quality of these films that lri of the event. All of this has led the attraction of the film was makes the Scottish film scene !~ one critic (or rather fan) to enti that it was not typical of Scot so vibrant and interesting to- 1« tle a book Broveheart: From Hol land - it was about global youth day - in contrast, some crit- u· lywood to Hofyrood (cf. Ander culture and the club and drug ics have argued, to the more !~ 3 son). In cinematic terms, the scene as much as it was about commercially oriented English/ fJ most important consequence (post)Thatcherite Britain or Ed ~ritish scene (cf. Blandford). lt[ of the film's reception for Scot inburgh, and its style was more 1s perhaps too early to talk of fü land was a government review reminiscent of Tarantino than of a viable and sustainable Scot- !: of the film industry which led to Bill Forsyth. lt was also very clev tish film industry, but a start has ~ the establishment of the fund erly marketed and included a been made with the founda- r1' ing and development body soundtrack of hugely popular tion of institutions and organi- [C Scottish Screen, which can be 'Britpop' bands as well as lggy sations such as Scottish Screen, [r seen as instrumental in the fol Pop. On the other hand, Trains the Glasgow Film Office, the K lowing renaissance of Scottish potting, which was adapted Screen Academy Scotland, K film. from lrvine Welsh's cult novel Filmcity Glasgow and Ecosse t Much more important for the of the same title (1993) , fea Films, as well as the involve-f aesthetics and the themes of tures strong Scottish accents ment of several broadcasters in r the new Scottish film than this and taps Scottish traditions like film production, such as Chan- t import, however, were the first 'booze and violence', Calvinist nel 4 (which co-produced both ) two films by the Scottish-English self-loathing and the hard man Shallow Grave anc:j Trainspot- ·. team of filmmakers Danny Boyle figure. lt was thus the flrst suc ting) and BBC Scotland. In ad- ~ (director), John Hodge (screen cessful example of a Scottish dition, Scottish-born actors •··. play) and Andrew Macdonald film that managed to depict a have made an increasing im- : (producer), who partly profit vital yet largely overlooked side pact on global cinema, follow- : ed from the newly established of Scottish life with honesty and ing in the footsteps of the lone ·.•. funding possibilities: Shal/ow humour, while also appealing Hollywood Scot Sean Connery: 1. Grave and Trainspotting. The to a wide international young next to the high-profile exam-[ first of these was a clever little audience. This, together with its ples Ewan McGregor and Rob- f i·.. thriller set in the more upward stylistic innovations (such as the ert Carlyle, one would have to f ly mobile Edinburgh and pio fast-paced opening sequence mention · Robbie Coltrane, Billy f neered a new speedy and 'hip' or the fantastic dream se Boyd, Ewen Bremner, Dougray l. t style for Scottish films (while at quences), made Trainspotting Scott, Kelly Macdonald and Til- f the same time borrowing from the starting point of the new da Swinton (an adopted Scot), f the Gothic-Calvinist tradition Scottish cinema. 4 who won an Oscar in 2008 fod' of James Hogg or Robert Louis her role in Michael Clayton, os ~;i Stevenson). The second meant The New Scottish Film: Some well as the belated film careerl'.} the international breakthrough General Observations and Two of Billy Connolly. Perhaps even ~: not only for the filmmakers and Case Studies more important than that, sev- ~r. some of the a.ctors, notably Since the breakthrough of eral m. ajor fil~making ta_lents l·'·:·:.•.•·•.•· .1 Ewan McGregor and Robert Trainspotting, Scotland's vis have emerged 1n Scotland 1n re-[f> ; Carlyle, but also for a Scotland ibility on screen has been sig cent years, among them Lynne ~! , on screen that was at a far re nificantly enhanced. This is not Ramsay, Peter_Mullan, Pa~I La- ~! 1 move from both Brigadoon only due to the (re)discovery of verty and David Mackenz1e. ln ~r 1 and Braveheart a Scotland of Scotland as a setting for interna the ~ollov:ing m?re detailed at- ~t\i the drug-consuming underclass tional big-budget productions tent1on will be g1ven to two films~y , of the housing estates whose like the Harry Potter films or The which are representative of the ~"t opinion of their harne country Da Vinci Code and some low- 'new' Scottish cinema. !~?c ·,r·"· ··~\.~}~·:·: 10 HARD TIM ES - Nr. 83 (Frühjahr 2008) :~;+ ~tr Screening Scotland
A i'l l.'~11 !l'< t.WiNI; RllMSA'(,Jil E .ACGIJ\1M!\QJllRECrnn 0 F ßATCATCHER. town. After the sui tle role and by the emphasis on . · · . . . . • -:, . . ','.: „ ·. ··. . . .. '' __ .-, •., __. _. ·_ .. ;..;• . . :,: --.- "<•::::. •·. .·· ·· .. .-- -·,·.:·.:·.: ·-.. , cide of her boyfriend Morvern's 'culture clash' -oras she passes off a nov similation? - with Spanish land el written by him as scapes and customs, which is her own, spending much stronger in the film than first the money he the novel. Also, the continuity left her and then the and 'rebirth' literally suggested
; huge advance she by the novel is rejected for a ~ gets from a publish much more open end in the rf ing hause in Span film. Despite or because of that, i, ish resorts and raves, this film is clearly a major con ~) where much of the tribution to the Scottish canon, ~. 0 action takes place. lt and together with other recent li ~: l is an unusual modern films such as Orphans, Young f ~- Scottish film for not Adam or Half am Foe justifies f f being set in one of the eulogies of a new Scottish [ r• the two big Scottish art cinema. i: !' cities (Glasgow or !i k Edinburgh), and also Ae Fond Kiss (2004)
1\~ in that the Highland This is the third in the Glasgow ~ scenes are very dif trilogy of films by the Scottish ~ ferent from the stere screenwriter Paul Laverty and otyped images of the the eminent English independ Braveheart kind. Serv ent director Ken Laach, which 1 ing as the backdrop also includes My Name is Joe t! l to Morvern 's getting and Sweet Sixteen. Laach had !' rid of her boyfriend's corpse, already collaborated with La ~r Morvern Callar (2002) 1This is the' second feature film they are depicted from skewed verty on Carla's Song (1996), ! of the young Scottish director and self-referential camera an starring Robert Carlyle and gles and perspectives, contain partly set in Glasgow, and was ~ Lynne Ramsay (*1969), who t also wrote the screenplay, in ing images of dissolution and de attracted to Scotland both by cay but also hints of rebirth. The the funding the newly estab '.! collaboration with Liana Dogni nL and it follows her award-win strongly alienating and hermet lished organisations offered and ic cinema language (including by the general background ,; ning debut Ratcatcher (1999), the use of music) makes it dif of the deindustrialised West of ~· a highly acclaimed film about : a bleak childhood in Glasgow ficult for the viewer to grasp the Scotland, which offers ample in the l 970s. Like many other re 'meaning' of individual scenes material for Laach' s politically cent Scottish films, Morvern Cal or sequences (there is also very inspired social realism. lndeed, lar has a literary source, being little talk in the whole film). This the working-class urban setting an adaptation from a novel of chimes well with the novel's has been one of the staples of the same title by Alan Warner non-judgemental interiorised Scottish cinema (sometimes published in 1995. Warner is an narrative. lt is a telling move disparagingly referred to as important figure in the Scottish by the director not to have this 'Clydesidism'), and the spirit of literary revival of the post dec represented by voice-over in the Scottish founding father of ades (togetherwith Welsh, Alas the film. On the individual level the British documentary move dair Gray, James Kelman, A.L. this illustrates Morvern 's juvenile ment, John Grierson, is perhaps Kennedy and others), which is resistance to categorisation still feit to be more olive north part of a more general cultur and 'normalisation', on a more of the border. Significantly, af al renaissance in Scotland, in general level it can be read as ter the characteristically bleak _which different genres, arts and an expression of an ambigu and hard-hitting first two films in media mutually support and in- ous, fluid post-devolution Scot the Glasgow cycle, which were „fluence each other. 5 The film tish identity, as one critic has both concerned with the strug teils the story of the eponymous argued (cf. Caughie). This inter gles of people at the lowest young woman (played by Sa pretation is also strengthened end of the social scale - mostly mantha Morton), who works in by casting an English rather white, working-class males - a supermarket in a Highland than a Scottish actress in the ti- Laach and Laverty move to a
HARD TIM ES - Nr. 83 (Frühjahr 2008) 1 1 Screening Scotland ------c-o_n_f_u-se-d--c-u-lt-u-ra-l~w-h-e-re-it-is_c_e_l_e_b-ra_t_e_d_a_s_a_"-tr-u-ly ti~· ·· identities is there- British movie" and linked to oth- ~; fore central to the er recent hybrid or 'ethnic' films ~\ film, and it seems to such as East is East or Bend it ~····· advocate the ne- Like Beckham .8 This new 'trans- ~ii cessity of constant- national' or 'European' Scottish tJ ly accommodating film is another staple of the re- ~\' and negotiating cent revival, if we think of such ~F these identities, but films like The Magdalene Sisters, ~;Y also of allowing for Skagerrak or Wilbur Wants to Kill ~\ differences, am- Himse/f. ff biguities and con- [! . ,r.. tradictions. While Conclusion [ the film has been There can be no doubt thati! seen as the dosest the post ten to fifteen years w(:~ Laach has come to have seen an unprecedented ~ the romance gen number of high-quality films (L re, the final verdict made in Scotland, many of ~ on whether con which have achieved critical j< temporary society acdaim and some even com-t1._. . is able to incorpo mercial success. In this light, it is [~ · rate these differ justified to speak of a new Scot{ · ences is far from tish film emerging in the l 990s[ settled at the end and maturing in the 2000s. lt is !' - and the title does characterised by a variety and! not seem to hold vitality that defies easy catego-[. . different cultural setting with out much hope for the lovers, risation, dearly leaving behind! this film, in terms of dass, reli even though the possibility of old stereotypes and diches a la f( 1 gion and ethnicity, if not place. their coming together is left Scotch Reels.9 There is a strong \\ r Ae Fond Kiss is concerned with open.7 lts title significantly in independent and ~rtistic spiritj; the love affair of second-gen scribes the film not only in the tobe feit in many of these films, [ E eration Pakistani DJ Casim and discourse of romantic love but and they frequently deal with!.f ~ Catholic lrish music teacher Roi also in the debate about Scot the dilemmas of fluid, develop-L t sin, and with the problems this tishness today. Once more, the ing, damaged or ambiguousw e - unsurprisingly - creates. While national is being challenged by identities, which can be relat-r n the dass issue and the question the focus on local, ethnic and ed to the in-between state of[ B of subsistence are marginal religious identities in the film, the Scottish nation after devo-j: ~ here (both protagonists and and the general precarious lution. Many of these films are ~; their families are compara c ness of identity does not lend stylistically innovative and even ~ c tively well-off}, the problems of itself to nationalist boasting daring, taking their inspiration ~ s1 religious and ethnic identities a la Braveheart. But perhaps this from European art cinema and ~~; R move centre-stage. The film is precisely the strength of the independent American makers have stated that the film -r;;:i ,~ film and part of the 'message': film is a reaction to the impact ':1ake:~ rather than _fr?m Eng-ll6B~ the contradictory and contin hsh/Bnt1sh .. Th1s 1s not toNJ BI of 9/11 on British multicultural model~ gent nature of identities in the say that all trad1t1on has beenit 'Tr communities, and the 'dash of film, their 'constructedness' Bill Douglas, civilisations' is highlighted from discard~d. ~or in-f~ f' may also signify their ultimate the beginning. The opening stance'. 1s frequen!IY ment1oned~.·.1·i···.'•.•....•· ;.·.· ~ 'reality' and significance for as an 1mportant 1nfluence. HelVRE scene contains a speech made contemporary Scottish, British was also concerned with onet~l'· .:-. by Casim 's younger sister in her and European societies exactly of the abiding themes of Scot t1iUbr school (where Roisin teaches), in this hybrid form. This is under tish culture (observable also~\f,FE in which she passionately de lined by the fact that this is a fends her right tobe "a Glaswe in the lite~ary field):. c~ildhoodli;·K:, British-German-ltalian-Spanish and grow1ng up. Th1s 1s dearlylfBPE gion Pakistani wo man teenager co-production, and confirmed among the central concerns ollif§2 who supports Glasgow Rangers by a look at user comments on the new Scottish film (cf. in a Catholic school" .6 The ques Swee ll~'.E:-:: · the Internet Movie Database, Sixteen, Hai/am Foe, Morvernj1&1 ff1c tion of contrasting, mixed and 15? 12 HARD T1MEs - Nr. 83 (Frühjahr 2008)1 W.A Screening Scotland
Callar, Ratcatcher, Orphans, Filmography Trainspotting etc.), and can be linked to the 'identity in flux' The Acid House {UK 1998, dir. Paul McGuigan, sc. lrvine Welsh) theme. There is also, finally, a Ae Fond Kiss (UK 2004, dir. Ken Laach, sc. Paul Laverty) . conspicuously dark streak to Braveheart (US 1995, dir. Mel Gibson, sc. Randall Wallace) the Scottish (cinematic) imagi Breaking the Waves {Den et al. 1996, dir. Lars von Trier, sc. Lars nation, be it in a Gothic vein von Trier, Peter Asmussen) (cf. Jekyll and Hyde etc.), a Car/a;s Song {UK/Sp/Ger 1996, dir. Ken Laach, sc. Paul Laverty) . Calvinism-inspired self-loathing The Ffying Scotsman {Ger/UK 2006, dir. Douglas Mackinnon, sc . · and depression, or outbreaks John Brown, Declan Hughes) . of (usually male, drink-induced) The Governess (UK 1998, dir.+ sc. Sandra Goldbacher) : violence. This has been criti Hai/am Foe (UK 2007, dir.+ sc. David Mackenzie) ; cised as debilitating for Scot The Magdalene Sisters (UK/lre 2002, dir. + sc. Peter Mullan) , tish identity more generally - a Morvern Callar (UK 2002, dir. Lynne Ramsay, sc. Liana Dogini, : view some of these films seem Lynne Ramsay) i to actively invite - but can also Mrs Brown (UK 1997, dir. John Madden, sc. Jeremy Brack) i be interpreted as a productive My Name is Joe {UK 1998, dir.: Ken Laach, sc. Paul Laverty) ! engagement with serious and Orphans (UK 1999, dir.+ sc. Peter Mullan) Ratcatcher (UK/Fr 1999, dir.+ sc. Lynne Ramsay) !t, difficult problems which should ! not be shunned and need Rob Roy (US 1995, dir.: Michael Caton-Jones, sc. Alan Sharp) l to be represented {cf. Petrie Shal/ow Grave (UK 1994, dir. Danny Boyle, sc. John Hodge) ~ 2006). In any case, judging from Skagerrak (Den et al. 2003, dir. S0ren Kragh-Jacobsen, sc. Anders i the many innov~:ltive, surprisi~g , Thomas Jensen, S.K.-J.) .; thought-provok1ng and exh1la- Sweet Sixteen (UK/Ger/Sp 2002, dir. Ken Laach, sc. Paul Laverty) rating works of art that collec Trainspotting (UK 1996, dir. Danny Boyle, sc. John Hodge) tively make up the new Scottish WilburWants to Kill Himself (Den/UK/Swe/Fr2002, dir. Lone Scherfig, film, Scotland can be proud of sc. L.S., Anders Thomas Jensen) its creative potential and does The Winter Guest (UK 1997, dir. Alan Rickman, sc. Sharman not need to fear the future. MacDonald, A.R.) Young Adam (UK/Fr 2003, dir.+ sc. David Mackenzie) Bibliography Anderson, Lin (2005), Braveheart: ---- (2006), "Hard Men and Justi trilogy My Childhood, My Ain Folk From Hollywood to Holyrood. Edin fled Sinners: The Dark Side of Con and My Way Horne from the l 970s burgh: Luath. temporary Scottish Cinema". Edin and Ion Sellar's Venus Peter ( 1989) Blandford, Steve (2007) , Film, Dra burgh Review 116, 71 -82, and Prague (1992). Other interest ma and the Break-Up of Britain. ing films from the l 980s include Bristol and Chicago: lntellect. Notes: Another Time, Another Place and Bruce, David ( 1996), Scotland the l. Obviously, there are excep III Fares the Land (both 1983) and Movie . Edinburgh: Polygon. tions from this general rule, such Rest/ess Natives ( 1985) . In addition Caughie, John (2007), "Morvern as Hitchcock's The Thirty-Nine to that, there were less easily clas Callar, Art Cinema and the 'Mon- Steps ( 1935), Michael Powell 's two sifiable films as The Wicker Man . strous Archive'". Scottish Studies 'Scottish' films The Edge of the ( 1973), The Cheviot, the Stag and · Review 8:1, Spring, 101 -115. World ( 1937) and 1 Know Where the Black Black Oil ( 197 4}, and, of Dick, Eddie, ed. (1990) , From Lime l'm Going (1945}, Tunes of Glory course, the Hollywood blockbuster light to Satellite: A Scottish Film (1960}, Th e Prime of Miss Jean Bro Highlander (1986). Book. Scottish Film Council and die ( 1969) and, notably, the BBC 3. Holyrood is the place in Edin BFI. drama Cu/loden (1964). However, burgh where the new Parliament The Internet Movie Database. none of these was made by a Scot building is situated, which was
HARD T1MEs - Nr. 83 (Frühjahr 2008) 13 ------B-la_c_k_f_s_a_n_d_B_r_iti-sh_J_F-ilm______I .· 11 5. Another indication of this is the Robert Burns, which starts: "Ae in 1982, in which the cliched rep-1· imminent filming of Warner's more fond kiss, and then we sever / Ae resentation of Scotland in (Holly-.· , recent novel The Man Who Wa/ks fareweel, and then for ever!" wood) films was strongly and effec~ oc (2002) , for which lrvine Welsh has 8. lt is also interesting to note that tively criticised, and has become written the screenplay. the film was being advertised in a byword for this type of film. 6. Quoted in Blandford, 77. Glas the German version (with the title gow Rangers is the 'Protestant' Just a Kiss) with the Union Jack on football club of the city, as op the cover as a work by "der große posed to the 'Catholic' team, britische Regisseur Ken Loach" m'· Celtic Glasgow. (DVD cover). 7. The title refers to a famous poem 9. This is the title of a collection of by the Scottish 'national bard' essays edited by Colin McArthur
~~~~~~~~~~~-1t Black(s and) British Film: Some History and the Current State of Affairs 1 ' t1~ Ingrid von Rosenberg 1 In ihrem Beitrag. gehl Ingrid von Rosenberg (~erlin) ~~f die Geschichte de~ brifis.~hen block film seit denl 1960er Jahren ein, der von Anfang an von einer politischen Debatte um die adaquate Form der (Selbst) ~~ Repräsentation und der Sichtbarkeit in den Medien begleitet war. Auch in der Gegenwart, in der sich b/ockf :' film erfolgreich auf den Mainstream zubewegt, sind deutliche Defizite zu konstatieren, was die Darstellung ~~'. schwarzer Themen in den Medien und die Beschäftigungssituation schwarzer Schauspielerlnnen betrifft. . ~~
·~r;- ~„ From its very beginnings in the bers are of the same ethnic deals with .a block student'sw: l 960s block film has been ac- background. shame of h1s poverty. The first~, companied by an intensive de feature-length films, Pressure l~ bate about politics and aes Some History · ( 1975) ?Y the Trinidadian Hora- rl·.,;·: thetics. lt has left its impact on Black people have figured ce Ove (born 1939) and Burn- ' the movies themselves, which in British films throughout the ing an Illusion ( 1981) by Mene-f.f now form a special chapter twentieth century, in the 191 Os lik Shabazz, born in Barbados;{ of British film history. Definitions and 1920s as African natives in in 1954, motivated by a clearf: and objectives have varied travel and adventure films, from opposition to hegemonic Brit- l~- over time. In the 1980s the issue the l 930s to the l 950s as indi- ish culture, continued in thei was to conquer media space viduals living in white communi realist style focusing on the; for distinctly block representa ties in Britain. The perspective political awakening of youngfi tions, and cultural critics like then was always a white one, protagonists from the second! Stuart Hall and Kobena Mercer even if the issue was a critique generation. Ove, who had al-( demanded a clear political of racism. This changed in the ready made some documen-\' : message, taking the blackness l 960s when a realist tradition taries like Reggae ( 1970) and!F.
of the filmmakers and actors for developed to portray block life King Carnival ( 1973) , connectsL1 granted. More recent critics like in Britain from a block point-of contrasting milieus of block) 1 Jim Pines, Sarita Malik, Barbara view. A number of documen- British life through the experi-L-, Karte and Claudia Sternberg taries and some trend-setting ences of a young hero: schooli , take a broader view, respond shorts were produced. Jemima leaver Tony is tarn between his i_ < ing to the fact that block pro and Johnny ( 1964) for instance, mother's wish for integration,f < ductions have moved to the directed by the South African refiected in her choice of furni{ \ mainstream, taking into a c Lionel Ngakane, features the ture, clothes and food, and his'.:· t count the internationalisation hope-inspiring friendship of a brother' s block politics, whichf of the film business. They con little block girl a nd a white boy in the end he follows after bitter; E sider a culturally specific block against the backdrop of racial disappointments in his searchf t . perspec tive in themes, c har tension, while Ten Bob in Winter for work and shocking encoun-c ( acters and storyline sufficient (1963), made by the Jamai ters with the police. Burning an[, c characteristics, not minding if c an Lloyd Reckord and the first Illusion foregrounds a young!i ; not all production team mem- film with an entirely block cast, woman's perspective followingi f i. 14 HARD TIMES - Nr. 83 (Frühjahr 2008)fü H I; ~