You're about to watch a British filmJanuary 05, 2016
If you follow the British Academy Film Awards, then you should know the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film. It was named in honour of Alexander Korda, who happened to be a director and producer during Hollywood's transition from silent to talkies. A film of his would be known by the title. The Private Life of Helen of Troy. The Private Life of Don Juan. Her Private Life.
"The Private Life of Henry VIII" made history at the 6th Academy Awards, as it became the first British film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Charles Laughton, who played the titular character, was the first non-Hollywood actor to be honoured with the Best Actor Oscar. The Hungarian-born Korda was one of the pillars of the British film industry, being the founder of London Films. The said company produced "The Third Man", which was voted the best British film of the 20th century. (The British Film Institute conducted a poll in 1999, where the organisation surveyed 1,000 people from the British film and television industries.) It was only fitting that this category would bear his name.
The British film industry enjoyed international success from the 1940s to the 1960s, and the recipients of the BAFTA for Best British film included "The Fallen Idol" (by Carol Reed), "The Lavender Hill Mob" (by Charles Crichton), and "Reach for the Sky" (by Lewis Gilbert). "Lawrence of Arabia", "Tom Jones", and "A Man for All Seasons" went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. You wondered why this category was discontinued in 1968. Maybe the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) sensed the next wave of (British) films losing a bit of its luster. It was revived in 1992, with Neil Jordan scooping the BAFTA for "The Crying Game".
The British film industry was about to make a return to the top. It would be too early to speculate on which ones could end up as classics, but let's have a look at some of the recent winners of the BAFTA Award for Best British Film. It's time to focus on the big screen:
Secrets and Lies (1996). Mike Leigh hates Hollywood, and he didn't try to hide it. Perhaps a big-studio producer wouldn't understand his approach to his scripts, where he poked fun at his characters. "Secrets and Lies", which debut at the Cannes Film Festival, was his most commercial picture. It was about an optometrist looking for her biological parents. She was black, while her (biological) mother was white. It was a tense, if not complicated, relationship. It was insightful and hilarious, though. Leigh could be the only one to do it.
East is East (1999). Ayub Khan-Din knew what was it like to embrace two different cultures. He was a British national of Pakistani immigrants, and the clash between Western ideas and Eastern values could cause discord. Damien O'Donnell rather looked at the bright side, which would amuse moviegoers. Popcorn may be allowed.
Billy Elliot (2000). A young boxer who trained to become a ballet dancer would be unheard of, but Stephen Daldry saw a goldmine. Everyone would love to see an underdog turned into a winner, even in the most unlikely circumstances. And it wasn't hard not to cheer for Jamie Bell. The actor, who played the titular character, was full of charisma.
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