BFI's New Horizons Brings Same Old Problems
The commercial emphasis on the British Film Industry creates a worrying sense of déjà vu for anyone who lived through the British revival of the early-1980s.
In the last few weeks two big news stories emerged about the future plans for the British film industry. The first was a report by former Labour culture secretary Lord Smith, which recommended that British filmmaking should be more commercially-minded and become seen as a key export of the UK economy. The second was the announcement of New Horizons, a five-year-plan announced by the British Film Institute which will see £285m of National Lottery money injected into British film. Both the Smith Report and New Horizons have a certain amount of common sense in their contents and are written with the very best intentions. What is less certain is whether implementing them will have any positive effect on the British film industry, whether on home audiences or abroad. What is more worrying, the commercial emphasis of both projects creates a worrying sense of déjà vu for anyone who lived through the British revival of the early-1980s.
Lindsay Anderson Turns in his Grave
In the official version of events, the early-1980s was a time of great revival in the British film industry. A succession of British films were garlanded with Oscars, and the subsequent commercial success of Chariots of Fire, Gandhi and The Killing Fields was not to be sniffed at. Colin Wellands proclamation that the British are coming! at the 1981 Oscars signified an industry in transition, moving from the sleaze and malaise of the late-1970s into something more refined and respectable. Lindsay Anderson did not agree. The much-lamented and cantankerous director of If., perhaps the greatest British film of the 1960s, was disappointed at how Britains leading lights had defined success in terms of appealing to American audiences. By striving so hard for all those statuettes, he worried that British cinema would lose its unique identity, something which had mitigated the obstacle of a shared language and given him and his cohorts a fighting chance. As he remarked on TV back in 1986, the British came but their first-class air fares were paid for in dollars. Anderson was also dismayed at the increasing emphasis on commercial success as the be-all and end-all. Discussing British Film Year, a campaign spearheaded by Richard (now Lord) Attenborough, he said that it was hardly inspiring that the campaigns main target was to increase admission figures by 4%. While Andersons comments could be taken as sour grapes, coming from a man whose films never made much money, they touch on the three big issues which New Horizons is attempting to address: the unique identity of British films, the problems of distribution, and the perception of audience needs. All signs so far point to New Horizons making the same errors as its predecessors, having too narrow and vague a focus and therefore not addressing the real problems.