On the British Film Institute Web site (a selection of the favourite British films of the 20th century), LHM comes in at No. 17. While I enjoyed the movie and I am dubious of all ranking systems, I found it puzzling that this film would crack the Top 20. I need to read more about it to get more context, to see what is so special about it, but in the meantime, do you have any thoughts on that ranking? Do you have a favorite British film?
10 comments:
Are you counting “Brazil” as British? I’m sure you count Mike Leigh, so how about “Secrets and Lies”?
Yes it is interesting that LHM comes in so high. But it does seem to be a perfect example of a certain sort of British comedy.
I haven't seen many British films. Three which I think are better than Lavender Hill Mob are Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and Dr. Strangelove.
I do think this one was better than any of the Monty Python movies, which I really like.
The ranking is odd to me, too. I must be missing something, because it just didn't seem all that special to me. My favorite Brit flick might be "Miss Jean Brodie."
Most people seem more impressed with “Lawrence of Arabia” than I ever have been. I certainly wouldn’t put it anywhere near third on the list. But if you strike it, then the new top five on the BFI list are all worthy choices: good films and “classic”. There are some other odd selections in the top twenty as well. Our film might not be the oddest.
I've never seen "Lawrence of Arabia," but I've always thought it's one of those movies where people let their affection for the subject matter (Brit going native) hold sway. Isn't it super long?
Our caper was just over an hour, and it probably could have been even shorter!
I love all the other films you guys mentioned, especially Brodie and Brazil.
“Lawrence of Arabia” is indeed long. I think you are right, kc, in that much of the appeal comes from the British romantic orientalism. Do you suppose people would think less highly of the film if they thought about how many of the descendants of Lawrence’s glorious tribes are now making IEDs and suicide bombs in Iraq?
Our caper was rather crisp. And one of the elements in the story that it was nineteen years in the making! By not dwelling on all his years of waiting, they kept that a light joke that fit well with his one year of living it up.
The movie came out in 1951. Was it supposed to be contemporary or was it supposed to happen earlier? British films always have an old-timey feel to me because of the make of the cars and the old buildings and the guys in bowlers. I'm guessing it was supposed to be contemporary. It' weird to think that "The Last Picture Show" was supposed to take place in 1951; it has such a totally different feel, the feel of a whole other era.
Good observation, DW, regarding what becomes of Near East romanticism in light of recent developments. I mean, the romance of colonialism had rightly receded and been revised anyway, but now it's just been exploded, hasn't it? (Did you see "Babel"? I'm not a fan, but it has some relevance here).
Oh yes, I have a special species of annoyance that only comes out when watching sucky, cheaply exploitative movies about things that really deserve a decent treatment that digs a little deeper than your average Hollywood cocktail party ever does.
More movies coming out of North Africa, the Near East, and Iran are available than ever before. Maybe I could start another of my “projects”.
I know what you mean about the feel of many of these British films. Watch “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. It is a good film, but it is hard to believe that it was made in 1962.
The mid-60s really did hit the British like a bomb.
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