A fresh, concise, but wide-ranging introduction and overview to British and Irish cinema, this volume contains 24 essays, each on a separate seminal film from the region. Films ranging from 1928 to 2002 are featured from directors such as John Boorman, Nicolas Roeg, Sally Potter and Jack Clayton. As well as discussions of genre and influences, The Cinema of Britain and Ireland includes in-depth studies of films such as Room at the Top (1958), The Italian Job (1969), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), Orlando (1992),...

This book examines twenty major British films from a 70-year time span, offering a lively account of what has made them valuable and provocative over many viewings. It aims both to communicate a critical enthusiasm and to stimulate readers, large numbers of whom will know and value these films, many of them classics of their kind. The author's personal engagement with such titles as The Lady Vanishes, Brief Encounter and Four Weddings and a Funeral will be likely to call up the readers' own responses.

Each film focuses on a particular strength significant in the history of British cinema....