Mark Kermode's Secrets Of Cinema: British Comedy (s3: e1/3)
Titles mentioned in this episode of the programme.
(titles repeated when referred to more than once.)
See also: Mark Kermode's "BBC News Review 2020: The Year In Film".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kermode's_Secrets_of_Cinema
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/80789
https://mubi.com/films/mark-kermode-s-secrets-of-cinema https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bbn5pt
series 3:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r6gr
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/80789-mark-kermode-s-secrets-of-cinema/season/3
episode:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r6gq
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/80789-mark-kermode-s-secrets-of-cinema/season/3/episode/1
(titles repeated when referred to more than once.)
See also: Mark Kermode's "BBC News Review 2020: The Year In Film".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kermode's_Secrets_of_Cinema
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/80789
https://mubi.com/films/mark-kermode-s-secrets-of-cinema https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bbn5pt
series 3:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r6gr
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/80789-mark-kermode-s-secrets-of-cinema/season/3
episode:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r6gq
https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/80789-mark-kermode-s-secrets-of-cinema/season/3/episode/1
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- CreatorMark KermodeStarsMark KermodeBritish film critic Mark Kermode presents his guide to cinema.SERIES title page.
- DirectorNick Freand JonesStarsMark KermodeIn a revealing look at one of the defining genres of British cinema, Mark argues that comedy films win laughs by tapping into our abiding national preoccupations.EPISODE title page.
Episode 1 of 3. - DirectorArmando IannucciStarsDev PatelHugh LaurieTilda SwintonA modern take on Charles Dickens's classic tale of a young orphan who is able to triumph over many obstacles.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinBilly ArmstrongLloyd BaconThe Little Fellow finds the girl of his dreams and work on a family farm.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsFrankie HowerdSidney JamesCharles HawtreyDr Kilmore is sacked after being discovered in a compromising position on the roof of the nurses' home. The patients are determined not to lose him, and so take on the might of the "cutting" Dr Tinkle and the overpowering Matron.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsVincent PriceDiana RiggIan HendryA Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsIan CarmichaelTerry-ThomasPeter SellersA naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labor union.
- DirectorPaul KingStarsBen WhishawHugh GrantHugh BonnevillePaddington, now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.
- 19641h 35mPG8.3 (519K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessPeter SellersCecil ParkerFive oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
- DirectorJulian JarroldStarsChiwetel EjioforJoel EdgertonSarah-Jane PottsA drag queen comes to the rescue of a man who, after inheriting his father's shoe factory, needs to diversify his product if he wants to keep the business afloat.
- DirectorRobert DayStarsTony HancockGeorge SandersPaul MassieTony Hancock gives up his day job to become an artist. He's a lot of enthusiasm, but little talent, and critics dislike his work. Nevertheless, he impresses a talented artist.
- DirectorStanley DonenStarsPeter CookDudley MooreEleanor BronA hapless loser sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for seven wishes, but has trouble winning over the girl of his dreams.
- DirectorTerry GilliamTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseEric IdleKing Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostMartin FreemanAn overachieving London police sergeant is transferred to a village where the easygoing officers object to his fervor for regulations, all while a string of grisly murders strikes the town.
- DirectorPaul KingStarsBen WhishawHugh GrantHugh BonnevillePaddington, now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.
- DirectorMandie FletcherStarsJennifer SaundersJoanna LumleyJane HorrocksAfter attracting both media and police attention for accidentally knocking Kate Moss into the River Thames, Edina and Patsy hide out in the south of France.
- DirectorPhyllida LloydStarsMeryl StreepPierce BrosnanAmanda SeyfriedThe story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinBilly ArmstrongLloyd BaconThe Little Fellow finds the girl of his dreams and work on a family farm.1. The Little Man.
- DirectorMonty BanksStarsGeorge FormbyFlorence DesmondHoward DouglasGeorge Shuttleworth is convinced that he has the talent to win the Isle of Man TT races, despite what his neighbours back home in Wigan may think. During the trials, the brakes go on George's bike, 'The Shuttleworth Snap', which he made himself. As a result, he breaks the TT lap record, becoming an instant motor-cycling star. As the big race approaches, George soon realises that other jealous riders will stop at nothing to make sure he does not take part in the race. An early George Formby film and probably his best.
- DirectorJohn Paddy CarstairsStarsNorman WisdomJoan RiceShirley AbicairNorman is the oldest orphan at Greenwood Children's Home and now acts as their caretaker. All the orphans are very happy and well cared for. The adventures start when a nasty property developer (boo hiss!) who is also the chairman of the orphanage board wants to close the orphanage and build a factory on the site. The children are sent to Brighton for the day and Norman is very excited because he's "never seen the sea". When they get back, they discover the plan to close the orphanage and must decide what to do.Wisdom channels Chaplin's "City Lights" (1931) boxing scene.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
- DirectorRichard LesterStarsRita TushinghamRay BrooksMichael CrawfordA young school teacher tries to master the art of flirtation using his neighbor's skills....little women, too.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsSally HawkinsAlexis ZegermanSamuel RoukinA look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.
- DirectorPaul KingStarsHugh BonnevilleSally HawkinsJulie WaltersA young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven....or bears.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseMichael PalinBorn on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah....or a messiah.
- DirectorNorman CohenStarsArthur LoweJohn Le MesurierClive DunnThe misadventures of a ragtag group of elderly Home Guard local defense volunteers at the onset of WW2.Little man who thinks he's a big man: pomposity.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsWill HayMoore MarriottGraham MoffattWith the help of a relative, a hopeless railway employee is made stationmaster of Buggleskelly. Determined to make his mark, he devises a number of schemes to put Buggleskelly on the railway map, but instead falls foul of a gang of gun runners.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBasil RadfordJoan GreenwoodCatherine LaceyScottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
- DirectorBruce RobinsonStarsRichard E. GrantPaul McGannRichard GriffithsIn 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.Pompous little man... as actor.
- DirectorDeclan LowneyStarsSteve CooganColm MeaneyTim KeyWhen famous DJ Alan Partridge's radio station is taken over by a new media conglomerate, it sets in motion a chain of events which see Alan having to work with the police to defuse a potentially violent siege.Pompous little man... as broadcaster.
- DirectorRobert DayStarsTony HancockGeorge SandersPaul MassieTony Hancock gives up his day job to become an artist. He's a lot of enthusiasm, but little talent, and critics dislike his work. Nevertheless, he impresses a talented artist.Pompous little man... as artist.
- DirectorGurinder ChadhaStarsBilly BarrattRonak Singh Chadha BergesViveik KalraIn England in 1987, a teenager from an Asian family learns to live his life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of American rock star Bruce Springsteen.2. Class And Manners.
+race and religion. - DirectorBruce RobinsonStarsRichard E. GrantPaul McGannRichard GriffithsIn 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.Conflicts between or within classes.
- DirectorMonty BanksStarsGeorge FormbyFlorence DesmondHoward DouglasGeorge Shuttleworth is convinced that he has the talent to win the Isle of Man TT races, despite what his neighbours back home in Wigan may think. During the trials, the brakes go on George's bike, 'The Shuttleworth Snap', which he made himself. As a result, he breaks the TT lap record, becoming an instant motor-cycling star. As the big race approaches, George soon realises that other jealous riders will stop at nothing to make sure he does not take part in the race. An early George Formby film and probably his best.Easier to root for a working class underdog.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsIan CarmichaelTerry-ThomasPeter SellersA naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labor union.Post-war comedies suggest shifting social certainties.
- DirectorNigel ColeStarsSally HawkinsBob HoskinsAndrea RiseboroughA dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.Later films more positive towards workers, than older films siding still with bosses.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsRobert CarlyleEmer McCourtJim R. ColemanThe story of construction-worker Stevie and his unemployed pop-singer girlfriend shows the living conditions of the British poor class.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonJohn CleeseStarsJohn CleeseJamie Lee CurtisKevin KlineIn London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.Being caught with your pants down crosses class barriers.
- DirectorPeter CattaneoStarsRobert CarlyleTom WilkinsonMark AddySix unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.
- DirectorNigel ColeStarsHelen MirrenJulie WaltersPenelope WiltonA Women's Institute chapter's fundraising effort for a local hospital by posing nude for a calendar becomes a media sensation.
- DirectorMonty BanksStarsGeorge FormbyFlorence DesmondGus McNaughtonA fortune in gems is hidden in one of six chairs, and it's up to the prospective heir to find it.3. The British Sex Comedy.
...neither sexy nor funny: innuendo. - DirectorRichard LesterStarsRita TushinghamRay BrooksMichael CrawfordA young school teacher tries to master the art of flirtation using his neighbor's skills.Only appearing from 1960's, when social attitudes relaxed.
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsFrankie HowerdSidney JamesCharles HawtreyDr Kilmore is sacked after being discovered in a compromising position on the roof of the nurses' home. The patients are determined not to lose him, and so take on the might of the "cutting" Dr Tinkle and the overpowering Matron.Start of 'Carry On' films moving into their more familiar risqué territory.
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsSidney JamesKenneth WilliamsCharles HawtreyThis is the tale of industrial strife at WC Boggs' Lavatory factory. Vic Spanner is the union representative who calls a strike at the drop of a hat; eventually everyone has to get fed up with him. This is also the ideal opportunity for lots of lavatorial jokes...Later parodied 'sex education' films, that came partially into vogue in the late 1960s-early 1970s.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsRobin AskwithAnthony BoothSheila WhiteAn optimistic and inept window cleaner fully 'satisfies' his customers, bed hopping from one unsatisfied housewife to another, until he meets a successful female police officer, who will have none of his sexual advances.Sub-genre, mixing broad comedy with software nudity. To great profits.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsMichael ArmstrongTerence EdmondChristopher TimothyThree young men, a scriptwriter, a producer and a director are called in by Benny U Murdoch, an exotic movie producer. He wants to make a new erotic movie starring a big woman - the "Eskimo Nell" of the title. However problems start from the beginning, the scriptwriter is a virgin, a lover of penguins and hasn't a clue on how to write an erotic movie, each of the three main backers want a different type of movie - a western, an erotic and a kung-fu movie with different people in the main part. However problems really start for the three when Benny runs off with all the money and they have to make three different versions of the same film and try not to let the backers and stars know what has happened. And this is made harder when there is a clean-up-filth society breathing down their necks....
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsSiobhan FinneranMichelle HolmesGeorge CostiganRealistic story of working-class Yorkshire life, alternately serious and light-hearted, as two schoolgirls have a sexual fling with a married man.Rare mix of sex, humour, with tough social realism.
- DirectorSharon MaguireStarsRenée ZellwegerColin FirthHugh GrantBridget Jones is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.Romcoms later staple of the British film industry, a la writer/producer/director Richard Curtis.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsAlec GuinnessStanley HollowaySidney JamesA meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.4. Criminal Comedy.
Full of ironies and reversals.
Eiffel Tower scenes anticipate Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958), with it's giddiness, yet much more playful tone. - DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessPeter SellersCecil ParkerFive oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.Ealing Comedies; protagonists taking on the system resonate with audiences stuck in a time of post-war austerity & rationing.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTom HanksMarlon WayansIrma P. HallAn eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a classical ensemble in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting but sharp old landlady.The 1955 original echoes later work by directors, the Cohen Brothers. Who in turn attempted their own ill-judged remake.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.Actor Alec Guinness plays all family members, in one of the best turns in British cinema.
A 'serial killer' comedy, like Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947), two years earlier.
Actor Dennis Price later switched from killer to victim in horror "Theatre Of Blood" (1973). - DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMady CorrellAllison RoddanA suave but cynical man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money, but the job has some occupational hazards.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsVincent PriceDiana RiggIan HendryA Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsPeter O'TooleAlastair SimArthur LoweA member of the House of Lords dies, leaving his estate to his son. Unfortunately, his son thinks he is Jesus Christ. Their other, somewhat more respectable family members plot to steal the estate from him; murder and mayhem ensue.
- DirectorBenjamin RossStarsHugh O'ConorAntony SherTobias ArnoldThis film is based on a true story about a British teenager who allegedly poisoned family, friends, and co-workers. Graham is highly intelligent, but completely amoral. He becomes interested in science, especially chemistry, and begins to read avidly. Something of a social misfit, he is fascinated by morbid subjects such as poisons and murder. His family environment is intolerable to him and, in particular, his stepmother torments him. He decides to poison those who annoy him, first with antimony and later with thallium. He smugly thinks himself cleverer than all those around him, but nevertheless he is caught and sentenced to 'rehabilitation' at a psychiatric institution. Once there, he undertakes to deceive the new eminent psychiatrist sent there to 'cure' him, thereby securing his release.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsAlice LoweKenneth HadleySteve OramChris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.Breezy British countryside allure, compares with Leigh's "Nuts In May" (1976); both using deadpan humour, misfit characters, class consciousness, unleashing repressed violence.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsRoger SlomanAlison SteadmanAnthony O'DonnellA middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them.
- DirectorChristopher MorrisStarsWill AdamsdaleRiz AhmedAdeel AkhtarFour incompetent British terrorists set out to train for and commit an act of terror.Most incendiary humour/murder comedy.
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsKenneth WilliamsSidney JamesKenneth ConnorTwo Britons, Hengist and Horsa, are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. One of their first encounters in Rome leaves Hengist being mistaken for a fighter, and gets drafted into the Royal Guard to protect Caesar.5. The Joke's On Hollywood.
Pastiche of the Hollywood epic.
COC took specific shots at the excesses of the widely reported "Cleopatra" (1963) shoot – using the spoils left behind, when the latter moved its filming to Italy, after dumping the UK. - DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczRouben MamoulianStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonRex HarrisonQueen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseMichael PalinBorn on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.Scenes parody Hollywood epic's "Spartacus" (1960) and recently released, "Star Wars" (1977); with the film-within-a-film scenes parodying the latter's, being a taster for later Terry Gilliam directorial work in "Brazil" (1985) and beyond.
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsMark HamillHarrison FordCarrie FisherLuke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.Protagonist's fantasy life more in common with Norman Wisdom in "One Good Turn" (1955).
Echoes director Stanley Kubrick's long tracking shots and symmetrical widescreen compositions. - DirectorJohn Paddy CarstairsStarsNorman WisdomJoan RiceShirley AbicairNorman is the oldest orphan at Greenwood Children's Home and now acts as their caretaker. All the orphans are very happy and well cared for. The adventures start when a nasty property developer (boo hiss!) who is also the chairman of the orphanage board wants to close the orphanage and build a factory on the site. The children are sent to Brighton for the day and Norman is very excited because he's "never seen the sea". When they get back, they discover the plan to close the orphanage and must decide what to do.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
- DirectorNick ParkStarsPeter SallisPeter HawkinsGromit butts heads with a mysterious penguin lodger, who hatches a sinister scheme involving the ex-NASA Techno Trousers that have been modified by Wallace for walkies.Director Nick Park led comedy through animation.
TWT continued the Hollywood pastiches, with scenes from films like "Aliens" (1986)... - DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
- DirectorNick ParkStarsPeter SallisAnne ReidJustin FletcherWallace's whirlwind romance with the owner of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin; Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot....while in ACS, we have "The Terminator" (1984) being jokingly echoed.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonMichael BiehnA human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostMartin FreemanAn overachieving London police sergeant is transferred to a village where the easygoing officers object to his fervor for regulations, all while a string of grisly murders strikes the town.Edgar Wright's second film in his unofficial 'Cornetto Trilogy', like the others, they all feature a plethora of classic and not so classic Hollywood cinematic references.
Actor Simon Pegg's protagonist in each film follows the 'little man' notion. - DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostMartin FreemanFive friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.
- DirectorPaul KingStarsBen WhishawHugh GrantHugh BonnevillePaddington, now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.6. Little Britain?
Idealised cheerful communities. As seen in many a British film before it, see Ealing Comedies... - DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsStanley HollowayGeorge RelphNaunton WayneVolunteers take over their local passenger train service (against bus company resistance) when the government announces its closure.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBasil RadfordJoan GreenwoodCatherine LaceyScottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
- DirectorBill ForsythStarsBurt LancasterPeter RiegertFulton MackayAn American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.Director Bill Forsyth's comedy drama echoes the Scottish community from "Whisky Galore" (1949); banding together for a common good.
- DirectorHenry CorneliusStarsStanley HollowayBetty WarrenBarbara MurrayResidents of a part of London declare independence after they discover an old treaty, which leads to the need for a "Passport to Pimlico".PTP played on our fears of who we actually are. While comedic in tone, it highlighted some distinctly unfunny prejudices.
- DirectorGurinder ChadhaStarsKim VithanaJimmi HarkishinSarita KhajuriaA group of women of Indian descent take a trip together from their home in Birmingham, England to the beach resort of Blackpool. The events of the day lead them to better mutual understanding and solidarity.Films featuring British South Asian themes, like director Gurinder Chadha's BOTB, serve as an antidote to past prejudices.
- DirectorDamien O'DonnellStarsOm PuriLinda BassettJordan RoutledgeIn early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children.Mixture of subjects envelope the comedy, including arranged marriage and domestic abuse.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsHimesh PatelLily JamesSophia Di MartinoA struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate reality where they never existed.The British Asian family are more incidental than fundamental to the story.
- DirectorArmando IannucciStarsDev PatelHugh LaurieTilda SwintonA modern take on Charles Dickens's classic tale of a young orphan who is able to triumph over many obstacles.Actor Dev Patel's character, conveys some of the divine pathos of Charlie Chaplin – the first great British comedy star.
Diverse casting captures Dickens' kaleidoscopic energetic writing.