Realist Nights and Heritage Mornings

Cinema was perhaps the most significant art form to emerge during the 20th Century and whilst initially seen as pure entertainment, it developed and spoke to a post-imperial and increasingly post-industrial Britain now unsure of itself, its identity and its place in the world. Originating from the author's PHD thesis, this book compares and contrasts two distinct schools of British Cinema: Social Realism from 1956 to 1963 and the Heritage films of the 1980s. As each genre is explored, the book makes the proposition that British national identity was largely a historic construct, created and promoted to further imperial ambition.