Some key themes/concepts Intertextuality – when a text references other texts: –e.g. Hot Fuzz references action films (Bad Boys II, Point Break and Die Hard) as well as 1970’s psychological/gothic thrillers set in English villages into which an outsider enters and has some kind of conflict (The Wicker Man and Straw Dogs) “Heritage” Britain – the concept of an idealised representation of Britain, that is often mono-cultural (predominantly White British). Hybrid genre – when a text combines more than one genre; there will often be some kind of tension between these genres: –Iconography – visual symbols that help spectator identify the genre of a film (e.g. of “heritage” Britain: village, church, pub etc) Postmodernism – a critical theory that questions narratives or conventions of the past. A post modern text might be intertextual, place style over substance (draw attention to itself as a piece of art rather than a text that attempts to reflect reality).

Definitions of types of humour Satire – “The use of ridicule, irony, sarcasm etc to expose folly or vice or to lampoon (satirically attack) an individual” –Irony is “the hiding of meaning, so words for example have a different meaning from the literal meaning” (e.g. the irony of her reply “how nice” when I had told her I had to work all weekend) Farce/absurd/surreal – “Comedy based on ludicrously improbable events” Dry/deadpan – “Comedy delivered with a face or manner totally lacking expression or emotion” - often referred to as a characteristic of British humour. Macabre (or black humour) – “Grim or gruesome – sometimes concerned with death” Parody – “Exaggerated humorous imitation of another piece of work” Smut/Bawdiness – “Obscene talk, pictures or stories, often to do with sex, sometimes containing innuendo (remark with double meaning)” Wit – “Unexpected and quick combining of humorous ideas” Self-deprecatory humour – “Humorous act of belittling or undervaluing oneself” – often referred to as a characteristic of British humour.

Basic Narrative Theory Todorov’s Theory – narratives begin in equilibrium which is then affected by an event leading to disequilibrium. Problems are then solved so that equilibrium is once again achieved. Propp’s Theory – analysed 100s of folk tales and identified 8 character roles and 31 narrative roles: –villain –hero –donor – provides some magical property –helper – aids the hero –princess – reward to the hero and object of villain’s schemes –father – rewards hero –dispatcher – sends hero on his way –false hero (or anti-hero) Strauss’ Theory – looked at narratives in terms of binary oppositions – he was interested in things existing in opposition to each other such as good and evil.

Hot Fuzz Written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and directed by Edgar Wright. British Action Comedy released in Stars Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, who featured in the TV comedy Spaced, and the films Shaun of the Dead and, more recently, Paul. It was a box office success, grossing over $80m. Set mostly in the fictional Somerset town of Sandford. References The Wicker Man and Straw Dogs

Guardian review (16 Feb 2007) Danny and Nicholas, as their friendship deepens, share a woman-free relationship that is tragically homoerotic in the tradition of movies that Danny loves, such as Point Break and Bad Boys II (exquisitely, it is the distinctively crasser sequel that Danny specifies). He has a vast DVD library of these films, and passionately yearns for the muscular simplicity of American cops with their lock'n'load approach to taking down the bad guys. The irony is that he is the unwitting prisoner of quite another kind of crime genre: without knowing it, poor Danny is living inside an English Gothic celluloid nightmare like Straw Dogs or The Wicker Man. Edward Woodward, the baffled policeman in this latter film, plays the neighbourhood-watch enforcer here. Where the American movies show a heavily tooled-up and male combination of might and right triumphing over evil, these British films satirically and pessimistically show evil eroding the valiant forces of good. There is no "community" in pictures such as Lethal Weapon or Die Hard, however malign - other than the community of cops in the station house. But the community is what encircles and embattles the police in the creepy English template. So Danny and Nicholas finally bring the wholesomely unreflective American armed response to the English village green to blast away its petty xenophobic conspiracies. There are plenty of film references; perhaps most arcane is Inspector Butterman superciliously calling the underage drinkers the "younglings" - surely in homage to George Lucas's Revenge of the Sith. There are funny moments all the way through, particularly among the abysmal Sandford coppers, such as Bill Bailey's morose custody sergeant who does nothing but read Iain Banks novels. Hot Fuzz is overlong and ends about three times (a reference to Return of the King?), and despite the film-buffery it owes a lot to Brit TV shows ranging from The Vicar of Dibley to Life on Mars. There were, moreover, moments when I suspected Pegg and Frost were fancying themselves as action stars for real. But the gags keep coming and the pair really do have a great comedy double act: Pegg's face is intensely, frantically, pre-emptively aware of the embarrassments and ironies of every situation. Frost is naively placid, genial and open, prone to self-humiliation every time he opens his mouth. Together, they snap the cuffs on another success.

Four Weddings and a Funeral Written by Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary) and directed by Mike Newell. British Romantic Comedy released in It was an unexpected success, becoming the highest grossing British film ever at the time, making over €200m. It was especially successful in the US. Set mostly in Somerset and London, it tells the story of the weddings and funerals of a group of upper middle class friends. The central romantic relationship is between Englishman Charles (Hugh Grant) and American Carrie (Andie MacDowell).

Four Lions Directed by Chris Morris, infamous for biting satires and spoofs The Day Today and Brass Eye. Features Riz Ahmed as one of a group of inept suicide bombers from Sheffield. A farcical comedy film released in 2010 that, interestingly, has also been critically acclaimed for raising many serious issues in relation to British Muslims (although some reviewers did not like it) It clearly provokes comparison with the 7/7 London bombings – can you remember what happened to Charles de Menezes? Relatively low grossing niche film (approximately $2m) compared to Hot Fuzz and Four Weddings.

Four Lions Four Weddings Hot Fuzz Satire Postmodern? Macabre/black humour Hybrid genres but defined by humour The “clown” character(s) Deadpan humour Farcical humour Heritage UK – set in South Financially successful films Political satire (questions western establishment?) “Mockumentary”? Parallels to reality Niche film Mostly set in North Majority ethnic characters Parody of action, gothic, surreal, murder mystery Genres Heavily inter-textual Sense of community Melodrama – tension between genres? Romance “Happy” ending (Todorov) Dual target audience – UK and US? Upper-middle class Characters Idealised narrative?