American Films are Foreign

Will2911Will2911 Posts: 464
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Is it just me, or does it annoy other people too when British people say they don't like Foreign film and then start listing American Pictures as their favourites... I'm like hang on, you said you didn't like Foreign film yet you love all these American films...
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  • Thunder LipsThunder Lips Posts: 1,660
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    No it doesn't annoy me because I know what they mean and see no reason to be a pedant about it.
  • Will2911Will2911 Posts: 464
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    No it doesn't annoy me because I know what they mean and see no reason to be a pedant about it.

    It should annoy you as it is another sign of creeping American Cultural Imperialism
  • Chasing ShadowsChasing Shadows Posts: 3,096
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    It should annoy you as it is another sign of creeping American Cultural Imperialism

    Until Americans start speaking a language other than English I think we'll be fine considering Hollywood movies as not being "foreign" films - if that's okay with you?
  • Will2911Will2911 Posts: 464
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    Until Americans start speaking a language other than English I think we'll be fine considering Hollywood movies as not being "foreign" films - if that's okay with you?

    Nope not okay, there are big cultural differences. And I feel that American films need to be treated the same as Non English language cinema and given smaller and limited releases
  • Chasing ShadowsChasing Shadows Posts: 3,096
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    Nope not okay, there are big cultural differences. And I feel that American films need to be treated the same as Non English language cinema and given smaller and limited releases

    Do you? Ah well, never mind, eh? You continue feeling like that - and the rest of us will carry on with how we feel. Then everyone's happy. ;-)
  • Fairyprincess0Fairyprincess0 Posts: 30,038
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    Yeah. But tend to idolise u.s. Films at the expense of the British film industry. Britian had a brilliant film industry until the early 80's. Things are better then they were. But the British people could still appricitate there own movie culture more.....

    10 British films every Brit should watch.....

    1. Matter of life and death
    2. Brighton rock
    3. Black narcissist
    4. Telstar
    5. Damned united
    6. Harry brown
    7. If
    8. Monty python's life of Brian
    9. The rebel
    10. Ice cold in Alex

    10 cult films British films every Brit should watch

    1. The devils
    2. Rocky horror picture show
    3. Seance on a wet afternoon
    4. Photographing faries
    5. Serbian sound studio
    6. Tommy
    7. Peeping Tom
    8. Bloody kids
    9. Women in love
    10. Leauge of gentlemen (1950's)
  • Mark AMark A Posts: 7,687
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    And there's also the tricky problem of what exactly is a British film? How many are wholly financed and shot in the UK and staring and made by nothing but British talent? Not too many I would think.

    Regards

    Mark
  • TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    Is it just me, or does it annoy other people too when British people say they don't like Foreign film and then start listing American Pictures as their favourites... I'm like hang on, you said you didn't like Foreign film yet you love all these American films...

    Technically, the classification is based on language, not country.

    From English-language speakers' point of view, a film that uses English language as its main language isn't 'foreign'.
    From French-language speakers' point of view, a film that uses French language as its main language isn't 'foreign'.

    If a Scottish film has a Gaelic language as its main language, it can be classified as a foreign film within the UK.

    That aside: yes, it does annoy me sometimes when people's favourite-film lists consist nothing but U.S. films. Well, not annoyed. More along the line of 'How boring.' Especially when there are English-language films from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, the Philippines, etc.
  • TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    Mark A wrote: »
    And there's also the tricky problem of what exactly is a British film? How many are wholly financed and shot in the UK and staring and made by nothing but British talent? Not too many I would think.

    You can say the same thing about many 'American' films as well, actually. Not just British and American films, but also just about every country in the world.
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,315
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    It should annoy you as it is another sign of creeping American Cultural Imperialism
    Indeed. Damn Yanks and their 'film industry'.

    How dare they create and market these things successfully.
  • Mystical123Mystical123 Posts: 15,811
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    Nope not okay, there are big cultural differences. And I feel that American films need to be treated the same as Non English language cinema and given smaller and limited releases

    There are cultural differences between English films and Scottish films, does that make one or the other of those foreign?

    Defining a film as being from any one country is inherently problematic in the modern world of international financing, filming etc. Look at the Best British Film nominees at the BAFTAs this year, for example - all but one I believe was at least part financed or had major roles (directing, producing or acting) played by non-Brits. Doesn't make them any less British in the eyes of the British Academy, and shows quite clearly that a truly 'British' film is a misnomer in itself.

    If you want to be pedantic, then the full meaning of foreign films is really 'foreign language films', but no-one bothers saying the whole thing unless it's at the major awards shows.
  • circlebro2019circlebro2019 Posts: 17,560
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    they speak english in their films and thats not a foreign language to most brits.
  • Will2911Will2911 Posts: 464
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    Indeed. Damn Yanks and their 'film industry'.

    How dare they create and market these things successfully.

    Indeed. This is like when a Tesco comes to a small town and puts all the local business into trouble and eventually means they have to close down. This is what the American film industry will do to ours
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,315
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    Indeed. This is like when a Tesco comes to a small town and puts all the local business into trouble and eventually means they have to close down. This is what the American film industry will do to ours
    There's your key word. Business carves its own path regardless, always will. The Film business will be no different.

    But we've always had US films in our cinemas, and the UK film industry was dying during the seventies due to its inability to keep up with changes in both film-making and audience demands. Doubtless there are other factors, but we just couldn't compete. And if there's an assumption that the Brit film industry would've flourished without the omnipresence of US films then I'd have to disagree. Success is down to broad appeal, something US cinema obviously knows a lot about but where we often falter badly.
  • Residents FanResidents Fan Posts: 9,204
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    Until Americans start speaking a language other than English I think we'll be fine considering Hollywood movies as not being "foreign" films - if that's okay with you?

    By that logic, Canadian and Australian films don't count as
    "foreign" either.

    Usually, when I think of "foreign" films, I usually think of
    non-English language ones.
    Takae wrote: »

    That aside: yes, it does annoy me sometimes when people's favourite-film lists consist nothing but U.S. films. Well, not annoyed. More along the line of 'How boring.' Especially when there are English-language films from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, the Philippines, etc.

    There's also quite a few US films made outside the Hollywood
    system (Kenneth Anger's output, David Lynch's
    "Eraserhead", "Sex Lies and Videotape", etc.)
  • JimothyDJimothyD Posts: 8,868
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    Is it just me, or does it annoy other people too when British people say they don't like Foreign film and then start listing American Pictures as their favourites... I'm like hang on, you said you didn't like Foreign film yet you love all these American films...

    What about 'American' films that are choc full of British actors and have British directors, producers and technicians? There are plenty of examples of these. Do you count these as 'foreign films'?

    I think this thread is missing a key word - 'language'. As in foreign language film.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    Mark A wrote: »
    And there's also the tricky problem of what exactly is a British film? How many are wholly financed and shot in the UK and staring and made by nothing but British talent? Not too many I would think.

    Regards

    Mark

    That's a can of worms you don't want to open.

    For example Seven Psychopaths, funded by the British Film Institute and Film4. Writern and Directed by Martin McDonagh, who has joint British-Irish citizenship, but shot in America using primarily American actors (aside from Irishman Colin Farrel).

    Most places consider it a British film, but if you didn't know anything about it and didn't see the BFI credit it would look like an American film...
  • treefr0gtreefr0g Posts: 23,596
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    I'm not a big fan of foreign films with the exception of 'Star Wars' which I thought was very good for a foreign film.
  • treefr0gtreefr0g Posts: 23,596
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    Mark A wrote: »
    And there's also the tricky problem of what exactly is a British film? How many are wholly financed and shot in the UK and staring and made by nothing but British talent? Not too many I would think.

    Regards

    Mark

    The closest I can think of is Harry Potter.

    Thanks to J K Rowling, the UK is almost wholly responsible for the most successful movie franchise in the history of movies.
  • dee123dee123 Posts: 46,195
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    Will2911 wrote: »
    It should annoy you as it is another sign of creeping American Cultural Imperialism

    I come here to escape the 10 million threads about this in General Discussion. Not here too!
  • Mark AMark A Posts: 7,687
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    treefr0g wrote: »
    The closest I can think of is Harry Potter
    All American financed I'm afraid, and most of the directors have been non-British.

    Regards

    Mark
  • CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,629
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    There is a resistance to foreign language (i.e. subtitled) films.
  • CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,629
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    Mark A wrote: »
    All American financed I'm afraid, and most of the directors have been non-British.

    Regards

    Mark

    Though made in Britain with a British producer and a wholly British cast. They count as ours, albeit co-productions with foreign finance.

    But nobody regards Columbia pictures as Japanese.
  • treefr0gtreefr0g Posts: 23,596
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    CLL Dodge wrote: »
    Though made in Britain with a British producer and a wholly British cast. They count as ours, albeit co-productions with foreign finance.

    But nobody regards Columbia pictures as Japanese.

    Yes. This is what I meant.

    I don't think we'll ever be able to fully finance a film of this scale but it showed that we are able to produce films of this scale.
  • necromancer20necromancer20 Posts: 2,548
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    A director's nationality really shouldn't really be a factor in determining where a movie comes from, or actors for that matter.

    Otherwise Americans should consider 80% of Hollywood productions as 'foreign'.
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