Projecting Britain at war - Jeremy Havardi

This detailed chronological analysis of British World War II movies from 1939 until the present explores how recognizable stereotypes of British national character were projected and how the times in which a film was made shaped its perceptions. Several chapters look at films from the Golden Age of World War II. In films about the Home Front, characters display resolve as well as emotional restraint and present an image of a classless society co-operating to fight evil. By contrast, duty and patriotism are the paramount virtues of service films while spy melodramas exemplify the British love of improvisation. Fifties war films are examined against the backdrop of alarm and uncertainty caused by the Cold War. Such films reflect traditional national character stereotypes, though the stiff upper lip begins to be questioned by the end of the decade. The book then traces the radical effect of the 60s revolution, revealing how the fondness for sceptical antiwar movies went hand in hand with the questioning of Britain's place in the world. The book ends by looking at recent war films and asks whether these reflect the cult of narcissism so prevalent in modern Britain.