Marburg, Germany - Course Descriptions - British Film and Television Since 1945

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British film and television have undergone some important transformations since 1945. This class sets out to chart the special organisation of the British film and television industry and the impact of the structural changes on the narratives and aesthetics of British film production. In this process the television stations Channel 4 and BBC are challenging the film industry  with a bunch of innovative productions.

The class starts out with an overview over the Ealing comedies, the first kitchen-sink film productions of Free Cinema, it will turn towards the television productions of the British film renaissance, called New British Cinema.

According to the film scholar Thomas Elsaesser, British film production is governed by the oppositional, evenly clichéd images of the working classes and of the heritage culture of the English tradition. Besides the discussion of the structural aspects of media production the class will focus on the images and contents being brought about by British culture. Sure, we are given insight into the paraphernalia of unemployed life and, to the contrary, we are presented with the lush life and the splendour of country houses and London town life. But, are we really just offered clichés of the working classes and turn of the century upper class lives, or do the British media offer a variety of images, of characters and narratives not being subsumed under these narrow categories? On which grounds do we otherwise meet the characters in Little Britain, The Office or the outlandish antics of Mr. Fawlty in Fawlty Towers? Come along and decide for yourself.

As you might have expected, this class is taught in English, and international students are warmly welcomed.