Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism

by Lester D. Friedman (Editor), Thomas Elsaesser (Contributor), Peter Wollen (Contributor)

Fires Were Started is a provocative analysis of the responses of British film to the policies and political ideology of the Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher and it represents an original and stimulating contribution to our knowledge of British cinema. This second edition includes revised and updated contributions from some of the leading scholars of British cinema, including Thomas Elsaesser, Peter Wollen and Manthia Diawara.

The book discuss prominent filmmakers such as Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman, Ken Russell, Nicolas Roeg and Stephen Frears, it also explores some lesser known but equally important territory such as the work of Black British filmmakers, the Leeds Animation Workshop and Channel 4's Film on Four. Films discussed include Distant Voices, Still Lives , My Beautiful Launderette , Chariots of Fire and Drowning by Numbers .

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Film

256 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1992

Reviews

[Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't seen any of the films mentioned here which made it hard for me to anchor what was being discussed, but I came away with the names of a couple films I'd like to see.

[Philip Challinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Various essays by various authors on aspects of British cinema and its relationship to the mean-spirited philistinism of the Thatcher regime. I especially enjoyed the essays on directors such as Roeg, Jarman, Greenaway and Ken Russell.

[Roger Cottrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. The stuff on THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, EMPIRE STATE and Peter Van Greenaway is particularly good.