Visions of England is a provocative and original exploration of Englishness, in particular English class, in contemporary cinema. Class has been a central part, whether consciously or not, of much of English social analysis and artistic production for over a century. But as a way of interpreting society, class has found itself sidelined in a postmodern world. Visions of England presents a detailed analysis of the changing landscape of English class and culture.

Visions of England explores a wide range of film production - from gangster thrillers like Lock, Stock Two Smoking Barrels to the period cinema of Elizabeth, from cult classics like Performance and Trainspotting to the mainstream romantic comedy of Notting Hill and Bridget Jones, from the social realist drama of Billy Elliot and The Full Monty to the multicultural comedy of Bend it like Beckham, and the experimentalism of films such as London Orbital and Robinson in Space. An extraordinarily wide-ranging and incisive study, Visions of England rewrites the relationship of film and Englishness.

About the author

Paul Dave is Senior Lecturer in Film at the University of East London.

Contents

1. Preface
2. Introduction: British Cinema and Class: Pastoral Visions
3. The Upper Classes: The Heritage Film
4. The Middle Classes: Fairy Tales and Idylls
5. The Working Class: Elegies
6. The Underclass: Fantasy and Realism
7. The Lumpenproletariat; Countercultural Performances
8. The Problem of England: Aesthetics of the Everyday
9. Peculiar Capitalism: Occult Heritage
10. Epilogue.