Heritage film
Encyclopedia
The term Heritage film refers to a movement in British cinema
in the late 20th century which depicts the England
of previous centuries often in a nostalgic
fashion. It includes the wave of filmings of Shakespeare plays and Jane Austen
novels. Typical of such films is the use of splendid scenes of the English landscape to create a feel-good factor. The movement can be seen in the context of the discovery of "heritage
" (stately homes etc.) as marketable commodity. It has been criticised from a socialist perspective for its romanticised portrayal of the past.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
in the late 20th century which depicts the England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
of previous centuries often in a nostalgic
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
fashion. It includes the wave of filmings of Shakespeare plays and Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
novels. Typical of such films is the use of splendid scenes of the English landscape to create a feel-good factor. The movement can be seen in the context of the discovery of "heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
" (stately homes etc.) as marketable commodity. It has been criticised from a socialist perspective for its romanticised portrayal of the past.
Literature
- Eckart Voigts-Virchow (ed.), "Janespotting and Beyond": British Heritage Retrovisions since the Mid-1990s, Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2004.
- Lucia Krämer, "Oscar Wilde as an Object of the English Heritage Industry", Irish Studies Review, 13, 2005, 359-67.
- Andrew Higson, English Heritage, English Cinema: Costume Drama Since 1980, 2003.