British cinema: Using American Themes

British cinema has been showing a pattern in recent years, taking inspiration from big Hollywood films or genres, and giving it a British flavour. This has been a prominent theme especially in the comedy genre. In this article, we will look at 3 British comedy films that have really taken full advantage of their inspirations, Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. Each of these films was released in the past 10 years & has drawn a lot of inspiration from Hollywood cinema.

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead has often been described as a zom/rom/com, which is basically a romantic comedy with added zombies. This film drew a lot of inspiration from the classic horror films and also George A. Romero's Dead films such as Day of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead, with Dawn being parodied in the actual film title. The plot of Shaun is all centered around the main character and his quest to win his girlfriend back, which is (badly) timed in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Shaun spends most of his spare time at his local pub, The Winchester, drinking pints, smoking, and when everything goes wrong, he hides in The Winchester. This represents pub culture in Britain as one of the key aspects of modern day British life, while exaggerating for comedy purposes, also making it relatable to British people. Shaun was developed by frequent collaborators, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost.

Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz (directed by Edgar Wright) is a 2007 British dark action/comedy set in the fictional village of Sandford after main character Nicholas Angel, played by Simon Pegg, gets transferred from working for the London police force to the crime free village. Hot Fuzz took a lot of reference from action films like Bad Boys ll. Aspects from Wright's last amateur film, Dead Right, he often said it was "like Lethal Weapon or Dirty Harry, but set in Somerset". Pegg often said this film was different from other parody films because 'They lack the sneer that other of parodies have that look down on their source material. Because we're looking up to it'. This film, along with Shaun, is part of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy. This is a reference to Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours Trilogy.

Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging

Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging is the 2008 coming-of-age/comedy film directed by British director Gurinda Chadha based on the novels Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers by Louise Rennison. Angus drew inspiration from not only the books, but also classic American high school films like Mean Girls. Chadha said she liked the idea of taking the American high school survival genre and making it British. Angus has very cleverly taken the reality of teenager, and made it funny, without actually exaggerating or changing anything about teenagers, using common slang, using teenage issues and making them relatable, not just to teenagers of the present, but also teenagers of the past.