Independent Film: Four Lions

Studio: Film4 Productions, Wild Bunch, Warp Films
Distributed by: Optimum Releasing, Drafthouse Films
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsey, Arsher Ali, Adeel Akhtar
Released: 7th May 2010

Four Lions is an independent dark comedy film based in Sheffield about a group of young British Muslim men who aspire to be suicide bombers. It was first shown in January 2010 at the Sundance film festival and was short-listed for the festival's World Cinema Narrative prize. The UK premier took place at the National Media Museum as part of Bradford's International Film Festival on 25th March 2010. It was released in the UK on 7th May 2010 and released onto DVD and Blu-Ray on 30th August 2010.

It was critically acclaimed quite well, with Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a 'Certified Fresh' score of 81% with an average score of 7.2 out of 10 from reviews. The site's general consensus is that its 'premise suggests brazenly tasteless humour, but Four Lions is actually a smart, pitch-black comedy that carries the unmistakable ring of truth.' Time Magazine rated the film as among top 10 movies of the year of 2010.

 The film wasn't marketed very well, as it didn't have much budget aside for this after the production, and was mostly advertised through a trailer and some film posters. However the film became well known locally and through the film festivals and reviews in newspapers which allowed it to gain popularity.

The film also did well at the box office, making a total of £609,000 on its opening weekend. As of 8th August 2010, it had grossed £2,932,366 in the UK and as of 24th February 2011, it had grossed $4,658,570 - a remarkable amount for a British independent film. The reason why it may have been such a success may have been due to its controversial nature and original, realistic comedy. 

Film Censorship

When was the BBFC established and for what reasons?The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) was formed in 1912 by the film industry, in order to bring a degree of uniformity to standards, so that films were made acceptable for the age group and nationality of the audience. 

What media forms do they regulate?
They regulate media such as films, DVD's, video games, advertisements and trailers. 

How are they funded?
They are funded by fees to the films and video works that are submitted to them, as they are a non-government organisation.

What legalisation do they have to abide by?

• The Video Recording Act (1984)
• The Human Rights Act (1998)
• The Obscene Publications Acts (1959)
• The Protection of Children Act (1978)
• The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act (2008)
• The Public Order Act (1986)
• The Cinematograph Films Animals Act (1937)
• The Animal Welfare Act (2006)
• Coroners and Justice Act (2009)

What is the process of classification?
Films are first submitted to the BBFC which are then put through a system at the reception by the facilities department. Research is then done and the technical department time the DVD and check the quality of the disc. The information system department measures video games and are responsible for the internal information, including the website. Two people watch the film and make notes.
Then the distributor gets the bill and they have to pay for the accounts department. Information services also have to handle all customer queries and ensure that they are fully informed of the classification decisions.

Films or computer games which are regulated (over 20 years ago).
Goodfellas (1980) was rated an 18 due to strong violence and swearing, but 8 scenes had to be cut anyway due to their strong graphical nature, just to get it into the cinema.
A Clockwork Orange wasn't even passed through the BBFC or given a rating until 20 years after its release, but scenes were cut in order to be put into the cinema. The film was linked to deaths that occurred after its release, and it was withdrawn by Kubrick for about 27 years.

Films or computer games which have been subject to regulation recently.
The Human Centipede 2 was rated an 18 due to strong violence, gore and sexual violence, and had to have scenes cut in order for it to be released. Also A Serbian Film was rated an 18 due to strong sexual violence, and some versions of it had to have scenes cut in order to be released. 

What is the American equivalent to the BBFC?
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

Social Realism vs Commercial British Films

Social Realism
Social Realist films are usually the ones that appeal to only really the British audience, because they contain 'gritty' themes and images that reflect what Britain is really like in particularly the working class culture, as opposed to focusing on a Utopian orderly middle-class Britain. An audience can therefore often relate to these types of films more, and the use of handheld cameras and improvisation makes these films more realistic. A teenager is usually the main character, with themes such as drugs, sex, money, and violence usually at the heart of the film, which is typically set in council-estates or 'rough' areas of Britain, to reflect these issues that we have in society today. Examples include 'Trainspotting', 'This is England' and 'Anuvahood'.

Commercial Films
These are British films that typically have bigger budgets that aim to do well globally, particularly in America, as well as Britain. These films typically focus on the middle to upper classes to portray a more Utopian side to Britain, and therefore for example use royalty or prime-ministers as characters, and use more positive themes such as love, family and careers. There is usually no working class shown, however if there is, they are usually shown as happy in their situation (e.g. Mary Poppins), to further add to the feeling of Utopia, even if this is untrue. Star Power is often used to sell these films also, where American audiences may be attracted to the famous actors used. Examples of commercial films include 'The King's Speech', 'Love Actually' and 'The Holiday'.

 

Why is it important for Britain to have Social Realism and Commercial Films?
Commercial films are especially important for Britain to bring in money and profit from America, and also to create a more immersive experience of escapism for a British audience if it is unlike their usual lives. However social realist films are equally important to a British audience so they have something to relate to, and can enjoy seeing what are true messages and values underlying our British culture.

Who funds British film?

How was the British film industry funded in 2009?
Until 2011, British films were funded by the UK Film Council, which gained money from the lottery. It was abolished though because the Conservative-Liberal coalition said that it wasn't beneficial for Britain.

How is British film funded now?
The British Film Institute (the BFI) now funds the majority of British films, but there is not as much money that can be distributed.


What does the Government want for British film?
David Cameron thinks that British films should be commercialised, to be more popular in places like America also, which would then probably generate more profit, which show more middle class to upper class values of Britain, such as the stereotype associated with British royalty. This means that there is therefore little room for social realist films.

What were the most successful British films in 2012?
 There aren't many exact lists that show the figures for highest grossing British films of 2012, only lists that show the highest grossing films at the UK Box Office, including American films. However, according to sources such as the BFI, Skyfall ($1,108,561,013) was clearly one of the most successful British films of all time, and other successful films of British origin that year included The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ($136,836,156), The Woman in Black ($127,730,736), Sightseers ($2,102,166) and Great Expectations ($258,656).

Is it important for British films to be successful outside of Britain?
This depends on the purpose of the film. Overall it is important that British films are successful outside of Britain because it means financially the films will generate more profit and income for the UK. However, these commercialised films tend to show Britain more positively within the upper classes, for example through the use of royalty. Social realism lower budget films tend to aim to simply entertain the British audience as something they can relate to, which means these films don't need to be as successful globally.

Find an example of a critically acclaimed British film that was not financially successful.
Kill List was successfully critically acclaimed (76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), however was not financially successfully because it only made $462,206, even though its budget was $800,000. It was therefore a failure because it only just made half of its budget back.

What are the issues with British films being 'commercial'?
The main issue is that films would then have to be made to appeal to a wider audience (mostly the Americans), which means Britain would have to be portrayed in a positive light and a stereotypical image (such as with the use of royalty, London, etc.) otherwise the audience would not be able to relate to it as much as a British audience (such as with social realist films which are more reflective of the society the British audience live in), and so wouldn't be as successful. This therefore means that commercial British films lose their 'Britishness' about them and do not show an accurate collective identity.

What is your favourite British film and why?
A Clockwork Orange is probably one of my favourite British films because it reflects how realistically, society can become so corrupt compared to the 'rose-tinted' views shown by other films. It contains themes of morality and psychology which are two themes I am widely interested in because they are down to individual interpretation, which is reflected in the psycho-sociopathic nature of the main character, and how he is attempted to be changed. It is a very controversial film, unlike others, which contains interesting ranges of cinematography and music to affect the audience in different ways, and I like this because it doesn't follow the same elements as most films which could get boring a repetitive. I also am a big fan of the director (Stanley Kubrick) and most of his work anyway, which drew me to the film in the first place.

Cultural Test

A film must receive a minimum of 16 points on the cultural test in order to be considered a British film, but it doesn't necessarily have to be set in Britain or contain British culture. Producers try to get their film recognised as British because they would then get tax relief.

	Cultural Test	Points
A	Cultural Content
A1	Film set in the UK	4
A2	Lead characters British citizens or residents	4
A3	Film based on British subject matter or underlying material	4
A4	Original dialogue recorded mainly in English language	4
	Total Section A	16
B	Cultural Contribution
	Film represents/reflects a diverse British culture, British heritage or British creativity	4
	Total Section B	4
C	Cultural Hubs
C1	Studio and/or location shooting/ Visual Effects/ Special Effects	2
C2	Music Recording/Audio Post Production/Picture Post Production	1
	Total Section C	3
D	Cultural Practitioners
D1	Director	1
D2	Scriptwriter	1
D3	Producer	1
D4	Composer	1
D5	Lead Actors	1
D6	Majority of Cast	1
D7	Key Staff (lead cinematographer, lead production designer, lead costume designer, lead editor, lead sound designer, lead visual effects supervisor, lead hair and makeup supervisor)	1
D8	Majority of Crew	1
	Total Section D	8
	TOTAL ALL SECTIONS (pass mark 16)	31

Directors

DAVID LYNCH

Name: David Keith Lynch
Birthday: January 20th 1946 (age 68)
Education: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Occupation: Film Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Painter, Musician

Does David Lynch stay within a particular genre?
David Lynch has directed a range of genres, including action sci-fi (such as Dune), biographical drama films (such as The Elephant Man and The Straight Story) but the main genre that he particularly sticks to is mystery psychological thrillers, as most of his works tend to be within this category (for example, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire).

What types of film has David Lynch directed?
Although he has directed a few other genres, his preferences include the psychological thriller genre or mystery neo-noir genre, or a particular combination of the two. This is because, as he has revealed through twitter and interviews, in these films he gets incorporate new ideas of his own to represent the world and humanity as a whole, however most of his films in this way contain much deeper hidden meanings which he expects the audience to interpret in their own way, and won't reveal his own interpretation. This creates a sense of mystery about his films, where the main theme that runs through a lot of his films is based on surrealism, with elements of dream/hallucination sequences in a non-linear fashion, and so on the surface all is not as it seems to the audience. This is also shown in the use of unusual cinematography, with many close-ups, hand-held cameras, a variety of lense types, and long editing speeds. This means that David isn't bothered about people actually liking the films, because he expects them to be successful just by being different and a lot of people talking about them and what they mean. This makes him a very different and contraversial type of Hollywood director to other directors who concentrate on big blockbuster, expensive films that aim to please an audience. 
 Lynch uses a mix of famous actors, and non-famous actors for his films, where he doesn't see a 'star' as important, but merely those who fit the roles perfectly, because he doesn't see star power as important, another controversial aspect of his directing career. Some of the big names he has used include Laura Dern, Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Sting, Nicholas Cage, Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux and Laura Harring. 

Does David Lynch's reputation establish a fan base?
Lynch's films do show to establish a fan-base simply because of the surreal and controversial nature of some of the films. As Lynch is very different from a lot of other Hollywood directors and creates some unusual films, those who enjoy these types of films will keep coming back to the work of Lynch as there aren't many others who do similar sorts of films. The actors aren't those who particularly establish a fan base because the films tend to focus on themes and underlying story-lines as opposed to the actors; also, the same actors are not necessarily used in all of the films. Lynch is a director who believes Hollywood exploits audiences for their own financial benefit, which is a theme he imposes onto his films and audience, and those who agree with this may also become part of his fan-base. He has 1.7 million followers on Twitter, which also shows how popular he is.

David Lynch and film posters
All of Lynch's films of his preferred and typical genre all feature his name on them, so that firstly the audience can easily identify who the film was made by, and so would search for his films again in the future, or on the other hand, for already-fans of his who are looking for his films, can easily identify which films are his. It is also a technique to get his name known and heard in order to gain popularity. All of his film posters also feature some sort of imagery if the main character(s) so that either the actors can be used as a way of advertising the film, or just used as a way to create mystery about what the film is about. On many of his film posters, the actors names aren't particularly mentioned, because it is his view that actors are not the main priority of the film, however the imagery is also used to show how the films revolve around these characters and what is going on in their minds. His film posters also tend to have a black background and fade-effects to connote the mystery and psychological element to the genre.


      

What Factors Contribute to a Films Success or Failure at the Box Office?

Kill List (2001)

Kill List is a film directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring and Michael Smiley. It can be considered an indie British film of the thriller genre.

Trailer - The trailer is edited well to create suspense and mystery with a range of clips showing action, the main characters (star power) and other elements like the creepy girl at the end. It is things like these that create enigma codes, where the trailer does not give away too much of the plot. Generally this would be a good trailer to encourage an audience to view the film, however there was only one trailer and it was shown on TV.

The marketing campaign was not very big, which could be a reason why the film did not do well financially, because not very many people knew much about it in order to go see it. The website didn't have much on it other than the trailer and links to Facebook/Twitter pages.

Financial Success - The budget for the film was $800,000, yet its total at the box office was $462,206, making the film a Box Office failure. The film was released in the UK and USA in cinemas and on DVD, but was only released in other places in Europe at film festivals.

Critical Success - On Rotten Tomatoes 76% was the score given by the critics, however 57% was the score given by the audience, which therefore suggests that the film did well in the way it was filmed, but generally didn't interest people too much. It was nominated for 'best actor', 'best screenplay', and Michael Smiley won an award for 'best supporting actor.'