Film 4 is a British terrestial TV channel, that has gone through a number go guiles, since it's inception along with channel 4 in 1982. It develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the best and upcoming new talent in the industry. It has also been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the United Kingdom. The specialists in co-production - traditionally contribute 15-25% of an independent film budget. Some examples of the critically acclaimed films include: Last King of Scotland, Slumdog millionaire and Attack the block.
Themes that are usually used?
Film 4 has built a reputation for producing great social realist movies to the audience as a way of showing everyday life to everyone. This is in contrast to Hollywood films, which shows unrealistic features in life and society. Some examples of these popular social realist movies include: Dead Man's and This is England. The themes that are connoted and denoted in Dead Man's shoes are drug abuse, violence and aspiration and crime. This is England has themes that include: corruption of the youth, racism and violence, which connotes of the everyday life themes that happen in society.
In this clip of This is England, it shows all the themes mentioned above of: corruption of youth, racism and violence. First of all, the young boy, Shaun, sternly demanded for cigarettes and alcohol. The tone of his voice was nasty, as he said it in a way as if he was above everyone else - arrogant. When the shopkeeper rejected him he reacted furiously: "Just fucking get it you Paki bastard!" Immediately we can see the corruption of youth that plays a heavy part in This is England; a boy who looks as if he was ten to twelve is being extremely disrespectful. His whole attitude is a disgrace, and you can tell by the look of disgust by the innocent shopkeeper. Later on, when the gang leader comes in, as the shopkeeper grabs a hold of Shaun he brings out a large knife and screams: "Get your hands off him!"The man named Combo says racist remarks and aggressively threatens the shopkeeper for touching Shaun. This again connotes the racism and violent themes that heavily influence the movies that Film4 produce and show.
This is the trailer of Four Lions and is one of the uncommon humorous movies that Film4 shows. It is a British dark comedy film that has themes that contains: aspiration, terrorism, and already mentioned: comedy. Four lions show the life of a group of British Muslim men who aspire to be suicide bombers. However, their lack of knowledge and skill in terrorism is very low, so their plans and execution of each of their attacks are amusing to the audience. The moral message of Four Lions is that not all Muslims are terrorists, which is evident in their poor terrorist skills.
What is it's ethos?
Film 4 has a general rule to not produce family style movies but movies that express the daily lives and themes of society in our world. It currently invests around £500,000 per film, at a rate of around 20 films a year. By doing this Film 4 will be able to showcase new and popular actors/actresses to the audience and promote their channel and institute. This is what makes Film4 different to other film institutes and will continue to rise in both fame and popularity.
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