When Sundance Rode In

So, today the fantastic Mr. Robert Redford has taken our Prime Minister to task for his ‘narrow-minded’ approach to British Film. While of course we all know this will immediately change entirely the way Cameron looks at films, the universe and everything–

 –it’s perhaps also worth considering the state of affairs that has led to the Sundance Kid saddling into town to offer his two cents. When Cameron first ordered the British Film Industry to start making more ‘commercially viable’, ‘mainstream’ films, just what was he talking about? This is the industry that has just finished making the Harry Potter series – a series which has grossed nearly $8 billion dollars worldwide. Unfortunately, that’s about it for global literary sensations hailing from our little island for the time being. New Zealand nicked Lord of the Rings; maybe we could do a remake in the Lake District? Or if that’s too expensive, maybe we could do some kind of animated version?

Maybe we could reboot Potter, locking Daniel Radcliffe into some nightmarish cycle of playing a boy wizard for the rest of his life. ‘But what do we do when he dies, Matt? What do we do then?’ Well, Mr. Cameron, obviously we re-animate the Radcliffe-man-corpse and force him to continue.

You're not... unpatriotic... are you, Mr. Potter? You do love your country don't you?

There are two obvious issues with Cameron's position. First: who the hell can define what the ‘mainstream’ actually is? Slumdog Millionaire was nearly a straight-to-DVD burnout. No one could have predicted the success it would ultimately have – costing £15 million to produce, but achieving £380 million at the box office, compared to say Quantum of Solace which made £500 million but also cost £200 million to make. Does its success mean that we can retrospectively call it ‘mainstream’? With not a word said about quality, how can a film with instances of child-torture be anyone's idea of 'mainstream'?

Second: why does Cameron suddenly appear to give such a shit about the success of British film? This is the man behind the worst cuts since the 1950s – what possible reason do we think he could have for wanting to be Mr. Compassionate, acting to create jobs in a visible area of the industry, but losing them in less obvious areas?

Good job we hid Shane Meadows' body in the basement.

Obviously it’s necessary for an industry to be in profit and obviously Cameron, as Prime Minister, wants as much profit from as many industries as possible. But it’s ultimately pointless to think Britain can compete with the huge number of franchises that the States has. British film, Sirs Bond and Potter aside, is not a “big” cinematic country – “big” in the sense of big names, big budgets, and big returns. We thrive on medium-to-small sized films; these are the films we are known for. The hit-rate might be smaller but it's all we've got. The worry for British Film, then, is that Cameron might get rid of the little guys before realising that there aren’t enough big guys to fall back on.