British Comedy
From side-splitting classics to overlooked gems, Mark Kermode shows how making fools of ourselves can make for seriously good cinema.
Mark Kermode returns with a third series of his Secrets of Cinema in which he explores the conventions that underpin our favourite movies and examines the techniques film-makers use to keep us coming back for more.
In a revealing look at one of the defining genres of British cinema, Mark argues that comedy films win laughs by tapping into our abiding national preoccupations. We love to root for the underdog or 'little man', a key figure who appears in countless guises. We delight in seeing class and manners satirised and subverted. We鈥檙e fascinated by films that mix comedy and crime. We enjoy home-grown pastiches and parodies that take the big beasts of Hollywood down a peg. And then there鈥檚 the infamous phenomenon of the British sex comedy...
From side-splitting classics to overlooked gems, Mark shows how making fools of ourselves can make for seriously good cinema.
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Clips
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WHAT MAKES A GREAT COMEDY ACTOR?
Duration: 02:18
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CAPTAIN MAINWARING CHARACTERS
Duration: 01:48
Music Played
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David Arnold
We Want Sex
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Tom Jones
You Can Leave Your Hat On
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Bernard Herrmann
Farewell and The Tower
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Michael Kamen
Central Services / The Office
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Suede
So Young
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Mark Kermode |
Writer | Kim Newman |
Writer | John Das |
Writer | Mark Kermode |
Series Producer | Nick Freand Jones |
Executive Producer | John Das |
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