Lindsay Anderson Britishness and national cinemas

This article will explore three key stages in Lindsay Anderson’s career that illustrate the complex relationship between the director’s negotiation of his own national background and the imposition of a national identity in the critical reception of his work. First, I will look briefly at Anderson’s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAlphaville no. 1; pp. 36 - 57
Main Author Gourdin-Sangouard, Isabelle
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published University College Cork 17.08.2011
Subjects
british film
documentary film
lindsay anderson
national cinema
national identity
transnational artist
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Summary:This article will explore three key stages in Lindsay Anderson’s career that illustrate the complex relationship between the director’s negotiation of his own national background and the imposition of a national identity in the critical reception of his work. First, I will look briefly at Anderson’s early directorial career as a documentary filmmaker: by using references to the Free Cinema movement and Thursday’s Children (1953), I will show that, in both instances, the question of artistic impact and critical reception took on a transnational dimension. I will then discuss the production of a documentary short in Poland, which Anderson filmed at the request of the Documentary Studio in Warsaw in 1967, and which constitutes the director’s first experience of working in a foreign film industry. Finally, I will discuss Britannia Hospital (1982), the last feature film that Anderson made in Britain. Throughout the paper, I will also use material from the Lindsay Anderson Archive held at Stirling University.
ISSN:2009-4078
2009-4078
DOI:10.33178/alpha.1.04