Neil Archer is Lecturer in Film Studies at Keele University, UK. He is the author of Beyond a Joke: Parody in English Film and Television Comedy (I.B. Tauris, 2017); The Road Movie: In Search of Meaning (2016); Hot Fuzz (2015); The French Road Movie: Space, Mobility, Identity (2013); The Bourne Ultimatum (2012) and Adaptation: Studies in French and Francophone Culture, co-edited with Andreea Weisl-Shaw (2011).
Through perceptive and nuanced analyses of a refreshingly wide and varied range of British films which, ostensibly, have nothing to do with Brexit, Neil Archer shows how certain forms of popular British cinema have worked to produce an historical imaginary of Britishness (and, in particular, Englishness) that embodies so many of the same cultural assumptions that led to Brexit. An extremely timely book, but also one which deserves a long life on British cinema bookshelves. -- Julian Petley, Professor, Brunel University London, UK This innovative, well-written, and carefully prepared book may thus be seen as an early intervention in the emerging field of Brexit studies. * MEDIENwissenschaft * Cinema & Brexit challenges renderings of the recent “zeitgeist” to offer an insightful analysis of “popular English cinema” within the globalised film industry. Whether discussing “very British blockbusters” like Bond or “culturally European” family films featuring Paddington, Cinema & Brexit takes a hard look at issues of soft power and ‘soft’ patriotism. Addressing inward-looking myths of resilience alongside inward investment from Hollywood, Neil Archer will change how you think about your favourite films. -- Matt Hills, Professor, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom