And an intriguing selection of films it is too. All of the titles in the Made in Britain season are recently restored and rarely seen on the big screen. There's loud, irreverent comedy, strange goings-on in a Tube station, something nasty on the Cornwall moors, and David Bowie proving that no, that wasn't a cucumber stuffed down the front of his Ziggy Stardust jumpsuit. If anyone is still under the illusion that British cinema is all about heritage and polite good manners, this season will be a rude awakening.
First up on Tuesday, 5th June is Passport to Pimlico, T. E. B. Clarke's charming fantasy wherein a group of bemused Cockneys discover that, as the result of an obscure royal edict, they are citizens, not of Great Britain as they had always assumed, but of ancient Burgundy. The revelation brings out a strain of all-too-British stubbornness. As one character comments, "Just because we ARE British we stick up for our right to be Burgundian!"
That grandee of British film, David Lean, is seen in playful, unbuttoned mode in his comedy of folk up North, Hobson's Choice (26th June.) Hammer is represented by two superlative offerings. The Plague of the Zombies (12th June) is an idiosyncratic but highly accomplished tale of voodoo in a Cornish tin mine, while the full-blooded shocker Quatermass and the Pit (3rd July) brings the season to a stirring close. In between there's The Man Who Fell to Earth (19th June,) a surprising inclusion, but most fitting, as one way of interpreting Nicolas Roeg's dazzling sci-fi fable is to see it as a sly updating the old theme of the Englishman abroad.
Taken as a group, these films serve as a welcome reminder of the spiky individuality of British cinema. They deal with themes such as class, money, national identity and zombies – themes that matter. And if you can only see one on the big screen? Treat yourself to Quatermass and the Pit, that would be LITM's advice. When the rubble starts to fly and Quatermass flares his nostrils and squares his tweedy shoulders, then you'll truly feel proud to be British.
Look out for our reviews of all these films over the coming weeks. To find out whether there's a screening near you, visit here.
And to have your say about Quatermass's nostrils or anything else to do with the season, go to the Made in Britain Facebook page.
