Wednesday 6 October 2010

Hot Fuzz analysis: What is uniquely 'British' about Hot Fuzz?

'Britishness'
-  Posh ('snobby') e.g. Queen
-  Council estates (run down)
-  Countryside
-  Private schools
-  Self-deprecating (take the mick out of ourselves)
-  British music e.g. pop era, punk era
-  Bad teeth
-  Irony
-  London (capital city)


There are many things that are uniquely 'British' throughout the opening scene of Hot Fuzz. For example, the sound of the British police siren is used in the film for the police cars. Vauxhall Astra's are used which are the stereotypical British police car. British police uniforms are also worn by the characters in the film. We know this is 'British' because they were the police badge with the queens crown on it.

Quotes from the film also reflect the 'Britishness' throughout the opening scene. For example when he says 'born and schooled in London', 'attended Cambridge university' and 'Metropolitan police force'. All of these are uniquely British because they are places in Britain. The film also represents the 'British' politeness and manners when he says 'I beg your pardon'. This is uniquely 'British' because it shows the stereotypical view of British people being posh as it represents our good manners that people would associate with British people.

English places where the scenes are shot for the film are also uniquely 'British' as it is shot in London in places such as Soho and Chinatown. This is associated with 'Britishness' as London is the capital city which is the most known place in England. However, shots are also filmed in Sandford which reflects the countryside of 'Britishness' as this is also associated with Britain.

'Britishness' is uniquely presented in the fact that some parts of Hot Fuzz are seen to be rather self-depricating. This is shown on the front cover as it has copied the cover from the film 'Bad Boys' but took the mickey out of it. It is also shown when he is shot cycling opposed to driving a car. This adds to the humour in the film.

Youth in the film also show the film to be uniquely 'British' as they are represented as ugly/geeky kids that British kids are thought to be like. They also have bad teeth which is also seen to be 'British' as other countries associate British people to have bad teeth. There is also a Harry Potter lookalike (with a cone on his head) which is also uniquely 'British' as Harry Potter is a very popular book and film series that is British.

1 comment:

  1. A good post Becky. Try and work on the level of your explanations, at the minute they are a bit 'short'.

    For Miss Abrahamson's side of the course you'll need to ensure that you can write clinically whilst also employing a sophisticated vocabulary. You demonstrate that here, make sure your analysis of representation also boasts an extensive vocabulary.

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