Films such as Atonement have helped to expand the market share for British productions at the UK box office
UK Film Council press releases, like statements on the health of the UK film industry by politicians, need to be taken with a pinch of salt. The fact that Harry Potter, Hot Fuzz and Mr Bean have been doing very well at the box office shouldn't blind anyone to the problems that independent producers currently face in financing their films or their continuing struggles in getting them shown. The market share for "British" films may well have risen to 27% in 2007, up from 19% for the whole of 2006, but scan the list of the top 20 UK films released in the UK and the Republic of Ireland between January 1 and September 21 2007 and you can't help but think the definition of Britishness is being stretched. Are The Bourne Ultimatum, Hannibal Rising and La Vie en Rose really projects that the Brits can take the credit for?
It is worth noting, too, that the pre-eminent British production companies Working Title and DNA (whose films are liberally represented on the list) are closely tied to Hollywood studios and can rely on those studios' marketing muscle.
By critical consent, Andrea Arnold's Red Road was one of the finest British films of last year, but it made under £.0.5m at the UK box office. A couple of years ago, Amma Asante's A Way of Life won a Bafta but made a minuscule amount at the UK box office. When films like these fail to live up to even the most modest commercial expectations, it is clear that something is awry with the state of UK distribution and exhibition.
One continuing problem is that exhibitors are wary about taking a chance on British films that don't have Simon Pegg (for the younger demographic) or Judi Dench (for older cinemagoers) in them or don't fit into the horror pic or lad movie mould.
"Not only is there a problem with the financing of small British films - but if they are eventually made, there appears to be little chance of their appearing for any length of time at the cinema," suggests Jane Clucas of the Rex in Berkhamsted, an independent cinema which has found an audience for British titles (enjoying notable success with, among others, Gosford Park and Ladies in Lavender).
"We suddenly realised that there were all these films getting just two or three weeks in the cinema and nowhere to be shown," Clucas says of the Rex's policy of programming older titles that audiences haven't had the chance to see first time round.
Let's not be too cynical. The statistics are correct. There may indeed be plenty to celebrate about increased market share for British films. Grumbling about our successes is a self-destructive and very British habit. Nonetheless, the rosy picture of UK cinema painted in some of the more upbeat reports published recently certainly isn't recognised by everyone in the industry.
