So, has anyone else seen the British film Still Crazy?
I saw it recently and was completely blown away. I literally had to go for a walk after and then went straight to bed. The movie is quite generic and not really special. But there‘s something about it that makes it one of my top 15 movies of all time. It’s a bit similar to The Man who sued God (also with Billy Connolly), genrewise. Or to the Full Monty.
Most people I know will find the movie “nice” but in a very unspecial way.
For me those movies have a higher sense of reality, because I find them much more believable than most. It seems to me a very British genre, the drama interlaced with comedy, where nothing much has to happen in the movie and yet you feel like you know the people and you relate to the stories. Peter’s Friends would be another example.
What do you guys think?
If british movies are your thing, write em. Forget Hollywood storytelling. Throw away american screenwriting books, don't listen to American script gurus, American website forums.
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Dan MaxXx is stage32 American?
And yes, that is my plan. For the time being. I shall give my all to achieve that!
I’m going to sound biased as a British Girl but I really do think this is where British cinema comes into its own, I really enjoy our method of storytelling, it is my more natural mode in terms of writing, despite being a fan and adapt at writing things for a more American gaze/market, I still like stories really grounded in people, even if the story doesn’t really do anything to share a world changing message or anything overly spectacular and is just a story about these people at this moment in these surroundings.
As for “Still Crazy” given it was written by the same duo who wrote Porridge, I went in expecting a great story based on people and the everyday circumstances they find themselves in and I found it, some of my favourite Brit actors are in it,Timothy Spall, Jimmy Nail( who is criminally underrated), Bill Nighy and Billy Connolly, I think it is a great movie, it didn’t disappoint, I haven’t seen it in quite a while, but am inspired to re-watch because of this thread.
I think this and most other things written by Clement and La Frenais are very good examples of typical British storytelling, it is distinctly different from Hollywood storytelling but for that reason, I do often find the characters more relatable and the films more marking.
From one viewing, I often find I take more from a British film than an American one.
I think we are a blunt and straight forward people ( Brits) and our art is similar, I think other countries excel with nuance and therefore can stand up better to multiple viewings with each viewing taking something different from the film
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I think both, Jimmy Nail (who of course is also a singer) and Bill Nighy have great singing voices, though I had hoped Billy Connolly would sing at some point...
The scene at the end where Karen takes the 10p coing off her bracelet, which she had kept all those years, and hands it to Brian is one of my favourite scenes in film. It is so simple and at the same time so evocative!
Brilliant writing. And performance. And cutting...
The final song, in the album version, „The Flame Still Burns“, is pretty much the best soundtrack song for a movie I have ever heard. The way it fits to the movie... awesome!
Love the old British horror flicks. Can't beat them.