British cinema is renowned largely for its spirit of documentary realism. Think Ken Loach, think Mike Leigh, or – more recently – think Shane Meadows. The four-disc, forty-film box set ‘Land of Promise: The British Documentary Film Movement, 1930-1950’ (recently released by the British Film Institute, and available here) represents the primordial soup from which this tradition was birthed.
This is not to say that the films within it are primitive. Far from it. They are poetic, lyrical and – in their own quiet way – revolutionary. This is especially true of those documentaries made by the leading lights of the movement – John Grierson, Paul Rotha and Humphrey Jennings – which are strongly featured here. Rotha’s Shipyard (1935), for instance, is a strangely moving account of the construction of an ocean liner. And Jennings’ Listen to Britain (1942) – a free-associative flight through the sights and sounds of WW2-era Britain – is proof enough for why Lindsay Anderson described him as “the only true poet of the English cinema”.
Perhaps the greatest joy of this set, though, was unearthing films with which I wasn’t previously familiar. From the social consciousness of Housing Problems (Elton, Anstey, 1935) and Workers and Jobs (Elton, 1935), to the wartime pomp of Britain at Bay (Watt, 1940) and Night Shift (Chambers, 1942), all are interesting from both artistic and nostalgic perspectives.
I’d go so far as to say that the release of Land of Promise is one of the most important cultural events of the year. An essential purchase not only for cinéastes, but for anyone with an interest in this country of ours.
P.S. A special mention for the 96-page booklet which comes packaged with the set. Its essays and descriptions are invaluable companions to the films themselves.
P.P.S. For when you’ve done with Land of Promise, a couple of other British documentary picks: Film First’s Humphrey Jennings Collection and the BFI’s Free Cinema set.
Comments