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The History of British Cinema: 2004 |
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12/1 - |
The British Film Council announces that the British film industry recorded a record year in 2003, tallying up $2.16 billion in spending, twice the total of 2002. This was largely due to the production of big-budget US films such as Troy and the Harry Potter films. [ADD] |
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31/5 - |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film in the "Harry Potter" series, premieres in London. Gary Oldman and David Thewlis join the established members of the cast, and Alfonso Cuarón replaces Chris Columbus at the helm. [ADD] |
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16/8 - |
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is named the best British film of all time in a Sunday Telegraph poll of 230 actors, technicians, writers and directors. Other films making up the top ten were Brief Encounter (1945), Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), Great Expectations (1946), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Ladykillers (1955), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Kes (1969), The 39 Steps (1935), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). [ADD] |
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27/8 - |
The UK premiere of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Stephen Hopkins biopic of the British comedy actor, takes place. Geoffrey Rush stars in the title role, with support from Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland, Emily Watson as Anne Sellers, John Lithgow as Blake Edwards, and Stanley Tucci as Stanley Kubrick, and Miriam Margolyes, Peter Vaughan, Sonia Aquino and Stephen Fry. [ADD] |
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13/9 - |
Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent classic Battleship Potemkin is screened in Trafalgar Square with a new score composed by the Pet Shop Boys, and performed by the band and the Dresdener Sinfoniker orchestra. [ADD] |
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16/9 - |
The London Times reports that Baby Face, a 1933 Hollywood film starring Barbara Stanwyck and John Wayne which was banned following the enforcement of the production code and subsequently believed lost, will be screened at the London Film Festival in October. The film was recently discovered in the Library of the US Congress's Motion Picture Archive. [ADD] |
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23/9 - |
Readers of the Radio Times vote The Shawshank Redemption the best movie never to have won a major Oscar, receiving more than a third of total votes. Second was Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (12% of votes). Followed by E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969), The Great Escape (1963), and The Wizard of Oz (1939) [ADD] |
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30/9 - |
The Guardian reports that French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet is planning to produce three animated films in Scotland. [ADD] |
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18/10 - |
Michael Winterbottom’s sexually explicit 9 songs is awarded an 18 rating by censors. The film tells the story of a young couple’s releationship from beginning to end, punctuated by music from concerts they attend. [ADD] |
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20/10 - |
The 48th London Film Festival opens with a screening of Mike Leigh's Vera Drake in which Imelda Staunton stars as an abortionist in the 50s. The film goes on general release two days later. [ADD] |
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26/11 - |
Enduring Love, Roger Michell's adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, is released. Daniel Craig, Samantha Morton and Rhys Ifans star. [ADD] |
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Other Key British Films of 2004 |
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Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright) [ADD] |
