Tragi-comedy in British committed cinema

Résumé du document

Tragicomedy refers to fictional works that blends the genres of tragedy and comedy into an entity that has its own character. It is a way to deal with tragedy as it is a difficult subject to be dealt with alone and the intensity can be cut by the distance set in by humor. Topics such as unemployment and racism are shown with an angle of humor but are seriously depicted in ?The Full Monty' by Peter Cattaneo and ?East is East' by Damien O'Donnell. The point that sets tragicomedy apart from comedy is that we don't laugh at the characters but with them. It is often hilarious, but there is something else underneath; it is a two level cinema. Tragicomedy delivers a message to the audience about the tragic society subject without making a heavy movie. It can have a cathartic effect and draw the audience attention to social issues without fatalism.

Extraits

[...] The film opens with an authentic-looking documentary trumpeting Sheffield's burgeoning steel industry, and twenty years later we can see Gaz, Nathan and Dave reduced to stealing steel girders from the abandoned mills in order to make ends meet. It sounds tragic told like that but the sequence is comic. They are locked in the mills and they have to go across a ship canal to get out: they stand on a car roof and try to join the edge but Nathan lets the girder drop in the water. [...]

[...] We care about these characters and feel that we have a stake in their success. For instance when Gaz goes to Mandy's house to see his son. Mandy and her companion tells him about the support payment: he has to pay 700£. He tries to call Nathan but he doesn't answer. This scene shows Gaz's pain: he hasn't family anymore, another man took his place he stays outside and can't reach his son. Nathan wants to go to a football match but Gaz can't afford it, he is not like his mate's fathers. [...]

[...] When Mina and her brothers have to work at their father's shop, there is a musical scene in which Mina sings miming an indian musical movie with a scrubbing brush. Language is also a tragi-comedy tool. When the Khan family go to Bradford, we can see painted "istan" on then the roadsign says "Welcome to Bradistan". One of the most comic scene shows the youngest child wants to have a pee but can'' use his bed pan because one of his brother is using it. [...]

[...] Tragi-comedy is a way to deal with serious social issues avoiding fatalism and pessimism. Thanks to humour a distance is set. A great tragi- comedy is characterized by a good balance between tragedy and comic: it is hard to have a good balance. Movie maker still have to think about ethic and audience reception. He can't make fun of his characters but make us laugh with us. Great tragi-comedy makes the audience think about issues but doesn't make feel anybody guilty or ashamed. [...]

[...] East is East is a tragicomedy. It tells the story of the Khan family, a group of people living in the 1970's in Stalfort, North England. George Khan is a Pakistani immigrant married to Ella, a native Anglo. Their marriage and their children face racial prejudice and internal strife as they struggle to find a place for themselves somewhere between their modern environment and the traditional Islamic mandates of George heritage. Thanks to comedy, Damien O'Donnell can deal with sensitive subjects such as racism and racial hate without offending anybody. [...]