Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Birkbeck College
Chapter title
Histoire-fiction de l’occupation nazie du Royaume-Uni dans It Happened Here
Type
C - Chapter in book
DOI
-
Publisher of book
Paris: Éditions Nouveau Monde
Book title
Les Mises en scène de la guerre au XXe siècle
ISBN of book
9782847365764
Year of publication
2011
URL
-
Number of additional authors
-
Additional information
-
Interdisciplinary
-
Cross-referral requested
-
Research group
None
Proposed double-weighted
No
Double-weighted statement
-
Reserve for a double-weighted output
No
Non-English
Yes
English abstract
This essay reconsiders the filmic representation of Britain’s role in World War Two by focusing on Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo’s It Happened Here as an example of “history-fiction”, i.e. a dramatic narrative based on a purely hypothetical historical situation: What if the Germans had successfully invaded Britain in 1940? Having situated It Happened Here in the British post-war film tradition, the article examines the film’s peculiar production context, then analyses its narrative structure and thematic nuances, and finally considers its problematic reception and truncated distribution.
