Editing Cinema of the United Kingdom (section)

===1990s===
[[File:Hugh Grant Cannes.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hugh Grant]] at the [[1997 Cannes Film Festival]]]]

Compared to the 1980s, investment in film production rose dramatically. In 1989, annual investment was a meagre £104 million. By 1996, this figure had soared to £741 million.<ref>Dyja, Eddie (ed.); 'BFI Film and Television Handbook 1999', London: BFI, 1998; p. 42.</ref> Nevertheless, the dependence on finance from television broadcasters such as the BBC and Channel 4 meant that budgets were often low and indigenous production was very fragmented: the film industry mostly relied on Hollywood inward investment. According to critic Neil Watson, it was hoped that the £90 million apportioned by the new [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]] into three franchises (The Film Consortium, Pathé Pictures, and DNA) would fill the gap, but "corporate and equity finance for the UK film production industry continues to be thin on the ground and most production companies operating in the sector remain hopelessly under-capitalised."<ref>Watson, Neil, "Hollywood UK", in ''British Cinema of the 90s'', London: BFI Publishing, 2000, p. 82.</ref>

These problems were mostly compensated by [[PolyGram Filmed Entertainment]], a film studio whose British subsidiary [[Working Title Films]] released a [[Richard Curtis]]-scripted comedy ''[[Four Weddings and a Funeral]]'' (1994). It grossed $244 million worldwide and introduced [[Hugh Grant]] to global fame, led to renewed interest and investment in British films, and set a pattern for British-set romantic comedies, including ''[[Sliding Doors]]'' (1998) and ''[[Notting Hill (film)|Notting Hill]]'' (1999). Other Working Titles films included ''[[Bean (film)|Bean]]'' (1997), ''[[Elizabeth (film)|Elizabeth]]'' (1998) and ''[[Captain Corelli's Mandolin (film)|Captain Corelli's Mandolin]]'' (2001). PFE was eventually sold and merged with [[Universal Pictures]] in 1999, the hopes and expectations of "building a British-based company which could compete with Hollywood in its home market [had] eventually collapsed."<ref>Watson, "Hollywood UK", p. 83.</ref>

Tax incentives allowed American producers to increasingly invest in UK-based film production throughout the 1990s, including films such as ''[[Interview with the Vampire (film)|Interview with the Vampire]]'' (1994), ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]'' (1996), ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' (1998), ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace]]'' (1999) and ''[[The Mummy (1999 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1999). Miramax also distributed [[Neil Jordan]]'s acclaimed thriller ''[[The Crying Game]]'' (1992), which was generally ignored on its initial release in the UK, but was a considerable success in the United States. The same company also enjoyed some success releasing the [[BBC]] period drama ''[[Enchanted April (1992 film)|Enchanted April]]'' (1992) and ''[[The Wings of the Dove (1997 film)|The Wings of the Dove]]'' (1997).

Among the more successful British films were the [[Merchant Ivory]] productions ''[[Howards End (film)|Howards End]]'' (1992) and ''[[The Remains of the Day (film)|The Remains of the Day]]'' (1993), [[Richard Attenborough]]'s ''[[Shadowlands (1993 film)|Shadowlands]]'' (1993), and [[Kenneth Branagh]]'s Shakespeare adaptations. ''[[The Madness of King George]]'' (1994) proved there was still a market for British [[costume drama]]s, and other period films followed, including ''[[Sense and Sensibility (film)|Sense and Sensibility]]'' (1995), ''[[Restoration (1995 film)|Restoration]]'' (1995), ''[[Emma (1996 theatrical film)|Emma]]'' (1996), ''[[Mrs. Brown]]'' (1997), ''[[Basil (film)|Basil]]'' (1998), ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]'' (1998) and ''[[Topsy-Turvy]]'' (1999).

After a six-year hiatus for legal reasons the [[James Bond in film|James Bond]] films returned to production with the 17th Bond film, ''[[GoldenEye]]''. With their traditional home [[Pinewood Studios]] fully booked, a new studio was created for the film in a former [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] aero-engine factory at [[Leavesden Film Studios|Leavesden]] in [[Hertfordshire]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pounds-200m-film-studio-boost-for-uk-1580727.html|title=£200m film studio boost for UK|date=7 November 1995|work=The Independent|access-date=29 June 2012|archive-date=19 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119134313/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pounds-200m-film-studio-boost-for-uk-1580727.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Mike Leigh]] emerged as a significant figure in British cinema in the 1990s, with a series of films financed by Channel 4 about working and middle class life in modern England, including ''[[Life Is Sweet (film)|Life Is Sweet]]'' (1991), ''[[Naked (1993 film)|Naked]]'' (1993) and his biggest hit ''[[Secrets & Lies (film)|Secrets & Lies]]'' (1996), which won the [[Palme d'Or]] at Cannes.

Other new talents to emerge during the decade included the writer-director-producer team of [[John Hodge (screenwriter)|John Hodge]], [[Danny Boyle]] and [[Andrew Macdonald (producer)|Andrew Macdonald]] responsible for ''[[Shallow Grave (1994 film)|Shallow Grave]]'' (1994) and ''[[Trainspotting (film)|Trainspotting]]'' (1996). The latter film generated interested in other "regional" productions, including the Scottish films ''[[Small Faces (film)|Small Faces]]'' (1996), ''[[Ratcatcher (film)|Ratcatcher]]'' (1999) and ''[[My Name Is Joe]]'' (1998).