How soon is too soon?

How soon is too soon?

It is believed that the best time to produce a film about a youth culture would be around 13-25 years has to pass between the height of the experience/youth culture and release of the film.The idea is with this difference it would allow audiences who lived the experience to have grown up but not too much so that they can remember their youth and still yearn for it.

According to an article produced by the guardian films period films about youth culture are very common however it has been difficult to pin down any sort of artistic or box office success with this genre in film.

Kerrigans film human traffic set against the backdrop of 90's rave culture offered very little in critque of the scene and its legacy; this however may be due Kerrigan being rushed to bringout the filmduring the same decade it was depicting. As a result of this there wasnt any real idea of what the culture actually mean't in our history.

Its been much debate how long film makers should wait when tackling a youth culture period peice to provide some meaningful thought.

Alex Cox director of Sid and Nancy has said looking back he's not happy with his youth culture film about the 80's and the punks. It is believed that he rushed into making the film due to rumours of potential Hollywood competition however Cox one day wishes to revist his film.

Another reason why Cox may be dissapointed with his vision is because his film was released eight years after the events it was still adressing and thus Cox may have been suffering from a case of "nostalgia googles" when directing the project.

According to the article a period drama should contexualise and analyse to foster or confront nostalgia and to explain why we are the adults we are today.

As a result of this time must past to make sure there isnt a sense of bias as well as develop a better sense of hindsight.

According to Peter Carlton (commissioner for film 4) the ideal youth culture film unites both those who expericenced the events and younger audiences. However because of this idea many youth culture films resort to using stereotypes to capture younger audiences as well as older audiences seeking a sense of false nostalgia. This representation is not entirely accurate.

Carlton believes what alos makes a good yoth culture film is if there is a link between what is covered in the film and social concerns happening today. He believes that This is England depicts themes that still affect us today however he also believes that the script was so good anyway that they could have had characters wearing bin liner and it still would've been relatable.

Richard Jobson is taking on the challenge of directing a sequel to Quadrophenia after 40's of the films release; the problem here bieng that the gap could be too large that older audiences would've moved on from there younger days and the film may seem so long ago that to younger audiences, the period would feel alien and not relatable.

Cosgrove states that most successful youth cultre films follow the same 13-25 year rule even the rose tinted US films such as Grease follow this trend . This may be something to do with how our affection for our youth fades when we are hit by responsiblites such as marrage, parenthood and morgages.

Jobson believes that a sedentray middle age desires to recapture their yotuh, this could be why these films may appeal to their audiences.

Dr Catherine Happer belives that these films serve as vehicle for aging film makes look bck to their youth for a meaning to justify who they are today.

However Screenwriter Colin Carberry believes that not even 15 or 25 years would be enough to provide a political perspective. Carberry believes that since drama at its base relies on binary oppostites events that are not so black and white are simplified to offer up a narrative to audiences which lessens the meaning behind these films.

When thinking about why these films have a time limit on there release, I believe the cause of this is the fact that film needs to be relatable on some level to attract audience and really send a message to its viewers. If released too early and released during the time its depicting, the film will be in deed relatable since it is depicting the present and present day events however because of this as evidenced by Human traffic there would be little sense of hindsight or critique on the events. However if the film is released too late after the events it depicts said social situations and problems seen in the film may be considered trival by the films audience or perhaps the fashion styles and culture may be so old it may seem to the films audience as archaic and alien.