TOO MUCH: Melodrama on Film

Delivered in partnership with the BFI, FAN is proud to unveil the new UK-wide season – Too Much: Melodrama on Film – where audiences are invited to follow their emotions and get swept away by the big screen experience.

This Autum, Too Much: Melodrama on Film will celebrate cinema which champions emotional intensity over propriety and ‘good taste’. With roots in the exaggerated performance of the silent era, the melodramatic mode incorporates a wealth of genres and stories. United by emotion driven plots, vivid visual language and self-conscious audience manipulation, these films are designed to make you break down in tears; cause a scene; fall in love.

Learn more about the season at: bfi.org.uk/too-much.

Film Hub members across the UK have devised bold bespoke programmes that want you to feel something – and Film Hub Scotland is no different:

Scotland’s events: Melodrama on Film

Please note: applications to take part in this season are now closed.

What is ‘melodrama’?

Defining melodrama is notoriously difficult as its trademarks (emotive music, dramatic plots and expressive performance) are the bread and butter of cinema. To be included in the season, films must meet the following criteria:

• Heightened emotions and pathos: on screen, and/or deliberately induced in the audience.
• Some combination of amplified performance, visuals, score and plot used to achieve this.
• Personal relationships at the heart of the emotional conflict portrayed.

Melodrama in film has long been associated with women – the rare storytelling mode concerned with their inner lives and everyday struggles. ‘Women’s pictures’ employed melodrama to express longing, rage and desire in characters facing motherhood, infidelity, sexual abuse and scandal. Too Much will celebrate the female stars of melodrama who have drawn audiences to the cinema in their millions, and films exploring women’s experiences are encouraged.

Backed by a UK-wide Press and marketing campaign and a central listing platform, BFI FAN’s season will have a broad audience appeal.

→ Explore: BFI’s Too Much listings page