Social Realism in the British Context

Presented by: Jordan CrichlowClass: 12A/Me1

Date (s) produced: 12th/13th October 2013

Teacher: Mr Becker

Areas Covered

1. Realism or ‘realisms’?2. Realism and the cinema3. Defining social realism4. Practice and Politics5. Issues and themes6. Representation7. Form and Style8. Style

Social Realism

• Designed to include everything.

• Expresses ideas of:1. The text’s content.2. Its concerns.3. Its visual style.

Realism or 'realisms'?

Problems with the term itself

• The way in which the term ‘social realism’ is used.

• The term is used in a such a carefree way, and too generally, that:– It can loose its actual meaning.– There is no careful thought put into it.– It will be used in an uncritical manner.– It is capable of being replaced with something else;– For example:

• ‘Kitchen sink’ realism.• ‘Working class’ realism.

Realism or 'realisms'?

The critical consensus of realism

• The severely judged general agreement about “realism” is that it (is):

• ‘Gritty’.• ‘Raw’.• Offers a view of ‘life as it really is’.• The main style of representation from the Western

World.

Realism or 'realisms'?

Development of realism

• Gathered force in the nineteenth century.• Emerged as a:– frequently opposed– reform-seeking

• Became a huge topic of debate among:– Philosophers– Artists

• Numerous things contributed to the assisting progress of debate and motivation of the desire to tell of life ‘as it is really lived’.

Realism or 'realisms'?

-• expression• representation

Suggestions

• Carroll:– the term realism should only be used with a

particular word attached in front of it:• “social -”• “documentary -”

– This will specify the:• ‘what’ and ‘when’ of the particular moment or

movement.

Realism or 'realisms'?

Realism and the cinema

• By the end of the nineteenth century...– Literature– Theatre– Fine Arts

• ...were being given support by aesthetics, through varieties of approaches and devices, both:– Formal– Stylistic

Realism and the cinema

Quest and Truth

• The quest shared by all media was to:– Present the real nature of things that occur, via...• Capturing them with different branches of media

– Moving Pictures– Pictures, etc...

– Present the truth, – BUT• There was an intensely contested search for truth in

cinema...– Due to the many critical eyes that view it.

Realism and the cinema

Approaches

• Approaches by:• Andre Bazin (contends there are several realisms)• Emile Zola (believed film was a practice precisely

describing the actual circumstances of human life)

• Siegfried Kracauer (believed film was capable of representing the real, unlike any other form of media)

• Gerhardie (believed the goal of naturalism is to bring back the complete false belief of real life)

• ...seek to represent the truth of things that have become associated with realism, such as:– Conventions– Codes

Realism and the cinema

Defining social realism

• Social realism is difficult to define, because:

– Social realism is constantly changing.– Always liable to change.

• ...therefore a definition of this is continuously difficult to be told.

Defining social realism

Key features

• The way character and place are linked.– In order to explore an aspect of modern life.

• Similar to a style of art or literature that– Shows people as they are in real life

• This is contended by:– A way of including information irrelevant to the main

subject of films.• Aimed at films which aim to show effects of environmental

factors on the development through character.

Defining social realism

Criteria for defining realist texts

• Raymond Williams four criteria:1. Includes the belief that realist works prefer to illustrate

human truth, rather than divine truths.2. That realist texts are grounded in the contemporary

scene in terms of setting, character, and social issues.3. The issues of social exclusion, meaning that realist texts

tend to extend the range of characters and topics, to include previously under-represented groups in society.

4. The focus on the intent of the artist.

Defining social realism

Practice

• Practice is: – the way in which a film is: • produced • finished

• In British Social Realism, this has generally meant: – independent production, conducted via using:

• traditional skills• real locations • non-professional actors

• Because of filmmakers usage of non-actors and location shooting, Samantha Lay questions the commitment being shown to documentary truth, by the filmmakers.

Practice and Politics

Influence of politics

• The politics of the film maker will influence them to be:– different– distinct

• from the ordinary or the norm.• This leads them to demonstrate a

commitment to a specific set of ideas about the social world.

Practice and Politics

Practice and Politics

• The phrase “practice and politics”, refers to:– aspects outside of the text that influence the

main elements:

1. Form2. Structure3. Content4. Style

Practice and Politics

Reactions of the filmmakers

• Filmmakers who want to depict “life as it is”, are reacting to: – the way the world is constructed, by the

• majority of mainstream films

• practices involving studio and star systems, which are types of the construction, as they are commenting on aspects of contemporary social life.

Practice and Politics

Moral Realism

• In the opinion of Andrew Higson…• moral realism is: – the way British social realist texts have been

propelled to varying degrees by a:

• mission • ideal• goal

Practice and Politics

Free Cinema Group• Formed by :

• Tony Richardson• Lindsay Anderson• Karel Reisz• Lorenza Mazzetti

• Aims: – Produce:

• Creative• Visually exciting short films and documentaries.

• It was a group of people whose ideas differed from usual filmmakers.

Practice and Politics

British New Wave• Followed on from the Free Cinema Group.• Interested in extending the range of cinematic

representation for the working class, beyond London.• Tried to help aspiring directors attain a foothold in

the film industry. (Successful!)• One of there main goals was to explore out side of

the mainstream locations.• Established that character and place were related

well, and that environmental factors were largely unchangeable of a characters’ fates and fortunes.

Practice and Politics

Importance of Ken Loach

• Samantha Lay describes Ken Loach as:– a committed socialist, who used his documentary realist

strategies to explore conflicts and inequalities in societies.– His practice also avoided the use of stars, and employs

location shooting in representations of natural surroundings, because of his political beliefs and his intent as a filmmaker.

– Ken Loach was also one of the few filmmakers to voice attacks involving their own opinions, against the Thatcher government in the 1980s, which as a consequence, meant the majority of his documentaries at that time were never screened.

Practice and Politics

Content

• “Content” is made up of two conjoined and formed aspects:

1. the issues and themes that social realist texts seek to explore.2. the types of representations generally constructed.

• Because of the relevance of content issues, films and film text are tied to their specific moments of production and consumption, and different points of contrast are provided, including the different moments, movements and cycles of the film.

Practice and Politics

Filmmakers intent and issues

• Lay says that: – intent is often wanting to • change • be educative • be socially purposive in some way

– a filmmakers choice of issues is bound up with a• message • mission

Issues and themes

Dealing with issues

• Looking at the way an issue is dealt with in different time periods can be proved fruitful if– seeking to answer questions about why certain

themes might have been central in different social realist texts,

– seeking to find out why perhaps they were pushed to the background in later films.

Issues and themes

Constructs

• Through the constructs of film texts, we can determine – what reality is being constructed …– from which specific point of view, through • an analysis of

– themes

– issues

Issues and themes

The difference between issues and themes, according to Samantha Lay

Issues and themes

Issues

• Issues relate to the different social problems portrayed in films that were topical or ongoing around the time of the films production, which was a cause for national and social concern.

• Social issues are more immediate and visual social fears and concerns, usually with a high media profile and consequently a short shelf-life.

Issues and themes

Examples of Issues• Issues are subject to constant change, because of the

elements occurring in the same period of time, due to the now-ness of films, and then-ness of films. – An example of this is promiscuity, which was more of a concern in the

1950s, rather than the 1980s and 1990s.• Notable issues nowadays include child sexual abuse, alcohol

abuse, and drug abuse, which are portrayed in a numerous amount of films, television dramas, and soap operas, such as Eastenders.

• Issues are obvious and explicit, with a main storyline of a family spiralling out of control due to alcohol and drug abuse being a good example.

Issues and themes

Themes

• Themes are often not as explicit as issues are, but they are moreover implied.

• Themes represent less obvious threats to social unity and stability, and work at a much deeper level.

• Themes are more descriptive of remarkable occurrences, whereas issues tend to work as labels.

Issues and themes

Examples of themes

• Films are described in thematic terms that give us a deeper meaning of what lays behind the addiction issue, for example, the changing role of the working class in British social life from production to consumption.

• Themes are broader, longer-lived sets of concerns, usually implied within a given text. For example, in British social realism, some of the prevalent and recurring themes include the demise of the traditional working class, national identity, and the changing of gender roles.

Issues and themes

Observations/Opinions/Arguments• Film is a commercial medium, rather than

an educational tool.

• Representation of specific character types tended towards social extension.

• People of working class were largely represented by social extension, at different moments of social and economic change.

• Social realist texts draw in characters that were not in the centre of Hollywood productions.

• British cinema had severely under-represented the working class.

• Documentaries in the 1930s that represented the working class, worked to be excessively irrational towards the working class male body engaged in hard labour.

• Samantha Lay

• Williams

• Hill

• Hallam and Marshment

• Lindsay Anderson

• Dodd and Dodd

Representation

Social Extension

• Social extension is: – the extension of

• a range of characters to include • groups

– individuals » whom were not often represented on screens in the normal

cinemas considered and accepted by most people.

• The social extension in British Social Realism has urged filmmakers to rectify the social and representational lack of equality, in relation to class.

Representation

The working class

• In feature films, working class people were represented as…

• energetic • vibrant

– …which was partly due to the newly emergent youth culture, which filmmakers fascinated about.

– It was also due to the respect for the unpretentious traditional working class, which these filmmakers regarded as being under threat from the influence of American culture, and under threat from the forces of consumerism.

Representation

Time period changes and similarities

• 30s and 50s - Despite their differences, their documentary movements share a very strong emotive preoccupation with working class males.

• 50s and 60s - women were represented as a threat to masculinity, because of their obsession of marriage and motherhood. They were also the target of harsh attacks from their

working class heroes.• 80s - the gender gap was addressed by more female-centred

social realist texts, which reflected the rising importance of women in the workforce and in society as a whole.

• 90s - the portrayal of women had taken a huge step backwards, as women were now being portrayed as materialistic, or victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Representation

Representation• Samantha Lay makes the point that:

– British social realist films tend to give white male working class characters advantages.

– She explains that British social realism’s sense of social extension is extremely bad and shocking, as it has a huge lack of working class characters from different multicultural societies.

• This point made leads Samantha Lay to observe how very little…– asylum seekers– refugees – illegal workers

• …are rarely featured on British screens, beyond news bulletins and documentaries, and how they should be observed much better than in previous times.

Representation

Conclusion of representation• In a summary of Lay’s conclusion, it should be noted that within the

framework of social extension…– the representation of working class characters in British social realist films is

being attended to, whilst on the other hand… – these texts tend to favour white male working class characters.

• These are then defined as ‘prone’ to the social and psychological traumas of violence, unemployment, and addiction.

• Also the fact of the continuous moves from public to private and political to personal, are lost from the frame globally, as well as nationally, due to the wider structural inequalities being extended.

• Finally, some of the texts explore the thoughts or ideas belonging to the central protagonists through a recreation of the past, which can be argued via films offering a remembrance of happy times in the past, as a possible alternative to the heritage film in British cinema.

Representation

Form

• The term ‘form’ is being used to: – signify the • shape • mode in which social realist texts exist…

– whilst also referring to the • types• kinds• ‘arrangement of parts’

Form and Style

Social Realist filmmakers

• Social realist filmmakers employ: • specific • formal• stylistic

– …techniques, to • capture• observe• analyse

– …the workings of society.

Form and Style

Social realist texts

• Social realist texts work towards:– enlarging the representations in

• art • popular culture

– of previously under-represented and less important groups,

– looked upon as out of the mainstream.

• They also worked towards dealing with • issues • problems

– that mainstream cinema had previously shunned and ignored.

Form and Style

Intentions

• The intentions of:• Gary Oldman• Ken Loach• Lindsay Anderson• John Grierson

– …were all different, but what bought together their work was their presence of intent which they valued more than searching for fame and income.

Form and Style

Documentaries

• Documentaries are: – judged to say about ‘things as they really are’,

which in other words means that they offer a slice of life to the viewers.

Form and Style

Programmes

• Programmes are – judged to be screened to simply entertain the

viewing public, which is not offering a view of life as it really is.

Form and Style

THERE ARE HUNDREDS!!

Mainstream and social realist texts

• Mainstream texts tend to differ from social realist texts, as the narrative structures focus on a central protagonist, whilst working in a linear or cause-and-effect way.

• The mainstream texts always usually tend to work towards the defeat of certain antagonists in the text, with the protagonist coming out on top, surviving, being the hero, and so on.

• A notable difference between the two texts is that social realist texts tend to run regularly, with no final outcome or ending of the text coming into play, as they are ongoing.

• The continuous storylines of the texts are often negative, though it should be noted that the degree of resistance and resolution varies widely between different texts.

Form and Style

Naturalism

• Some people considered naturalism to be:

– British social realist texts preferring to associate themselves with

• Content …instead of style.

Style

‘Gritty’

• The term ‘gritty’ describes the– surface realism of • landscapes inhabited by the

– characters

– the way in which they are both filmed – the attitude and behaviour of the character

Style

Poetic realism

• Created by:

– A widely used number of stylistic techniques including the sequences of

• establishing shot sizes, namely…– wide-angled– long shots of urban landscapes.

Style

Outcome of involvement with film

• Social realist style has been put to use across a number of different genres, for example:

• horror• comedy• science fiction

– …and some of the techniques are consequently part of mainstream cinema, such as… • hand-held techniques

– …noticed and represented in the film Jaws.

Style

Social Realism in the British Context Presentation

• Presented by: Jordan Crichlow• Written by: Jordan Crichlow• Edited by: Jordan Crichlow

• EVERYTHING by: Jordan Crichlow

• The Beacon School 2013/14• Media Presentation• Class: 12A/Me1