British Social Realism

Alannis& Sian

What is social realism? Social realism is a genre of film which mainly

focuses on the topical issues that are present in modern Britain. These come from different perspectives and ideologies on life in Britain.

Social realism films mainly focus on working class people or people living in poverty, as these people are critical about the social structure of society.

These films mainly focus on the inequality of society and the struggles that are put upon the lower/working class in Britain.

The history of social realism

The social realism genre is a typical British genre, it pushes the boundaries of film making to put the real life experiences that British people face every day.Britain’s contribution to the cinema shortly after the war was a state sponsored documentary, that was feed into mainstream society in the 1940’s. Michael Balcon received the social/aesthetic distinction as he referred to the rivalry between British film making and Hollywood film making as “realism vs tinsel”.

The first ever British social realism film was about the Boer War, and the service men coming back home to unemployment. This film was directed by James Williamson in 1902, it was called A reservist before the war, and after the war.

Key films and directors : Kes (1969) Kes is a feature length film based on the novel A Kestrel

for a Knave, it is directed by Ken Loach. It is ranked 7th in the British film institutes top 10 British

films. The film focuses on a 15 year old boy called Billy Casper,

he has little hope in life and is abused and bullied by his half brother at school. He comes across as a emotional neglected boy with little self respect, this is seen as he is provoked into fights with classmates. His mother (a single parent) refers to him as a “hopeless case”.

Billy finds escapism from the horrible life that he lives when he takes a nest from a farm, as the relationship between “Kes” and Billy develops it is seen that he is improving in all aspects of his life.

Key films and directors : Fish tank Fish tank is a feature length film directed by Andrea

Arnold (who also directed Milk and Wasp) Fish tank is about a 15 year old girl called Mia, she

lives in an estate in Essex. She lives with her little sister Tyler and her tarty mother Joanne. Mia has been thrown out of school and does nothing with her time. Mia then befriends Joanne’s boyfriend Connor who encourages her one true interest dancing.

This film is seen to be uplifting as Mia is aiming to fulfil her passion of dancing. But as Connor manipulates Mia it shows that he is the controlling and powerful adult.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2257454105/

Characterisation All the characters that are portrayed in social realism films

are believed to be ‘real’ although a lot of it is over-exaggerated. For example many people may know or hear of story’s of child abuse and neglect but it is very rare for a case to be as extreme as “Mud Boy”, where the young boy is murdered and buried in the garden without the mother noticing.

The main character in Fish Tank, Mia (Katie Jarvis) did not audition for the role but the directors saw her arguing in the street with her boyfriend. This shows that not only the stories used are real to British life but also the characters.

The characters are portrayed in a way that everyone can relate, the audience may not be able to related exactly to the portrayal of the characters but they will in some way. For example in Wasp, the single mothers watching may be able to relate as they understand the freedom needed and craved.

Themes

Most British social realism films having the same themes running through them such as gangs, drugs and violence. Famous British social realism films such as Cubs, Cherries and Trainspotting.

Other British social realism films having other themes such as poverty, depression, neglect and single mothers. Some films showcasing these themes are mud boy, Wasp and Tyler.

Some less common themes represented in British social realism films are under age pregnancy (About a girl) and war (A reservist before the war, and after war).

Humour vs SeriousnessErosion of regional identityDrinking

 

How do we define Social Realist texts

Raymond Williams

The film includes the illustration of human truth, rather than defining truthThe film is grounded in the contemporary scene in terms of setting, character and social issuesThe issues of social exclusion, meaning that realist texts tends to extend the range of character and topic

Cinematography Most of British social realism films, start with a

long establishing shot to let the audience get to grips with the character(s) and the setting they live in. The settings usual dull and grey to represent the bad mood of the film and the poor conditions the character(s) live in. If a long shot is not used in the establishing shot it will be used in the rest of the film to highlight the negativity.

Cinematography Another technique used is close ups to

highlight the poverty or distress of a character, close ups are key as it makes the audience feel for the character as they are so close and an emotional attachment is formed. This is what makes the films unique as the audience genuinely feel for the characters and feel what there going through. This also relates to the Characterisation slide as some of the viewers can relate the characters.