-British Social Realism is a cinema movement. It is often set in a certain period/place and aims to create verisimilitude. It includes real stories, real people and makes us an active audience, we recognize the setting and characters. We also focus on the immediate and central experience of the characters.
-British social realism also uses similar strategies to documentary film making and it has been influenced by the French New Wave (Italian Near Realism.)
It demonstrates the hard truth of everything- emphasized in This Is England by the treatment of Milky and the Asian and Jamaican immigrants.
-This genre however is pushing against Hollywood.
Source 3: Kes a British Social Realist Case Study
“Britain’s Richest gift to world cinema”- Richard Armstrong
British social realism has defined itself as a documentary style of film making that endeavors to depict reality and as genuine a way as possible.
Ken Loach “wanted people to recognize from the inside, their own lives reflected back.” – Tony Garnett
GENRE AND REPERTOIRE OF EVENTS
| Cinematic Feature | Description | Film Elements |
| Story | British Social Realist films attempt to, ‘Show us to ourselves.’ Tell us stories about real people
stories of the working class being severely unrepresented A reflection of mainstream Hollywood and going against that |
Narrative |
| Themes | It opens our eyes to the realities of society, demonstrates injustice and politics and subcultures. – Uses the stories of normal people and the social issues that they face.
Demonstrates the impact of ‘cruel’ policies on working class people |
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| Characters | An angry young man. – often centralized around a male character
Compassionate paternal maternal figures. A flawed / cruel bureaucratic figure or demagogue, leads the character astray. Other peripheral characters who represent other facets / victims of society. “Here were factory workers, office underlings, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends, runaways, the marginalized, poor and depressed.” Richard Armstrong (BFI Online) |
Representation |
| Setting | Work class Britain
focuses on the working class and expresses the deprivation in which they have faced. |
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| Mise-en-scene (Iconography) |
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Film Language |
| Production Techniques | They sometimes use non-professional actors to heighten the realism
-They were prolific films Improvised scripts Often use popular music of the time Lyrics are often significant; they juxtapose or emphasize the visuals. |