British social realism is a style of cinema that presents the lives of normal people living in Britain. It is used to create a sense of verisimilitude, as a way of diverting away from the unrealistic and unattainable Hollywood blockbuster. It is also often set in a certain period/place.British Social Realism was highly prominent during the 1950’s and 1960’s and is still popular to this day.
British Social Realism is politically angry, this is demonstrated in This is England as it is directed towards Thatcher and uses Far Right Politics. In This is England Shaun is in search for a father figure in which he meets Woody and Combo.
British social realism also uses similar strategies to documentary film making and it has been influenced by the French New Wave (Italian Near Realism.) – This is evident when we see Shaun chucking the flag into the water, reference to 400 blows.
Combo is manipulative and is the stereotype towards your extremely angry man in this film genre
Hard truths are also demonstrated within this genre. This is emphasized by the treatment of Milky and the Asian and Jamaican immigrants
– Ska music is also played a lot.
EXAMPLES
This screenshot demonstrates the fact that This Is England
fits the genre as it shows them all demonstrating the stereotypes of the Working class genre.
This screenshot is a prime example of the anger towards Politics. Margret Thatcher is talked about a lot in the film and the act of graffiti on the church just demonstrates further aggression. This links This Is England towards the genre as it links back to the concept of the genre being very politically centered.
This screenshot demonstrates Rage and Anger, it also signifies the marginalization of people from Pakistan, linking it back to the British Social Realism Genre.
This screenshot represents the fact that the area in which This Is England is filmed in an impoverished area – This is emphasized by the setting behind Combo.
Demonstrates the style of documentary style filming as it is archive footage of the two of them.
This demonstrates examples of the racist attitude towards people during this time period, linking it closer toward the genre.
This helps demonstrate the significance of the Iconography in the film
This shot is at the end of the film and it is where he chucks the English Flag in the water. This is significant as it is influenced by the French New Wave (Italian Near Realism.)