What is British Social Realism?

British Social Realism:

Within this section, I will be analysing British social realism in an attempt to further understand the genre of the film our short films will be taking. I will be looking at the example of Kes briefly and giving themes of British social realism.


British Social Realism - Films based on current social issues within society at that time.

* Challenges the status quo
* Focus on current issues and ideologies of society
* Draws attention to working class within society
* Over the last 50 years then themes of social issues have changed and developed
* Revolve around the youth within society.


60’s
* Heavily influenced by the British documentary movement.
* Humphrey Jennings brought a surreal approach to pop culture in everyday life - known as British new wave.
* Ken loach and Tony Garnett were big advocates for British social realism within the sixties.
* Explores margins of society and projected industrial working class fa!ilies mostly from the Midlands and up north.
* Kes (1969)
* Saturday night and Sunday morning (1960)
* The loneliness of the long distance runner


70’s and 80’s
* In the 70’s there was little progress within social British realism within film, however it developed in television - EastEnders, Emmerdale.
* In the 1979 the structure of Britian changed: Margaret Thatcher came into power; it showed the hostality towards the government.
* ‘Making the rich richer and the poor poorer’
* Films were pessimistic and attempted to climb up the social ladder.
* Worked with a new diverse landscape: gender and race.
* Films didn't express the social realism in a straightforward manner
* Film example to show hostility;
* High hopes (1988)
* My beautiful launderette (1985)
* The Cook, The Theif, His Wife, Her Lover (1989)

90’s
* Arrival of the labour party - optimistic Britian.
* Films being shown in a different light and represented not just the new social issues such as youth and drug culture but the music scene within Britian as well.
* The working class was now coined as the underclass.
* Consists of poor and unemployed and the lowest position of class hierarchy
* There were two tendencies being shown in films:
* Male anxiety
* Labours new idea of rebranding
* Lack of political action and image of utopian society within the classes
* Working class played a certain role within the 90’s, they were a commodity and a style.
* The Full Monty (1997)
* Trainspotters (1996)
* Billy Elliot (2000)

00’s
* Social realism had a subtle change.
* New millennium started to showcased more films to do with the nitty-gritty life and dilemas the youths were facing.
* Focused on class and race.
* Opened up the market to multicultural markets living within the UK.
* Ken Loach is an advocate for the social realism and displayed this when winning the palm D’Or at cannes Film Festival for ‘The wind that shakes the barley’ (2006) it combines social realism and history together.
* Adulthood (2008)
* Kidulthood (2006)
* Bend it Like Beckham (2002)