Social realism can be defined as a genre that thrives on the creator's desire to draw attention to socio-political conditions of mainly working class characters to criticise power structures and hierarchies that have founded the conditions and subsequent problems of the characters involved.
More broadly, it's influence to art flourished between the two World Wars as a reaction to the hardships and troubles of the 'common people'; America saw an increase in similar workings during the 1929 Wall Street Crash, which set the foundations for the genre to focalise the plight of the poor.
Popular names in the British Social Realist scene include Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Alan Clarke and Tony Richardson. They have directed some of the genre's most renowned names, such as Naked, This is England, Made in Britain, Scum, Nil By Mouth and The Loneliness of the Long Distance runner.
However, social realism seems to find its home in the UK for it's gritty and realistic take on oftentimes controversial characters. The plots often hone in on anti-social behaviour such as violence, alcoholism, substance abuse as well as an amalgamation of isolationism and alienation. Perhaps considered a political statement, British social realist movies attack right-wing ideologies and the influence of higher-powers on lower-class life. Another commonality for the genre to explore is issues surrounding masculinity and all its stereotypical traits, heightened to an extreme yet of course, realistic level.
Visual styles synonymous with the genre are lingering shots on contemplative characters in either location shots to give it a vulnerable and true-to-location feeling, or inside shots of typically dingy, dirty places that can seem dangerous or claustrophobic.
The aforementioned visual style of a lingering shot in many social-realist movies are, at the beginning of the movie, dramatic to give the kick-starter to the movie that establishes the motifs evidently as soon as possible. In many of Alan Clarke's movies, namely Made in Britain, we see Tim Roth's character pursued by a camera in his hot-headed furious walking style. This signifies he's either in danger, or about to cause some; either way, the threat of danger and vulnerability is the ethos of social realism in its many forms. We understand that these controversial characters are the antithesis of an archetypal hero, however the genre explores their character as a means of revoking autonomous responsibility from their own actions, and instead pushes this onto authoritative positions who are actually the archetypal 'villain' of sorts.
However, the lack of a physical presence of authority figures, even the local authorities such as police, connote to that isolationism from society that characters may feel and the emotions and anguish they experience is what conveys them as a hero in their own way. There is a heavy reliance on the Labour/left-leaning ideology that stemmed from the 1942 Beveridge Report that governments have a responsibility to take care of the public 'from the cradle to the grave', and so by demonstrating that these characters have clearly been abandoned by the system, we are encouraged to
We are also encouraged to align with characters in the same way, by acknowledging their universal themes of loss, loneliness and helplessness. The amplification of this to an extraneous degree to show the extent of other people's poverty and disadvantaged lives.
This clearly coincides with comes with times of political strife and unrest, mainly criticising the aforementioned right-wing ideologies that are prominent at the time of making the movies. The actions of Conservative governments are not without response, as there are the physicality of riots, and the modesty of film-making, somewhat immortalising the trials and tribulations of the effects they have on a working-class society.
A focal point of this was Thatcher's impositions during her time in charge and how working classes felt her primary goal was to attack them. This direct hit obviously was much inspiration for social realist movies that focalise unemployment and the effects of the resented Means Test. Therefore, whatever degree right-wing distaste is expressed, political and era context is integral to the
Culturally, the controversy surrounding social realist movies stems from their violence and 'offensive' material stem from the subversion to an apologetic and polite culture we pride ourselves on, and so by showcasing a identity of bruised Britain, there is a disturbance of an idyllic representation of the UK that is personified to the rest of the world through 'prim and proper' TV and movies that base themselves around period dramas and the etiquette we pride ourselves on. Attacking this means the dissatisfaction that prompts the creation of social realist movies relies on independent production companies that are willing to offer an anecdote to hegemonic representations of Britain.
Gary Oldman's 'Nil By Mouth' offers an insight into how independent production companies allow liberty in expressing issues social realism tackles; the movie had broken the record (though it has since been beaten) for the most uses of the profanity 'fuck'. However, it's sensationalistic perceptions are redundant here; this is a realistic depiction of working class, uneducated people attempting to express themselves, but in being insufficient to do so, are moulded into disrespectful citizens.
This interview offers an insight into a distaste for the glamorised Hollywood depiction of 'real life' that strays further from what we, particularly a British audience, know to be true to us.
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