Social realism has become a staple within British cinema, with many of it's directors creating some of the most thought-provoking, controversial and provocative media of our time. Although the genre itself isn't as famous as many other genres, such as horror or romantic comedies - which are much more prolific genres - it provides a commentary on real, human issues that a lot of us will face during our life-times, and in British Cinema, it's an iconic staple of the industry, helping to pave the way for people to experience views they may not have even thought existed in the first place.
One of the directors who have made their name in the history books of British Cinema is Ken Loach, and his work within the social realism genre. His most famous work is probably the movie 'I, Daniel Blake', which got a whopping 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's clear people really identified, or at least appreciated the themes that were present in the film.
Tony Richardson is another one, whose most famous - or known, if not famous - piece of media is entitled 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner', which explores the past of an Irish boy from the slums. It got a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many particularly critical audiences feeling that the direction was too biased, didn't have enough of a style, and also strived for mediocrity.
Having even less of a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 'The L-Shaped Room', gaining a 63%. It was directed by Bryan Forbes, and explores themes of motherhood and affairs. Out of the 8 reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes page, 5 of them are positive reviews for the movie, while the other three are highly critical of it's themes and genre.
Those are only three of the many directors within the field. However, there are many visual conventions in the genre that seem typical in the movies. For example, their lack of interesting visuals. Since these kinds of movies are very down-to-earth, and are played much more seriously than many other films that may not be in the same genre as them, their visuals sort of have to follow suit. That's where the uninteresting visuals come in. You may notice the lack of lens flares, imagery, and other film-making techniques that usually make films nice to look at and fun to watch. This can make many of the films created within this genre a bit of a slog to watch, especially if you watch cinema to escape from the real world and it's many, many problems, or even just for fun.
As well as this, the protagonists present within the movies are usually middle-lower class citizens, with seemingly normal lives, but unfortunate circumstances befalling them during the course of the film. This seems prevalent in this genre specifically, and doesn't ever usually portray any sort of wealthy, affluent characters as protagonists. This is almost always done so that the director can make it seem as if the main character is being discriminated against in some way, or they're having something unjust or unfortunate happen to them, usually a form of inequality.
These conventions in the genre of social realism seem to be most prevalent within British cinema, and have become staples of the film-making process for a lot of these directors.
There are also a few common ideologies and themes present in many of the films created under this genre. Racial inequality, people struggling financially, bad living conditions, and many others are examples of common occurrences. There are also many people who try to insert their own political opinions into their movies. Some may find this interesting, to explore new views other than their own. But most people, including myself, really don't care for it. It isn't that it's not interesting, it's mostly because of the fact that most people go to watch films to be entertained. People watch movies to lose themselves in the unrealistic, yet fun stories and concepts. Not many people want to see the real world on the big screen, and social realism puts the problems and injustices of the real world at the forefront of these productions, and most people don't like that.
To conclude, I suppose I'll provide my own opinion of the social realism genre. I, personally, am not a big fan of it. I much prefer works that are rooted in non-fiction. And yes, many of these stories are non-fiction themselves, but they are placed in such real situations that I just can't find the motivation to get invested in them.
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