Realism in the English dictionary is defined as ‘the representation in art or literature of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.’ For many viewers realism is used in the arts to create a more natural and everyday picture. It makes something easier to relate to and interpret in the eye of the beholder. As such it is used in film in the same way, but it is often used to create a more gritty style of film and often provokes a far different reaction from its audience, as it is often on things they witness everyday.
Social realism is a branch of realism, which focuses on society, the ways of society and often shows themes of class and racial boundaries. British cinema has given one of its biggest contributions to world cinema in social realism. This is because a majority of Britons prefer to show a true side to their country rather than glamorise and manipulate it in to a place they wished it would be, as a counter point to Disney and Hollywood. Whilst there are American film makers who are interested in social realism and it’s style more films that come from America are more mainstream and glamorised. Although social realism captures a truer image of society it is often less watched, as audiences prefer to be shown something different to reality as they use cinema and film as an escape from everyday life. This differs from mainstream film as they have larger budgets offering more glamorous sets, lighting, props and effects. Because these tools are often not available to the creators of social realism films the style of footage becomes more realistic through the lower budget, as it limits the film maker to a realistic style. Never the less the genre creates a niche audience which shows through the profits of the films; Bullet Boy received a gross profit of £140,332 on it’s opening weekend in April 2005 compared to the gross profit of Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous which made $101,393,569 on its opening weekend in the same month of the same year. This shows the difference in both the sizes of audience and the profit margins for different genres.
Just after World War I people felt that national cinema should show ‘realism and restraint’ however, this was only reflected in the middle-class, the working class preferred to watch the Hollywood blockbusters. Because of this connotations occurred in the genre of ‘education and high seriousness’ which then became running themes and distinctions of the genre, causing the films created to appeal to a much narrower demographic.
With time the genre was able to change as censorship laws were changed and Britain came out of its post war gloom ‘auteurs’ were able to stretch the boundaries of British film; giving characters money troubles, sex lives and social problems. British ‘auteurs’ such as Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and John Schlesinger dealt with issues such as prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, alienation and relationship problems. They introduced cinema to everyday people such as factory workers, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends, the marginalised, runaways, the poor and depressed. This change in the genre became known as ‘new wave’ cinema. It began to test and challenge the mainstream cinema’s aesthetics and attitudes. New wave films began to address the issues around masculinity, which has become a common theme in British social realism. The protagonist of a New wave film was often a working class male with out much bearing in society, where the traditions of industries and cultures that came with it were in steep decline. This is shown in ‘The Full Monty’ (1997), which focussed on the changing society and class boundaries in Sheffield as many became redundant and unemployed, because of the steel works closing. It also showed the growing commercialism of the country and dark humour of the time. However, the Full Monty also pushed the genre of social realism as it is a hybrid of both social realism and comedy. By doing this it allowed a more mainstream audience to experience the social realism genre as it combined an appealing element of mainstream film with a niche genre, and created a good synergy between the two as it allowed the comedy to use observations of the society to create an uplifting film which was realistic for its setting.
In other parts of Europe social realism is again a very popular genre with film makers, however they relate the story lines and characters to social questions in their part of the world again making it relevant to them. The post war films made in other parts of Europe stretched the boundaries of film and questioned things people were too scared to. In the film ‘Germany year zero’ it shows the effects of Hitlerism on a young boy in rubble filled Berlin; something that questioned many things that happened during the war and the aftermath that they were in. This was made in the Italian neorealism movement of film, a filmmaking style that was very materialistic and symbolic, through its camera and lighting use. This was shown in the film ‘The Bicycle Thieves’ which focuses on the poverty in post war Italy, and how the loss of something as simple as a bicycle can be heart wrenching as it is the loss of his lively hood. Some people do not feel that Italian neorealistic films are a radical film break-through, because the studios where many of the films were made was inaugurated by the fascist dictator Mussolini; thus giving the filmmakers grants under the fascist regime and making some of the films in a very similar way to melodrama that dominated pre-1944. However they did begin to question and show the flaws in their country and class and so could be seen to have been progressing film through their writing.
Moving back to British social realism, there are many films that have pushed the boundaries of the genre a list of a few innovative social realism films are shown below:
The extract I have used from ‘Train Spotting’ shows a drug addict getting his extra boost from the ‘Mother Superior’. The film Train Spotting is a hybrid of both social realism and drama. This is shown in this extract through the non-naturalistic techniques when the protagonist is taken in to the floor by the rug as if he is being swallowed or falling in to a coffin which connotes the danger and darkness of his state of mind. This black comical approach to a very dark scene shows the lack of control from the character and helps the audience to understand the characters emotions more. The film as whole demonstrates the harshness of drugs but makes it more light-hearted and ironic by playing particular tracks in certain scenes; like in this clip where ‘It’s such a perfect day’ is played over the top of him being taken to A&E. This takes it away from social realism as it is not natural and the music is non-diagetic. However it still conveys social issues such as drug addiction making it part of the genre.
The intro to Kidulthood clearly marks the genre, social realism. We can tell this from the mixed speeds of camera and jolting action. But through the use of the non-naturalistic techniques the realism of the social groups become clearer to the audience as it creates character traits in the main protagonists and combines more modern camera style and movement to represent a realistic character . To combine the realism with the style of the characters in the film it shows the edge of the characters and there personalities. The events that take place in the clip make the audience feel uncomfortable. This is done by not over dramatising or exaggerating in either acting or editing.
In this clip of ‘This is England’ we can tell that the film is social realism as the events taking place are completely ordinary. The cutting of the protagonists hair shows the literal change which the group are having on him, and shows how image is important in modern culture. It emphasises the young boy’s naivety and the ways that someone will change for popularity and company. It is filmed with very simple camera and not very much movement, which helps to create a realistic style and helps us to see the simplicity in the situation.
The damned united whilst being based on a true story and probably fitting in the genre biopic, it also shows the culture and society of the time and gives a hands-on insight to the social groups in football teams at the time. The clip I have used from the film is very simple and uses only three camera shots in a sequence; however this creates the simple conversation that the director is trying to achieve and as such shows the realism of the film.
The film Raining Stones shows the struggle of the working class to provide for their families. It again uses a very simplistic style and does not embellish at any point on any situations. It creates the realism through this and the truth of the story, which we feel to be realistic as it is an everyday scenario. The lack of extravagant camera shots also creates realism as it makes us feel we are watching the film first hand and not through a camera.
In this clip of Kes we see a very normal and average scene of a class playing football in P.E. This is a very simple idea and so creates a sense of realism in it. The realism is also created from the lack of care for hearing one voice at any time and a mix of voices at once. There are very few camera shots used in the scene and it conveys the realism of the film as we can see the film clearly from one point of view throughout.
There are many films in the Social realism genre and they show man issues through their years of production. Each covers a current issue from the time that they were filmed and raises questions to be brought to the attention of audiences. They, unlike many other genres of films do not act like an escape but a mirror image and an eye opener to the events, which happen around us. They create realistic portraits of everyday living, however harsh it can be and hep us to understand the society we live in.
