Social Realism Essay

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.’ Realism is used in the arts to create a more natural and everyday picture. It makes something easier for many viewers to relate to and interpret in the eye of the beholder. It is used in film in the same way, but it is often used in film to create a harsher or cutting edge film and often provokes a far different reaction from its audience, as it is often on things they witness everyday.

Social realism (also known as socio-realism) is a branch of realism, which focuses on society, the ways of society and often links in to class and racial boundaries. British cinema has given one of its biggest contributions to world cinema in social realism. This is because unlike in Americans, some Britons prefer to show the true side of their country rather then glamorise and manipulate it in place they wished it would be, as a counter point to Disney and Hollywood. Although there are many British directors who make big budget, mainstream, Hollywood films, equally there are also many filmmakers in America who concentrate on social issues and verisimilitude. 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 to escape from everyday life.

Just after World War 1 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 blockbuster, 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. One of the very first films that were within the social realism genre is ‘A Reservist Before the War, and After the War’ (1902), this film was a revolution to the cinema that was present and commented on the issue of unemployment that faced the Boer servicemen. It was produced by the Williamson Cinematograph Company which produced many short on the social realistic topic and genre. Although this may be one of the first social realism films to be created social realism didn’t take off within the UK until the 1960s.

Social realism in British film peaked during the 1960s in what was known as the British New Wave. There were many films that were produced just after World War 1 where it was widely felt that the key to national cinema laid in ‘realism and restraint’. These films were based upon the ever-changing wartime society. Films like “target for Tonight’ (1941), ‘In Which We Serve’ (1942), ‘Millions Like Us’ (1943) and ‘This Happy Breed’ (1944) smoothed away the tension between the class barrier by depicting factory, suburban and war life to the public.

One of the leading directors in the British New Wave was Tony Richardson. Richardson had directed the plays of John Osborne and together they set up one of the major production companies behind the British New Wave cinema, Woodfall films. They were one of the first to take the camera out of the studio confines and engage in large amounts of location shooting; again another first for the industry but was welcome under the eyes of the new filmmakers in the social realism genre. This is all seen within his films ‘A Taste of Honey’ (1961) and ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ (1961).

The social realism fostered by New Wave Cinema made a lasting impression on British filmmakers and cinema for years after the New Wave ended. It can still be seen within films such as the international hit by Peter Cattaneo, ‘The Full Monty’ (1997) as well as Lynne Ramsay’s successful ‘Rat catcher’ (1999). In short, the New Wave and the social realism it adopted extended way beyond its own period and flourishes in British Cinema today.

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, Lindsay Anderson, 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 know as ‘new wave’ cinema. It began to test and challenge the mainstream cinemas 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.

Films such as ‘Trainspotting’ (1996), ‘The Full Monty’ (1997), Billy Elliot  (2000), ‘This is England’ (2006), ‘London to Brighton’ (2006) and ‘Fish Tank’ (2009) all still include the themes of social realism however due to the difference in the time that they were created the socialist issues that are portrayed and the way it which they are portrayed differ slightly. The film ‘The Full Monty’ shows a happier, more comical side to the issues involved with social realism. Similarly, Billy Elliot and Trainspotting express the feeling of hope toward the end of each film, which is seen to be rare in the early social realism style. More modern social realism films go against the convention of only using diegetic sounds by including atmospheric and ambient non-diegetic sounds to enhance the scene.

There are a few main conventions of social realistic films due to the director having their own style and rationale for the films they produce. Some of the main features are:

Long Camera Shots: The actors often gave to improvise to give a more realistic feel to the films and give them a sense of authenticity.
No Major Editing: The directors usually chose to do this to divert the audience  from the fact that they are watching a film and to again show once more the realism of the film.
Hand Held Cameras: This is used to almost give a documentary type feel to the film but also to portray the feeling of characters have within the films clearly to the audience.
Only Diegetic Sound: Once more this helps give the realistic effect to the film.

In other parts of Europe social realism is again a very popular genre with film makers, however they relate to the story lines and characters to social questions in their part of the world again making it relevant to them. Unlike in Britain the post war films made in other parts of Europe stretched the boundaries of film and question 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. This is 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 bicylce 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 one social realism film which does this is, Train Spotting (1996). The clip from ‘Train Spotting’ shows a drug addict getting his extra boost form the ‘Mother Superior’. This black comical approach to a very dark scene shows the lack of control from the character and helps the audience to understand the characteers emotions more. The film as a 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 as he his being taken to A&E. This takes away from the social realism as it is not natural and the music is non-diagetic. However it still conveys social issues and had a realism approach to it making it part of the genre.

There are many films in the social realism genre and they the main issues through their years of production, Each covers a current issues from the time that they were filmed and raises questions to be brought to the attention of the 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 help us to understand the society we live in.