What is social realism?
Realism and social realism are very similar. Realism is something the actually happened but social realism is something that could happen in real life shown in an image of some sort. There are different types of social realism such as social realism art, what are realistic portraits of working class and the poor people in the 19th centaury. These paintings were to show the condition some people were living. Social realism in film are made to show the lives of lower/ working class people and the problem the struggle they go though in the everyday lives. Since these films are set about lower/ working class people the general location for the setting of these films are urban environments or suburbs. Social realism in generally means a realistic circumstance that has or could easily happen captured on to a film, picture or even portrait.
Social realism during the British new wave and the leading directors and writers
Social realism peaked in Britain in the late 1950s, early 1960s during the British new wave or also known as kitchen sink realism. Films shown at this time are, “Look Back in Anger” was originally a play by John Osborn in 1956 but was made in to a film by director Tony Richardson in 1958 also along with directors Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson and a comment by Malcolm McDowell he said ”Changed everything about western drama”. Tony Richardson also directed during the British new wave called “A Taste Of Honey” In 1961 but was originally adapted from screen play written by Shelagh Delany under the same name of the film in 1958. This film was more appropriate of females by have the film focus on Jo a young girl as the main character of the film and was one of the first film to casually accept homosexuality in positive way in a film but still focuses the gritty working class style of life but filmed in a losers more documentary way than other social realism film before it. Tony Richardson was one of the main directors during the British new wave. He originally made documentaries until he made his debut with “Look Back In Anger” revolutionising British films and help create social realism genre in film. He also said “I think you should be able to say or do anything on the screen. I don’t believe in any form of censorship what so ever and with all the dangers it might expose people to. I still think films should be made so people can see anything that they want to see”.
Another during the British new wave was “Saturday night and Sunday Morning” was originally a novel by Alan Sillitoe but made into a film by Karel Reisz. Karel Reisz was one of the main directors the British new wave. Similar to Tony Richardson he stared out in film making documentaries. Also Karel first film was a short documentary “Momma Not Allowed” with Tony Richardson as co-director. Karel commented about his early career “there was this vast reservoir of interesting stuff going on and nobody was looking at it. So these early film were just really finding the kind of things that the camera should be pointed at and really that there important”.
Another film during the British new wave called “Woman in a Dressing Gown” this was written by Ted Willis in 1957. This film was unique because focuses on an older generation of people and it was one of the few films during the British new wave of the social realism genre that wasn’t adapted from a novel or play. The film is about family and marriage falling apart because of the husband is having an affair with a co-worker. This film also won the “Silver Bear for Best Actress” given to Yvonne Mitchell at the “
7th Berlin International Film Festival”
Social realism in the Hindi film industry
Hindi films adapted there films to the social realism genre in the 1940s and 1950s to produce films such as “Neecha Nagar” directed by Chetan Anand in 1946. Originally inspired by novel called “The Lower Depths” and was written by a Russian called Maxim Gorky which was then was written by Hayatulla Ansari to make the novel “Neecha Nagar” what the film is based on. The film focuses at the gap in society the spate the rich from the poor. Compare this to other British social realism film the theme is very similar but since they are set in different countries the way that it is shown is completely different cause of the location and also the law are different so the reason why they are poor would be completely different to British social realism films.
Another Hindi social realism film is “Do Bigha Zamin” directed by Bimal Roy in 1953 and written by Salil Choudhury (story), Paul Mahendra (dialogue), and Hrishikesh Mukherjee (scenario). The film is about a farmer and family that are suffering from a drought but when it finally start to rain he find out that he has to pay a loan that he can’t afford to keep his land and so him and his family goes to a city to get a job and it shows his struggles in attempting to get them money to pay the loan. This film is different to British social realism film because in of location and environment but the theme of being in debut is a common theme in British social realism films.
In comparing British and Hindi social realism films I’ve found out the themes are themes are the same but the environment and setting are completely different.
Modern British social realism films
Modern social realism films like “This Is England” which is directed by Shan Meadows made in 2006 is more of a conventional social realism film stay with the themes and codes and conventions of the social realism genre but is set in 1983. Films like “Trainspotting” (directed by Danny Boyle, in 1996) are more of a hybrid of drama with social realism aspects. It more of drama because of its editing and non-diegetic sound constantly being used and over exaggeration. But has social realism aspects because of its theme and plot. A social realism film that is set in modern day society is “Kidulthood” (2006) directed by Menhaj Huda and it squeal “Adulthood” (2008) directed by Noel Clarke. They are about how modern day cultures like gangs effect teenager in modern day life. This again like “Trainspotting” is a hybrid of drama with social realism aspects. It is rare to find a modern British social realism film that is widely advertised and is a pure social realism film not and hybrid.
Codes and conventions of the social realism genre
· Plot usually in involves lower class to working class people
· Plot should be a realistic to the people of lower class and working class perspective
· Hand held shot used frequently to give the film a documentary feel and to show the character feeling in a visual way
· It should contain minimal amount of editing to give it more of a realistic effect
· Minimal amount of non-diegetic sound if not none. Should only to be put in a social realism film for effect
· Establishing shot so the audience always know were the scene is being taken place
Target audience of social realism
The target audience has change in the last 60 year of social realism film. Old social realism film target audience are middle class adults. This is because they were shown at art house cinemas and these kinds of people could afford going to film because they like to see how lower class people live their lives. But recent social realism films appeal to a younger generation of age by using young actors as the main character and in some films uses a modern urban that would appeal to a younger audience.
