Part 2 of my Social Realism homework

1. Social Realism
By Grace Johansson

2. Practice and PoliticsPolitics is the purpose
and intent of the film -
maker. Their politics will
influence whether they
seek to be free or distinct
from the mainstream and
look at specific ideas
about the social world.
Ken Loach states that ‘the way
you make a film is an important
way of confirming the ideas in it’
Practice and Politics refers to
outside aspects that are outside of
the text that influence the parts of
the film.
Film – makers who
intend to show a real
depiction of daily life
are reacting to
mainstream film
constructions of reality
as they are
commenting on daily
social issues.
Social Realist texts
often comment on,
correct or break
previous
conventions of
realist texts.
The different movements have
been informed by an improving
or revolutionary political spirit.
British Social
Realist texts have
been propelled by a
mission, ideal or
goal. In this idea is
Andrew Higson’s
view, named
‘Moral Realism’.
Practice is defined as the way a
film is produced and completed,
in British Social Realism this
term means making a film
independently, using real
locations and non – professional
or little known actors.

3. Practice and Politics
Lay explains that it is
difficult to distinguish
between practice and
politics because in many
aspects they inform each
other.
John Grierson’s films stood out against the
mainstream film industry, Grierson’s mission
was to educate and inform audiences through
documentary and he accomplished this mission,
however it did create an uncomfortable
patronage from the government.
The lack of funds and resources affected the
style of documentaries in the 1930s and
1940s which meant it encouraged the
collaborative unit style of production
associated with documentaries.
Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz,
Lindsay Anderson and Lorenza
Mazetti formed the Free Cinema
group which produced creative short
films and documentaries. The Free
Cinema group was free to make their
own content and free to choose
whatever subject matter they wanted.
The British New Wave wanted to expand
representation in film to include the
working class beyond London, such as
industrial towns and North English cities.
They used unknown regional actors as
ensemble casts, this meant that they made
new claims to realism.
The British New Wave directors made their
claims to realism by situating their regionally
authentic casts in authentic locations.
The New Wave directors established that
character and place were linked, and that
environmental factors largely determined a
characters fate and fortune.
The work of Ken Loach has been shaped by
practice and politics. Loach is important in Social
Realism because he uses realist documentaries to
explore inequalities and conflicts in society.
Lay says the commitment to
the ‘truth’ in documentaries
is reflected in their
practice, from their use of
non – actors to locations.
Stephen Lacey connects film
– makers practice with their
political and critical stance by
quoting Lindsay Anderson,
she says that the rejection of
the studio system was linked
to a rejection of a particular
view of the world.

4. Practice and Politics/Issues and Themes
The collaborative style of
film – making has changed
from being attributed to
more than one person, to
being attributed to just one
person i.e. the director.
Content, in terms of themes and
issues is usually linked to a film –
makers intent, which, in Social
Realism is often reformist,
educational or has a social
purpose in some way.
An understanding of the way certain
themes and issues come to light at
different moments can reveal a lot about
social and cultural attitudes of the
period studied.
By looking at the
contrast in the way
issues and themes are
dealt with over different
periods, it can prove to
be helpful in finding out
why certain themes
would have been
prevalent in different
time periods.
The implications of the
phrase ‘Slice of life’ are
that it is a slight insight
into the real world, using
film.
Understanding socio –
historical context is
important because social
realist texts aim to provide
a realistic view of that time
period and the issues in
that period.Lay says that all texts in a realist
mode are constructs, which means
that through analysing key themes
and issues we can see what type of
reality is being constructed and
from which point of view.
Content is made up of
the issues and themes
social realist texts seek
to explore and the
types of
representations
generally constructed.
Issues are the social problems portrayed
in the films, which were topical around
the time of film production which were
a cause for concern. Whereas, themes
are not often as obvious but are more
often implied by the film, a theme for
example would be the changing role of
the working class in British social life.
History