2. Practice and Politics
In British social realism, practice usually means the
creation of an independent film, conducted in a skilful
way, with real locations and less known actors.
Politics- the purpose
and intent of the artist-
influences practice because
it alters the ideas
demonstrated about
the social world.
Ken Loach said that
the practice
influences the
validation of the
ideas in the text.
‘Practice and politics’
refers to things that aren’t
in the film itself that
still influence the
form,
structure,
content and style.
Filmmakers that
want to depict ‘life as
it is really is’ are reacting to
the world as constructed by
large mainstream films and
their practices in doing so in
order to create the most
realistic film they can.
3. PracticeandPolitics
Social
realist texts
comment on parts of
present day social
life. They also
comment on
old
conventions and
practices usually
associated with
‘realism’.
Samantha Lay says that British social realism movements
have been informed by changes made to the practice in film
making, or because of a ‘revolutionary political spirit’.
Andrew Higson explains
that ‘moral realism’ is
when the ideals or goals of
the filmmaker are for a
good cause, such as to
inform the audience
of an issue.
Practice and
politics are inextricable
because many
movements meant that it
was difficult to have one
without the other. The politics
of the filmmaker also influence
their ways of making a film.
4. PracticeandPolitics
Documentary production styles usually
consisted of the use of real places as opposed to
studios and ordinary people instead of actors
due to low amounts of money. The result of this
was the effect of a team effort, as many people
helped out to tackle the issue of low funds. Lay said that filmmakers’
commitment to documentary
‘truth’ is more of a commitment
to sociological issues rather than
a commitment making it look as
good as a mainstream film.
British New Wave filmmakers broke away from
traditional practice. Stephen Lacey quoted
Lindsay Anderson to explain how filmmakers’
political and critical views were connected with
their practice. He said: “the rejection of the
studio system was tied closely to a rejection of a
particular view of the world”
The Free Cinema Group was created
by Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz,
Lindsay Anderson and Lorenza
Mazzetti. Their principles and
objectives were to make independent
films that were creative and ‘visually
exciting’. They didn’t use studios and
didn’t want to produce films for the
profit but could choose whatever
subject matter they wanted to study.
British New Wave
filmmakers
aimed to better
represent
the working class
outside of London,
specifically industrial towns
and cities to the North of
England. To create these
representations, they
used lesser known
actors from other parts
of the country.
5. PracticeandPolitics
The issues and themes explored in the
text is what Lay defines as ‘content’,
as well as the representations created.
Content issues are important because
they connect the issues explored in
the film to the moment in which the
film was created. This helps to show
contrast between the issues of
different moments, movements and
cycles.
New Wave Directors claimed
that realism was linked to character and place. They believed
that when the character was in their rightful place, it set the
scene and made it more realistic.
They also believed that character and place were connected and
that factors in the characters environment have an impact on
what happens to them.
Ken Loach is a committed socialist
who wanted to portray that in his
films. Some of his documentaries
were censored because of the
nature of them. He refrained from
using famous actors and used
natural locations as opposed to
studios.
6. Issuesandthemes
Content is usually linked to the
filmmaker’s intent, as they are the
ones who get choose the subject
matter
Understanding how and
why specific issues were
more prominent at
different points in time
reveals a great deal about
the attitudes towards them
at the point in time in
which that text was made.
It is important to study
central themes from
older texts to help
answer questions about
why they are no longer
used as main themes, but
have been left in the
background of more
contemporary texts.
7. IssuesandThemes The phrase
‘a slice of life’ suggests
that the text is showing
details from a part
of ordinary life.
Understanding the
socio-historical
context is important
so that we can know
whether or not past
social realist texts
were really showing
life as it really was
when the text was
made.
‘Constructs’ are
significant because they
show which reality is
being created, and
who’s point of view it is
coming from.
Lay explains
issues as being
clear, social
problems within
the text,
whereas themes
are less so, and
can just be
implied without
being mentioned.
