Social realism in film originated from Italian Neorealism after World War 2, which depicted the difficult lives of the working class. It was influenced by British documentaries of the 1930s and focused on location shooting in run-down urban areas. Key characteristics include using non-professional actors, close-ups to elicit sympathy, and exploring social issues like poverty, unemployment and injustice through working-class protagonists in dysfunctional family settings. Cathy Come Home, a 1966 BBC documentary-style series about a couple made homeless, had a huge impact and sparked political discussion.

2. ORIGINS
Social Realism in terms of filmmaking traces back to ‘The Golden Age of
Italian Cinema’ known as ‘Italian Neorealism’ where they made films of the
hardship of the working-class.
 These f i lms were set in I taly af ter Wor ld-War 2 and
f o c u s e d o n t h e d i f f i c u l t c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e p o o r ’ s l i f e
st ruggl ing wi th pover ty and injust ice.
 Non-professional actors were of ten used but
somet imes there would be use of wel l known actors
for lead roles, this would be to at t ract audience to
the f i lm. Fi lms were, more of ten than not , f i lmed on
locat ion of rural and run down areas.
Vittorio De Sica’s Shoeshine a film
from 1964 that is about two shoeshine
boys that get in trouble with the police
after trying to get the money for a
horse.

3. BRITISH CINEMA
 A lot of fi lms in Britain stemmed from the World War where it
represented the hardship people were going through af ter
coming back from the war and being unemployed. Historian
Roger Manvel l said once cinemas were opened again the
public were desperate to find rel ief from hard work and
emotional troubles.
 Social real ism fi lms grew in style and were influenced by
British Documentary tradition of the 1930s and became
critically and commercially successful.
 Generally the middle-class would be the typical viewers of
social real ist fi lms where as the working-class would prefer
Hol lywood fi lms this could be explained by the need to escape
your own l i fe when watching a fi lm.

4. CATHY COME HOME
 Whi lst social real ism in fi lm was blowing up, there was also
success in the documentary style series aired on TV.
 Cathy Come Home was aired on BBC on 16th November 1966.
I t was based around a couple, Cathy & Reg, who bui ld their
l ives together but Reg suf fers an injury and loses his job so
the couple are forced out their house and have to survive in
poor conditions.
 The reception of this series was
incredible, it sparked discussion in
Parliament and in 2005 Broadcast
named it UK’s most influential TV
programme of all time.

5. CHARACTERS
 We usually have a working-class hero
for a protagonist who the audience can
admire for the change he is trying to
spark in his own l ife.
 We usually have a dysfunctional fami ly
in the home setting which might explain
t h e p rot a g o nis t’ s s i t u a tio n a nd g i ve
more back story.
 We of ten meet characters that are
hosti le to a lot of situations due to their
situation. This can result in them acting
in violent ways.

6. LOCATION & CINEMATOGRAPHY
 Large amount of close ups used to show emot ion and resul ts in
audience sympathising wi th characters.
 There tends to be qui te a lot establ ishing shots, to show the
l iving condi t ions of the characters. Of ten run down, estate
areas.
 Tracking shots are also a big par t of social real ism f i lms, i t
makes i t clear who the audience should be paying at tent ion to.
 Natural , dul l , unforced l ight ing is of ten used as i t gives the f i lm
a mo r e r e a l i s t i c f e e l i n g a s i t ’ s wo u l d t h e a u d i e n c e wo u l d r e a l l y
see i f they were present in the scene.
 Location is almost always in an urban area that is often run down
with bad conditions. This shows the audience the protagonist’s
struggle with daily life. These are often real places rather than
artificial sets made in studios, this gives the film more of a real life
feeling. Eg. Estates, parks.

7. CONNOTATIONS
 Little amount on non-diegetic sound.
 No special ef fects.
 A variety of regional identities.
 Contrast of serious and humorous moments.
 Themes of social or racial injustice.
 Economic hardship.

8. WHY SO POPULAR?
 Billy Elliot – Domestic Total Gross: $21,995,263
 This is England had a spin of f series made some
years af ter the film came out, both done very well.
 Adulthood received ‘Honorar y Production Award’ in
2009 by Screen Nation
People like social realism films because audiences
can connect with characters situations. The genre also
tackles a lot of unspoken issues which people find
interesting as it is rare. This is also creates shock in
the audiences.