The UK has a strong legacy of fiction that attempts to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations. Social realist films should not be thought of as a genre but instead, an approach. English film director Ken Loach is associated with Social Realist Films and suggests he merely tells stories which he hopes will 'resonate' with the public. Mike Leigh tends to avoid being labelled to a form of realism although like Loach, Leigh uses no scripts and total improvisation which is a technique strongly linked to Social Realism.
Murry's definition of Social Realism (2008), "the work of film makers today who may be creative, but are always grounded in the actuality of the events within their social contexts - waiting to examine the social realities that these fictional stories and people grow out of. Our experience as audiences is a constant frisson of recognition".
'Frisson' leads us to the idea that social realism is often uncomfortable to watch. In many social realist films the main theme is the complexity of exploration. These films represent different issues so therefore can not be collectively summarised as being typically of how the UK is viewed on screen. However, the themes they explore are common in relation to location.
Your blog got off to a dream start. But nothing for 2 weeks? Come on Sophie - if you keep it up you'll be brilliant on British social realism and British cinema. You need to bring it up to date now. Look at This is England the film compared to This is England 86 (Channel 4) How are they similar and different? How do you account for these differences?
ReplyDeleteWork with Amy and/or Claire on this too. You could post your responses on your group blog and use the learning to inform your project.