British Social Realism

This coursework will be based on analyses and evaluation the different approaches to social realism in British cinema since 1960. Particularly, we will look at how different directors managed to reflect life of British people in his films, how social life and reality had been presented in other films.

Exposed in 1954 expressive picture of British artist John Bratby, with the image of the dirty untidy kitchen has allowed an occasion criticism John Silvestre to christen Brotby’s style as “kitchen sink realism" - realism of a kitchen bowl. The term has got accustomed, and not only in paintings - the British art of 50s just as the Italian neo-realism, experienced explosion of interest to a life of simple people, people of working class. The cinema did not lag behind as well: in 1960s Karel Reisz has shot a film “Saturday night, Sunday morning", one more novel of A. Sillitoe " Loneliness of the long-distance runner " has been transformed into a film in 1962 by Toni Richardson. In 1963 young Lindsay Anderson has made sensational film “This Sporting Life “and has proclaimed creation so-called “Movement of free cinema ".

The new generation of British cinematographers has received the united name "the angry young men", their direction also refers to social realism and - at an early stage - free cinema. . In their films, often featuring in the depressive atmosphere of the visual life of the lower classes, are characterized by harsh criticism of all social structures of modern society as those filed in several detached, ironic, and the general vector of the flow can be described as being directed from the harsh criticism to ever more total ironic nihilism.

Samantha Lay (2002) have proposed that the angry young man have not been “poli...

... middle of paper ...

...utely unlike the mass cinema production of that time presented by easy comedies and a traditional drama.

Conclusion

British social realism, of course, has not disappeared, but migrated to television screens: in particular, already in 1960s, came running up to now TV series “Coronation Street”, which tells about the life of Manchester workers. On television began and directors who, with the greatest success, though, of course, not always consistently lead the line in the British film so far: Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, and Mike Leigh. A subject of social film has expanded from merely the class of problems to gender and race; tone is different - from time to time social a picture is picturesque backdrop for a comedy or extremely topical stories. By the British social realism is seen as the most British genre. In the end, you can always find a reason to be angry.