British Social Realism - Changes Through Time

British Social Realism - Changes Through Time 

1950: Look Back in Anger

In this film it shows some of the very oldest forms of themes in British Social Realism, it shows what appears to be dark themes but not as dark as the most serious films by modern standards. In this film we can denote that the clothing and outfits were very formal and this connotes that back in the 1950's that people were very formal with each other and not very rude. 

We can also denote that the setting used in the 1950's for British Social Realist themes were very traditional and old-fashioned and as well as the location the accents and colloquialisms of the time were very old fashioned and in some way posh. As well as old fashioned voices and dialects the film also contained very old styled music, which definitely connoted the age of the film. this film and others from this the sets appear to be more setup and not real locations that exist a this film was set mostly indoors.

1960s - Poor Cow

In the 1960's this film was made, this film was a much more vibrant and bright story that the film Look back in Anger from the late 1950s. This British Scoial Realist film was about childhood and family, unlike the aggressive films or what appeared to be from the 1950's this film is much more about a strong bond and relationship between the characters. These films had an edge over the black and white films in the fact that they could use a colour correction to make the image appear more blue and alter the tone, in this case make it feel colder. In this film the set is much more natural and real, it is set mostly in a housing estate and so would not have had huge alterations to the area, it makes the films a lot more believable. Camera language from this film and this decade also seem to include a vast majority of long shots/mid shots and not much else.

1970s - Bronco Bullfrog

The films from the 1970s in comparison to the last two decades seem to be a lot more mature in terms of audience, the fact that young people are seeking out relationships whereas this was only for the adults in the last two decades. Clothing and props in this era as represented by this film are quite casual, consisting of shirts and not as many suits as they did in the film Look Back in Anger and as a result seem a lot more casual in terms of the audience it is targeted for. However it is still quite different as the hair styles and the casual clothing does differ quite significantly from the modern era.
In addition to the clothing the locations in which are seen in this film are a lot more adventurous than they are in the last two decades, they are set in more than just a house and shows two lads waiting outside a girls house.

The music in the film is extremely contrasting to current music, it is very old style but not as old fashioned as older films and also reflects the different dialect, it seems to be much more polite than we are used to, however by this time young people are starting to rebel more against the adults by the scene where the boy jokes about being Jack the Ripper to the mother.

1980s - My Beautiful Laundrette 

In this film British Social Realism is reflected a lot more differently than the last decades of this genre of film. First of all the clothing is far different, the clothes seem to be very retro and makes the time period very apparent. The voices however not quite so different from what we're used to hearing sounds quite a bit different in terms of accent but has changed quite a lot since the last decades, it seems to be a lot more informal and a lot more friendly instead of respectful in terms of language that is used.

The locations in this scene of the film are quite strange and not something we are used to seeing as by today laundrettes are something people don't visit as everybody will have their own washing machine. Even those that still exist aren't as big of scale in which they are in this film and since the title of the film seems to be based upon this, it seems like a very unfamiliar point in which movies were made. 

1990's - Trainspotting 

In this film the identity of British Social Realism seems to have made a massive change, the themes used in the film are very  familiar to us, there is a lot of violence and crime and therefore the power of how strong the actual film is and the genre of film is has become a lot darker. Clothing and props have also changes, in this case the film shows British Social realism to include weapons, in this case it is a knife. 

Finally, this film shows that in the 1990s British Social Realism had also become a lot more outrageous, the events that happen such as the fight scene didn't show up as much in the past decades and as well as this the dialect is much more crude than it used to be.

2000s - This is England

In the 2000's films in British Social realism are becoming very serious and very mature in terms of the audience that it is made for. This film definitely proves that as there is an unimaginable amount of violence and hate in this scene including racism and discrimination, it is very dark and isn't meant to be for fun but more for the meaning of the film. 

The music in this film is very sad and negative and especially when it mutes out the sound of the crying of the boy it shows just how much pain is being reflected in the show. Clothing in this film is somewhat out of date but definitely still worn and the dialects of the characters is almost identical to what is now.

2010s - SightSeers 

In this film the themes in which British Social Realism explore are represented to be very much more serious just like they were in the 2000's, in this case it is about mental disability and isn't meant for younger audiences as well. This also shows social class differences as well by showing the huge contrast in modern accents and dialects. It shows a very outside location which is becoming much more popular to this date in British Social Realist films and is definitely a familiar environment.

Changes through Time: As a brief description of how British Social Realism as a genre has changed over the years we can see that as time goes on this genre of film as explored much more serious topics that are normally not discussed such as mental disability and violence. To reflect this change it has also shown the settings change as well, often becoming more urban as time goes on as this is the stereotypical crime environment.