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Social realism is a genre of film that focuses on topical issues alive in a modern society which is represented by dealing with issues like drugs, sex, poverty, prostitution, homosexuality, alcoholism and crime.

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Social realism films show the struggle of life with all its difficulties. The stories and people portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically, films within the social realist canon are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive the daily grind.

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Link:

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/social realism-genre

   A typical British social realism will revolve around a council estate or block of flats usually somewhere in London. The main characters will be poor and resort to violence or breaking the law to live. Normally the film will include topics such as gang life quite heavily. The locations of a social realism film are usually set around a council estate or run down areas of different cities.

For example ‘Kidulthood’ (2006) is set in a council estate and was made by Londoners of which the film was set, employing those from a London origin to star in the film gave a more realistic approach to the character types because they knew from first hand experience what growing up in London is like. Real locations of London are used throughout the film as it makes look more real and naturalistic, these are also locations that the audience can relate to. Another film that is uses setting to represent the daily struggle of life is ‘This is England’ (2006) the film is loosely based on Shane Meadow’s upbringing in Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, although the actual location is unclear, but as an audience we have idea that it is set on some run down estate somewhere along the north coast of England which adds a strong sense of realism. The use of unknown actors especially Thomas Turgoose as Sean with their own accents also helps to reinforce this sense of realism. Another film that had the use of strong regional accents is 'The Full Monty’ (1997) and for the US version they had to redub over some of the British dialect and slang phrases to make it easier for an American audience to understand the dialogue.

 Social Realism films feature characters wanting escape from the troubles that lie with their society. In ‘Fish Tank’ (2009) the central character, Mia Williams (Katie Jarvis) is a volatile and socially isolated 15-year-old who has been excluded from school. However the film spends less focus on her volatile behaviour but more on her struggle of wanting to escape her life on the council estate, she wants to become her own person rather than behaving like everyone else on the estate; the biggest comparison being her mother. In ‘ Kes’ (1969) the main character Billy is an awkward teenager stuck in a dull Yorkshire mining town. Life at home and school is a struggle for him, but hope arrives when Billy finds a baby Kestrel which soon becomes the main focus in his life.

 A common theme in the social realism genre is immigration. A good example of a film that explores this theme ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ 2002). This film has a gritty depiction of illegal immigrants in London. This film reveals to the audience what it is to be an illegal resident of a first world country. The illegal immigrants live as victims in a ruthless and unsafe society while surrounded by wealth and opportunity they cannot exploit.

  Another common theme is gender. In ‘Billy Elliot’ (2002) Billy Elliot is a young boy who stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor, his father and brother, learning that Billy was taking ballet lessons, feared that Billy had turned gay. As a result, they constantly challenged his masculinity by verbally abusing him but Billy ignores their abusive behaviour and continues to pursue his dream in becoming a ballet dancer. The conflict between gender roles amplifies more as Billy becomes more and more involved in ballet, the audience then starts to realise that this is a major challenge for Billy.

A prominent theme in the social realism genre is social class. For example ‘The Full Monty’ explores the difficulties faced by working class people living in northern England during Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister. The film focuses on a group of Sheffield steel workers that are laid off and turn to stripping to put food on the table.

All social realism films differentiate from one another, however, they all use the same codes and conventions to create meaning and explore the themes and issues of the particular film. They do this through the technical elements, camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. During the beginning scene of ‘Kidulthood’ the camera uses close ups on peoples faces a lot, this displays the idea that everyone is watching each other, and that everyone feels quite tense due to the rough nature of the school. There are also long shots, focusing on different groups and then a close up of a particular group. This is effective and its the idea of being able to listen to everyone. In ‘Trainspotting’ (1996) there is a scene that does use interesting camerawork is when we see Renton deep in withdrawal. It’s a typical example of Boyle using interesting camerawork, visual trickery, horror, social comforts and dynamic music, to show the audience how it feels deep in withdrawal. This scene is also quite disturbing to watch and it makes the audience feel uncomfortable, Boyle may have done this to make the audience feel what the Renton is going through.

     The main character is Ricky and he is the one that is let out of prison. He is represented as an independent person who does not need his younger brother and friend there for help but he is still happy to see them. His young brother Curtis is presented in a way which shows he looks up to his older brother, he is eager to see him as he gets into his friends boot without him noticing. The other character is Ricky’s friend wisdom. He and wisdom are very close and this shown by the way they communicate with each other. Him and his friend also have a reputation that they have to maintain the audience is shown by what sort of reputation they have , firstly by Ricky being in prison and secondly by how they communicate with each other. The scene where Wisdom crashes into someone’s wing mirror whilst reversing his car shows a bit about more about his personality as he argues with the persons mirror he crashed into, Ricky tries to handle the situation by telling Wisdom to get back into car which suggests Ricky may of changed in prison as he does not want to be in any more trouble. The mise-en-scene is in this sequence is very stereotypical for social realism. The props such as the cigarette that Wisdom lights is stereotypically used for characters that similar to him in other social realism and it also shows what type of character we are dealing with. For the lighting natural daylight is used to add a sense of realism to the film. The costumes are important, when we first meet Ricky we see him wearing tracksuit which stereotypically used to show the background he is from. His brother Curtis is wearing a school uniform which shows his daily life as a young school child trying to please his brother by not going to school and visiting him instead. The scene where Wisdom crashes into someone’s wing mirror, the people who he argues with all are wearing tracksuits furthermore representing how the characters costumes and their personalities reflect the environment that they live in. The location is set in an inner run down part of a city in a working class area which is typical for a social realism. This part shows two different locations one being a prison the other being the setting of London. The setting of the run down estate in London portrays the amount of crime in the area as well. There are a few quick cuts which sets a fast pace to the sequence, for example when Wisdom shakes Ricky hand and then it cuts to the three of them driving off this gives the sequence an on-going energy as each shot is after the other. Another scene that uses quick cuts is the scene where Wisdom is arguing with those boys, the cuts were edited fast to make scene feel tense and we as an audience feel that tension building up as their argument escalates. The music in the sequence starts off with a soft piano sound that often peaks during non-dialogue scenes but then quietens down during the dialogue scenes. This non diegetic sound is used to create suspense for what will be happening next. When the music quietens down it creates more emphasis on the conversation between the characters and it also enables the audience to learn more about the characters as they are focused more on the narrative plot rather than the other non important things in this scene. The music is also used when they are driving through the city which is stereotypically used as a convention in social realism films as these settings are associated with violence and crime and the music is used to reflect that. Diegetic sound is also used in this opening scene to add a sense of realism to this film. An example of diegetic sound is used is when Wisdom argues with those boys, we hear no music on top just sounds of the nature that surrounds them such as the dog barking and the noise of cars, which shows that they are in a real life situation it also allows the audience to focus on the importance of this scene, not anything else except from the event that is taking place.

     The opening scene of Billy Elliot introduces the main character of the movie and gives the audience a taster of what is to come. This scene also shows us a glance of how Billy's life is. We find out that he is working class as his house is not of good standard. The audience can clearly see that he and his family are poor, and he lives in a neighbourhood that reflects that, a typical working-class community in the north of England. We are also introduced to another character and that is Billy’s grandmother we only see a glimpse of her therefore we do not really learn anything about her as she is only shown for a few seconds. The scene uses non diegetic sound, not much diegetic sound is used at all. When the record begins to play Cosmic Dancer by T. Rex, this music establishes what is going on in the scene the lyrics of the song begin with the words ‘I’ve been dancing since I was twelve’ and then we see Billy face and body which could suggest that this character is around that age and we see him jumping on a bed which furthermore shows that he is young. There is one bit of diegetic sound used during the brief conversation between Billy and his grandmother, who seems lost and confused and Billy tells her to come with him which shows that he cares about her a lot. The camera in this scene is set up in at different angles and distances we can only see his face, his torso, his legs and finally the full body. The reason for doing this is so the audience can see Billy for the first time and make assumptions about him, such as his background from the wallpaper, and his characteristics. There is a significant shot of his him running up the hill, this is a low angle-close up of his feet which could have a deeper meaning behind it but from that point we are unsure of what that meaning is, however as the film goes on we later learn why that shot is set up in that way. The setting in the scene is very important. The working class kitchen is crowded and apparently disorganized. Clothes hang about the place, drying off and getting aired, the dishes in the sink have not been washed, all of these elements of mise en scene in this scene are very important and it enables the audience to learn more about Billy’s background. The scene begins with Billy jumping on a bed, it is edited in slow motion this is very atmospheric as he is slowly being revealed and this is a really effective way to introduce this character.