Documentary realism or Stylised set-ups?

This is England contains many aesthetics, ideologies and conventions that help create it to be a social realist film. Despite this fact it doesn't lack in stylised cinematography which helps it push the boundaries of modern social realist films. 

An example of stylised cinematography is the scene in which Shaun is under the influence of Combo and his racist ideologies, this is the second montage within the movie, which is unusual of a standard social realist film. This is because montages are used to show the passing of time quite rapidly, whereas social realist films tend to be set within a short time period, or an unconfirmed time period in which everything is a blur, so with having This is England having a stylised montage clearly showing days being passed breaks the conventions of a social realist film and steers away from documentary type cinematography. 

The fact there is a shot within the montage that's in slow motion also helps emphasise the stylistic value of the movie, as this completely steers away from the realist value of the film, as it is almost breaks the 'real' time period which the movie is set in. 

The use of the union Jack fading in-between the slow motion, long shot ultimately stylises the whole montage scene completely as it completely drowns out the realism of the film and suggests this part of the movie is within a different time period of the film in order to show the character development of Shaun subconsciously believing Combo's propaganda. Within the shot Combo is also looking into the camera which breaks the 4th wall of cinema, which implies this scene as well as to show Shaun's camera development, is also there to send a direct message to the audience. 

Despite the mass stylistic values of This is England, the movie is ultimately a social realist movie whether this be the ideologies, the cinematography or three dimensional characters. A scene in which shows how This is England is a social realist film through the use of cinematography is the scene in which Shaun has the fight with Harvey at school. This is due to Shaun spearing Harvey over the wall, in which the camera is obscured, which creates an almost voyeuristic, observational mode of documentary, as if we as an audience are a part of the school yard watching with the other students. This helps create a more intriguing audience positioning, as with the help of the stylised cinematography and the documentary type cinematography we as an audience are able to emphasise with characters, as well as be more involved in the movie, due to the observational type cinematography which in a way creates an illusion as we are there.  The use of shaky camera also emphasises the documentary type cinematography as it creates an illusion as there is a camera man in the school yard actually documenting what is happening which adds to the realism.