British Social Realism :From Documentary to Brit-Grit by Samantha Lay

British Social Realism : From Documentary to Brit-Grit 

By Samantha Lay 

The book talks about the tradition of social realism films in Britain and it explores it's comtemporary forms which are more of a hybrid. Lay examines the movements, moments and cycles of British social realist texts.

Samantha Lay describes a classic realist text as being "defined as one in which there is a hierarchy amongst the discourses which compose the text and this hierarchy is defined in terms of an empirical notion of truth." (p. 30)

She highlights that realist films usually have a working man as a protagonist and she says "I am proud that i played some part in the recognition that the working man was a fit subject for drama , and not just a comic foil in a play on middle-class manners." (p.68)

"The creative interpretation of actuality should suggest an exciting, endlessly intriguing use of the cinema; and yet it must be admitted that the overtones of the term are not immediately attractive. (p.58)

"Issues relate to the different social problems portrayed in these films, which were topical around the time of a given film's production and which provided some cause for national, social concern. (p.13)

"In British Social Realism, some of the prevalent and recurring themes include the demise of the traditional working class." (p.14)

 "Social realist texts generally focus on characters one would not generally find in mainstream films." (p.14)

"Social realist texts also work towards extending the representations in art and popular culture of previously under-represented, marginalised or subordinate groups, and deal with issues and problems that mainstream cinema has shied away from or avoided." (p.20)

"The narrative structures of mainstream texts tend to work in a linear or cause-and-effect way, with the action motivated by a central protagonist" (p.20)

"By contrast, the narrative structures of social realist texts tend to operate cyclically or episodically" (p.21) Quadrophenia opens with the end, appears to be a cyclical problem.

"Many films and television dramas seem to have shifted their attention to children of the working class." (p.108)

"british social realist texts have increasingly not only incorporated the experiences of working class children into their narratives, but have also made them the central protagonist." (p.109)

"In order to understand British film-making of this period and the renewed interest in social realism in the 1980's, it is crucial to understand the social, political and economic climates." (p.81)