Matrix of Social Realism Themes and Issues

By Jack Woods

Poor Cow (1967)

• Writers-Nell DunnKen Loach• Director-Ken Loach• Producer-Joseph Janni

A Women makes a lot of bad decisions in her life, she then loses her son. She then gets a brief grip on reality.

Theme:Love

Issues:Domestic ViolenceChildcareMoral Responsibility

Kes (1969)

• Writer(s)-Barry HinesKen Loach• Director-Ken Loach• Producer-• Tony Garnett

A young, English working-class boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet falcon.

Theme:FriendshipLove

Issues:Lack of love Abuse Bullying

Pressure (1975)

• Writer(s)-Horace OveSamuel Selvon• Director-Horace Ove• Producer-Robert Buckler

A British-born younger son of an immigrant family from Trinidad finds himself adrift between two cultures.

Themes:Cultural Differences

Issues:ImmigrationCultural Clashes

My Way Home (1978)

• Writer-Bill Douglas• Director-Bill DouglasProducer-Judy Cottam Richard Craven

The young Hungarian protagonist wanders through the Russian-occupied Hungary of the final months of WWII, suffering a pointedly arbitrary round of arrests.

Themes:War

Issues:War Desertion War Crimes

Made in Britain (1982)

• Writer-David Leland• Director-Alan Clarke• Producer-Margaret Matheson

A skin head youth rebels against the conventions of society, when his social worker and carers working in a detention center, try to get him to conform.

Themes:Cultural Differences

Issues:RacismViolence

High Hopes (1988)

• Writer-Mike Leigh• Director-Mike Leigh• Producer-Simon Channing WilliamsVictor Glynn

What happens in the life of an ordinary person.

Themes:Friendship

Issues:Class conflict Culture clashesSocial mobility

The Full Monty (1997)

• Writers-Simon Beaufoy• Director-Peter Cattaneo• Producers-Uberto Pasolini

Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty“.

Themes:Friendship

Issues:Unemployment

Nil by Mouth (1997)

• Writer-Gary Oldman• Director-Gary Oldman• Producer-Gary OldmanDouglas Urbanski

A Working class family in London are in a cycle of Domestic Violence and drug abuse.

Themes:LoveViolence

Issues:Domestic ViolenceDrug Abuse

Last Resort (2000)

• Writer(s)-Rowan JoffePawel Pawlikowski• Director-Pawel Pawlikowski• Producer-Ruth Caleb

A Russian women wants political asylum in England when her fiancé fails to pick her up from the airport.

Themes:LoveDehumanization

Issues:Immigration

This is England(2006)

• Writer-Shane Meadows• Director-Shane Meadows• Producer-Mark Herbert

A kid has a fight with some skin heads after a fight with them, he them becomes close friends with them. Based on Shane Meadows experiences.

Themes:Hate

Issues: RacismGang cultureViolence

Fish Tank (2009)

• Writer-Andrea Arnold• Director-Andrea Arnold• Producer-Nick LawsKees Kasander

Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.

Themes:Family Love

Issues:Violence

Tyrannosaur(2011)

• Writer-Paddy Considine• Director-Paddy Considine• Producer-Diarmid Scrimshaw

Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker.

Themes:HateLove

Issues:ViolenceCharity

The Angel’s Share (2012)

• Writer-Paul Laverty • Director-Ken Loach• Producer-Rebecca O'Brien

Narrowly avoiding jail, new dad Robbie vows to turn over a new leaf. A visit to a whisky distillery inspires him and his mates to seek a way out of their hopeless lives.

Themes:RedemptionLove

Issues:Alcohol abuseDomestic Wellbeing