By Gabriella Said

Social realism also known as socio realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realists arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles. Often depicting working class activities as heroic.

Social realism is frequently used uncritically and unevenly in popular film criticism. It is somewhat of a catch-all expression which conveys a thought of a texts content, it concerns, and its visual style.

These are a few films that

involve social

realism.

What are the problems with the phrasal term “social realism”

The problems with the term “social realism” is that is can often be used uncritically and indiscriminately in a lot of popular film criticism.

What is the critical consensus about “realism”

There is a critical consensus that realism is the leading representational figure in the western world.

What was the development of realism in the nineteenth century?

In the nineteenth century realism emerged as a form of oppositional or reform-seeking appearance and representation.

Realism- the theory or practice of fidelity in art and literature to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization.

What new possibilities did photography bring?

While photography grew and developed more throughout the years, it brought the potential for capturing and invoking a sense of ‘life as it lived’.

What was the common quest shared by all media?

While film developed more it soon after added further dimensions to the realist project, with the introduction of moving pictures, and later on adding in sound to the media of film.

What is the problem with truth?

The problem with truth is that truth is that it has as many faces as the eye can see, and the search for truth through cinema was no less intensely contested than in prose, theatre or photography.

In film history, realism has designated two distinct modes of filmmaking and two approaches to the cinematographic image. In the first instance, cinematic realism refers to the verisimilitude of a film to the believability of its characters and events. This realism is most evident in the classical Hollywood cinema. The second instance of cinematic realism takes as its starting point the camera's mechanical reproduction of reality, and often ends up challenging the rules of Hollywood movie making. http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Realism.html#ixzz2ACgvcxaf

Why is Social Realism so difficult to define?

Social Realism is so difficult to define as it is both politically and historically contingents.

What does Samantha Lay say is a key feature of realists texts?

Samantha Lay says the key feature is the way a character and a place can be linked together in order to discover a part in ‘up to date life’ in a similar way to naturalism.

How does Lowenstein see social Realism?

Lowenstein sees social realism as being ‘bound up with moments of contemporary social crisis’s.

How is ‘practice’ defined and what does it imply in British social Realism?

‘Practice’ is defined the way a certain film is created and completed the well-known methods of working. In British social realism this has usually meant self-governing productions.

How does Politics influence ‘practice’?

Politics influenced practice, because by changing degrees they will seek to be complimentary or separate from the mainstream, and will also look to express a commitment to particular sets of ideas about the social world.

What point does Ken Loach’s make?

Ken Loach states that ‘the way you create a film is an significant way of validating the ideas involved inside it’.

What is content usually linked to?

Content in terms of themes and issues are frequently associated to film-maker’s goal.

Why is looking at the way an issue is dealt with in different time periods important?

Comparisons and contrasts of the treatment of explicit themes and issues over different periods can confirm successful when seeking to answer questions about ‘why certain themes might have been central in’, say, the 1950’s social realist text, but pushed to the background in later films.

Why is an understanding of the social-historical context important?

It is important to remember that all texts constructed in a realist mode are always, nevertheless, constructs.

What does Samantha Lay say should be acknowledged about film?

Samantha Lay acknowledges that film is by a large commercial medium instead of an educational tool.

What does ‘Social extension’ mean?

Social extension: extending the variety of characters to contain groups and individuals not often represented on screen in mainstream cinemas.

Representation of working class people in their films and explain the rationale provided for this?The representations of working class people in their documentaries and characters in the feature films were more energetic and vibrant. This is in part due to the film-makers’ fascination for the newly emergent youth culture, and a respect for the ‘earthy’ and unpretentious traditional working class which these film-makers regarded as being under threat from the forces of consumerism and the influence of American culture.

Why is the term ‘form’ being used?The term ‘form’ is being used to give either the shape or mode in which social realist texts exist but also to transfer to the types and kinds and the ‘arrangements of parts’

What elements do ‘form and style’ refer to?Form and style refer to elements inside the text, it is important to understand and take note that they may be also knowledgeable by practice, politics and context.

What are some of the levels to be considered in the terms ‘forms’?The levels to be considered in the terms ‘forms’ are social realism; we can confirm this by applying Williams’ four-fold idea of the impulses of realist’s artists and their following works. The second conception of ‘form ‘in terms of social realism is a thought of the variety of artistic forms which employ social realist practices and techniques. The third conception of the term ‘social realist form’ relates to the last point in that way social realist texts work is different to moiré mainstream products.

What does the term ‘style’ refer to?The term ‘style’ refers to the aesthetic devices which are engaged by film-makers and the artistic choices they make.

What does the term ‘kitchen sink’ mean?The term kitchen sink was used to describe their perceived dull representations of working class settings and characters.

What is social realist texts often described as?Social realist texts are often described as ‘gritty’. This is a term of which can be useful to illustrate the surface realism of the landscapes which characters inhabit, the method these landscapes and characters are filmed and character attitudes and behaviours.

What are stylistic techniques widely used to create?Stylistic techniques are widely used to create a poetic realism which includes the use of sequences of establishing shots to give a sense of place, wide-angled and long shots of the urban landscape.