This thesis is a retrospective analysis of British social realism. It combines conventional academic research with professional screenwriting practice in the genre. By definition, at its advent Social Realism employed documentary realist devices to explore the inequalities of society with the objective of stimulating socio-political debate about this imbalance and thus social reform. However, contemporary forms of social realism have emerged much more depoliticised, drawing on similar subject matter but using decontextualised narrative strategies. The commitment to truth now seems to consist of an aesthetic, as opposed to a sociological imperative.
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
Film Sudies; Politics; Film Council; Film Four; BBC Films