Shane Meadows and Social Realism

Shane Meadows is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor and BAFTA winner. Meadow's upbringing could be classed as typically 'working class' with his dad working as a lorry driver and his mother working in a fish and chip shop.

Social realist films often portray the working class as being somewhat 'heroic.' Meadows may have been familiar with the lifestyle that is portrayed in these films, as at a very young age, his father found a body of a child murder victim. The vast majority of the films made by Meadows, are set in the Midlands, and they recall the kitchen sink realism of filmmakers such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, with a postmodern twist. Much of the films plots and storylines were actually based on his own upbringing, therefore showing that the working class lifestyle is very familiar to him and perhaps, a very significant aspect of his childhood. When directing his films, he approaches them in a very relaxed way, encouraging the actors to 'ad lib' in order to create a sense of reality.

His film Twenty Four Seven, was inspired by events that took place in his youth, both at boxing club and also playing in a local football club. Boxing and football can stereotypically be associated with the working class and leisure persuits that they may take part in. For Britains, social realist films are their main form of cinematic style.

A Room for Romeo Brass, was inspired by his youth and his best friend Paul Fraser, his best friend, neighbour and writing partner. When Paul had a bad accident and was bound to bed for two years, Meadows instead hung around with some of the town's more undesirable characters. Social realist films often show the struggle of the protaganist.

Dead Man's Shoes could be argued to depicit social realism the most out of all his films, as it is based on the more unpleasant side of growing up in Uttoexeter. The film was inspired by one of his close friends, who had been bullied at school, developed a drug problem and then committed suicide. Meadows later said 'I couldn't believe that, going back ten years later, he had been totally forgotten in the town - it was if he had never existed. I was filled with anger against the people that had bullied and pushed the drugs on him, and with despair at what drugs had done to that small community.' Judging by Dead Man's Shoes, Meadows grew up in the nitty gritty of working class culture and lifestyle, experiencing some of the disadvantages that working class individuals may face in everyday life. Through his own experiences, Meadows shadowed these memories into social realist films, towards the wondering eyes of the British public.

Meadow quoted recently about his film, 'This is England' becoming a four part drama series, saying 'I also saw in the experiences of the young in 1986 many resonances to now - recession, lack of jobs, sense of the world at a turning point.' This quote directly represents that throughout the years Britain has had a recurring theme of disadvantaged individuals, being represented as being hereos through television and films.

British Cinema

• The way in which Britain is represented on screen is hugely influenced by economic and political contexts e.g. funding, relationship of British film to USA and the rest of Europe, audience shifts etc
• There is debate over critical acclaim in relation to commercial imperatives and the importance of cultural reflection alongside the feel-good deciptions we might associate more with costume drama and literay adaption

The British film industry

• The British Film Institute defines British films under 4 categories, in which Category A is an entirely British film, funded by UK finance, and staffed by a majority of British personnel; Category B is majority UK funded; C is more common co-funding scenario; and D describes US films with some creative input from the UK
• Roddick - argues strongly that 'Every memorable achievement to come out of the UK cinema since the war has come out of someone's desire to say something, not to sell it'
• Stafford - The choices for British producers are: make low budget British films targeted at mainstream British audiences, hoping that the 'peculiarly British' subject matter will attract overseas audiences who will see the films as 'unusual'. A low-budget film could cover costs by careful sale of rights in the UK and Europe. Anything earned in the US is then a bonus. Or make low-budget films for a 'niche' arthouse audience in the UK and abroad. Or look for partners in Europe and or/America and aim more clearly for an 'international audience'

The Burden of representation

• Describes the way that the history social realist British film can weigh on the shoulders of new film-makers and producers

British Social Realism

• The UK has a strong legacy of fiction - spanning theatre, literature, TV and film - that attemps to portray issues facing ordinary people in their social situations
• Social realist film should not be thought of as a genre or a type of film, but more of an approach
• Ken Loach, prefers to talk about his films more in terms of storytelling, suggesting that he merely tells stories which he hopes will 'resonate' with the public
• Social realism seeks to make explicit connections to matters of public debate - the economic system, social relations, relationships between ethnic groups, various forms of exploitation.
• Other recurring themes in Ken Loach's films are loan sharks, drug dealers and corrupt employers but these are rarely middle class or executive characters - his interest is in how the system forces those at the bottom of the pile turn on one another
• Murray (2008) - the work of film makers today who may be creative, but are always grounded in the actuality of the events within their social contexts, wanting to examine the social realities that these fictional stories and people grow out of. Our experience as audiences is a constant frisson of recognition - of places, of people we have varying degrees of contact with
• The idea of '

British Films

• British films ARE shaped by our cultural identity



• British films SHAPE our cultural identity



• British films explore how we view GENDER and ETHNICITY in this country



• British films are an essential way of understanding British culture



• British films are more relevant to us than Hollywood Blockbusters



• British films have been populat with international audiences



• British films generate employment for production companies



• British films have changed in significant ways over the last 60 years



• British films are concerned with CLASS than foreign/American



• British films use distinctive cinematic and production techniques

Karl Marx

'In bourgeos society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality.'

Ideologies and discourses

Marxist approaches

• Karl Marx analysed the new profit and market dominated system, capitaslism - and the power of 2 classes within it, the rising industrial manufactures or capitalists and the working class
• Emphasised the importance of class difference, or people's different relationships to the means of production, as key to the hinds of values and political ideas they will have
• Especially interested in capitalists relationship to their employees, the working class, who, he argued, had the power to change history by their united action
• The dominant ideas of any society are those which work in the interests of the ruling class, to secure its rule or dominance. Those who own the means of production, thereby control the means of producing and circulating the most important ideas in any social order. Implies that working class needs to develop their own ideas and struggle for the means of circulating them if it is successfully to oppose the capitalist class
• He argued a base super-structure model of the social role of institutions such as the media. The ways in which the basic needs of a social order are met determine its superstructure e.g. its 'secondary', less basic, ideological and political institutions, like religion and cultural life
• Economic determinist -> economic 'base' is argued crucially to determine, not just influence, cultural and political activity
• Dominant class is able to make workers believe that existing relations of exploitation and oppression are natural and inevitable. This power 'mystifies' the real conditions of existence and how they might be changed and conceals the interest it has in preventing change

Synopsis of mythical films

The Last Exorcism

When he arrives on the rural Louisana farm of Louis Sweetzer, the Reverend Cotton Marcus expects to perform just another routine 'exorcism' on a disturbed religous fanatic. An earnest fundamentalist, Sweetzer has contacted the charismatic preacher as a last resort, certain his teenage daughter Nell is possessed by a demon who must be exorcised before their terrifying ordeal ends in unimaginable tragedy. Bucling under the weight of his conscience after years of parting desperate believers with their money, Cotton and his crew plan to film confessionary documentary of this, his last exorcism. But upon arriving at the already blood drenched family farm, it is soon clear that nothing could have prepared him for the true evil he encounters there. Now, too late to turn back, Reverend Marcus own beliefs are shaken to the core when he and his crew must find a way to save Nell - and themselves - before it is too late

Urban Legend

After a bravura opening sequence featuring Natasha Gregson Wagner getting slaughtered by the killer with an ax hiding in the backseat of her car, Urban Legend tells the story of a group of pretty college students at a remote New England University. The focus of the story is Natalie, a beautiful, academically gifted student at the fictional Pendleton University. Natalie and her friends are all involved in the Folklore class being taught by Professor Wexler. Wexler regales his class with urban legends, which include Pendelton's own urban legend about a Psych professor who murdered six students at Stanley Hall 25 years ago. Natalie is the first one to suspect there's a killer on campus, especially after she has ties to all of the victims. First, its her high school friend, a guy she's in the woods with at night, her roomate.. No one, including her friends, Wexler, Dean Adams and security guard, of course, believes her until its too late and everyone begins to die according to famous urban legends, and Natalie believes it's all tied to a dark and horrible secret from her past. Now she finds that she and her friends are part of the killer's ultimate urban legend - the story of their own horrific deaths,

Enchanted

Classic Disney animation meets contemporary urban chaos when a frightened princess is banished frmo her magical animated homeland to a modern -day New York City in a romantic comedy penned by Bill Kelly, directed by Kevin Lima and featuring music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. Princess Giselle lives in the blissful cartoon world of Andalasia, where magical beings frolic freely and musical interluds punctuate every interaction. Though Princess Giselle is currently engaged to be married to the handsome Prince Edward, her fate takes a turn for the worse when the villainous Queen Narissa Edward, her fate takes a turn for the worse when the villanious Queen Narissa banishes her to the unforgiving metropolis of New York City. As the cruelty of the big city soon begins to wear down the fairy tale exterior of the once carefree princess, the frightened Giselle soon finds herself falling for a friendly but flawed divorce lawyer whose kind compassion helps her to survive in this strange and dangerous new world

Joseph Campbell - The Hero With a Thousand Faces (1949)

Campbell explores the theory that important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years all shared a fundamental structure, which Campbell called the monomyth. In a well - known quote from the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell summarised the monomyth:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.


PART ONE: The Adventure of the Hero

Chapter 1: Depature

1. The Call to Adventure

The adventure begins with the hero receiving a call to action, such as a threat to the peace of the community, or the hero simply falls into or blunders into it. The call is often announced to the hero by another character who acts as a 'herald'. The herald, often represented as dark or terrifying and judged evil by the world, may call the character to adventure simply by the crisis of his appearance.

2. Refusal of the Call

In some stories, the hero initially refuses the call to adventure. When this happens, the hero may suffer somehow, and may eventually choose to answer, or may continue to decline the call.

3. Supernatural Aid

After the hero has accepted the call, he encounters a protective figure (often elderly) who provides special tools and advice for the adventure ahead, such as an amulet or a weapon

4. The Crossing of the First Threshold

The hero must cross the threshold between the world he is familiar with and that which he is not. Often this involves facing a 'threshold guardian', an entity that works to keep all within the protective confines of the world but must be encountered in order to enter the new zone of experience

5. The Belly of the Whale

The hero, rather than passing a threshold, passes into the new zone by means of rebirth. Appearing to have died by being swallowed or having their flesh scattered, the hero is transformed and becomes ready for the adventure ahead

Chapter 2: Initiation

1. The Road of Trials

Once past the threshold, the hero encounters a dream landscape of ambigious and fluid forms. The hero is challenged to survive a succession of obstacles and, in so doing, amplifies his consciousness. The hero is helped covertly by the supernatural helper or may discover a benign power supporting him in his passage.

2. The Meeting with the Goddess

The ultimate trial isoften represented as a marriage between the hero and a queenlike, or mother-like figure. This represents the hero's mastery of life (represented by the feminine) as well as the totality of what can be known. When the hero is female, this becomes a male figure

3. Woman as the Temptress

His awareness expanded, the hero may fixate on the disunity between truth and his subjective outlook, inherently tainted by the flesh. This is often represented with revulsion or rejection of a female figure

4. Atonement with the Father

The hero reconciles the tyrant and merciful aspects of the father-like authority figure to understand himself as well as this figure

5. Apotheosis

The hero's ego is disintegrated in a breakthrough expansion of consciousness. Quite frequently the hero's idea of reality is changed; the hero may find an ability to do new things or to see a larger point of view, allowing the hero to sacrifice himself

6. The Ultimate Boon

The hero is now ready to obtain that which he has set out, an item or new awareness that, once he returns, will benefit the society that he has left

Chapter 3: Return

1. The Refusal of the Return

Having found bliss and elightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world to bestow the boon onto his fellow man

2. The Magic Flight

When the boon's acquisition comes against opposition, a chase or pursuit may ensue before the hero returns

3. Rescue from Without

The hero may need to be rescued by forces from the oridnary world. This may be because the hero has refused to return or because he is successfully blocked from returning with the boon. The hero loses his ego

4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold

The hero returns to the world of common day and must accept it as real

5. Master of the Two Worlds

Because of the boon or due to his experience, the hero may now percieve both the divine and human worlds

6. Freedomn to Live

The hero bestows the boon to his fellow man