GENRE – SOCIAL REALIST CONVENTIONS: Sweet Sixteen, A room for Romeo Brass, 247, Mickybo and me, This is England

The social realist films that I have looked at are:

1. Sweet Sixteen (directed by Ken Loach in 2002) set in Scotland in 2002
2. A room for Romeo Brass (directed by Shane Meadows in 1999) set in working class Nottingham in 1999
3. 247 (directed by Shane Meadows in 1997) set in a typical English working-class town in 1980s
4. Mickybo and me (directed by Terry Loane in 2004) set in Ireland (Belfast) in 1970
5. This is England (directed by Shane Meadows in 2006) set in England (mostly filmed in Nottingham) in 1983

Common Themes

• A few of the films are set in the past (Mickybo and Me and This is England) usually during a time of political or in Mickybo and Me religious conflict. For example in Mickybo+me, set back in the 1970s, Belfast is divided by the religious conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants. This creates an unlikely friendship between the two young boys "whose friendship breaks down the barriers" (taken from the blurb of the DVD case). In This is England, set back in 1983, there is the conflicts of "dealing with the bitterness of outside influences such as racism and xenophobia, of mass unemployment and the fall out of the Falkland's War; Thatcher's Britain" (taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/). Also 2407 "denounces Margret Thatcher's 1980s and its reproductions on England's suburbs". (Taken from the blurb)
• All of these films are located or mainly set in working class areas, for example Sweet Sixteen is set in "the estates of Greennock",  in A Room for Romeo Brass make "exemplary use of working-class Nottingham Locations" (taken from the blurb of the DVD) and 247 is set in England's suburbs.

• 4/5 of these films contain a young main character/protagonist and all of them are male this shows that they are very male orientated. The only one that doesn't have a main young protagonist is 247 but it still does contain central younger characters. For example This is England's main character Shaun is 14  (left) and Sweet Sixteen's main protagonist is 15 year old Liam (right).

These themes reoccur or are mentioned repeatedly in the majority of the films
1. Drugs- Sweet 16 when Liam is forced by his farther to try and smuggle drugs over to his mother in prison.

2. swearing- is in all of these films.

3. violence- in all for example when Shaun in This is England gets into a fight with an older boy at school or in Sweet Sixteen when Liam is beaten up by his farther and uncle.

4. 'chavy' clothes - especially in Sweet 16 and 2407, but this isn't present in This is England as they wear clothes in the style of mod.

chavy costumes in Sweet Sixteen

5. chase scene- sweet 16 as they are chased by the police after vandalising a police bike, in mickybo+me when Mickybo is chased by older boys on his block for stealing their ball.

6. gang- in 2407 when we see the two rival gangs fighting over chips, mickybo+me when Mickybo says "Are you in a gang" and in This is England, but it is seen as a less violent gang that is more like a family than a gang that Shaun first comes into contact with compared to the violent racist gang he joins later.

Conventions 

• Location Shooting - The locations that are shot in social realist films are usually shot in a natural, realistic environment such as council estates or parks without the use of a studio unlike big Hollywood films.

• Types of Shot's - Usually in social realist films a lot of establishing shots are used to give the audience a bigger insight of the environment. Also handheld camera's are used a lot in a documentary style to get the preferred reading of a real life film.

• Unknown Actors - Normally unknown actors are used purely because film company's who produce social realism films cannot afford A-list stars to act for them.

• Semi-improvised scripts - Sometimes directors such as Ken Loach use semi-improvised scripts to make the film have more 'realistic' dialogue. He used this in the film 'Kes'.

• Social Issues - Many social issues are explored in social realist films such as in 'The Full Monty' where we see the issue of unemployment explored.

• Religious View's - Religious view's are shown in social realist films for example in 'East is East', the conflict between the farther being a committed muslim and the rest of his children wanting to be normal children growing up in Britain.

Music

• A varied use of music styles are used for example in Mickybo+me where upbeat Jazzy music is used to reflect the fast chase scene but also to dim out the violent side to this angry chase.  
• But in other films for example 247 the music is very subtle and light using strings which creates a more emotional mood which contradicts with the violence of the boxing.