How Carol Reed helped to pioneer British social realism
British cinema has always been a hub for social realism, standing in opposition to the glossiness of Hollywood. While American movies dominated British cinemas in the 1920s and ‘30s, the next few decades saw filmmakers begin to make documentaries and fictional features that dealt with Britain’s social, political and economic issues.
During the ‘50s, a group of directors attempted to rally against the dominant mode of documentary-making – which they believed presented the world through an overly romantic lens – by focusing on grittier and more realistic scenes. Known as the Free Cinema movement, filmmakers like Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson began making documentaries that explored working-class subjects. Very soon after, the British New Wave emerged, which included several of the Free Cinema pioneers as they transitioned to making narrative features.
Taking inspiration from movements such as Italian Neorealism, these filmmakers depicted Britain honestly, highlighting problems that were faced by countless Britons, especially the lower classes. Directors like Tony Richardson, John Schlesinger, Jack Clayton, Reisz and Anderson peered behind the curtains into the homes of the average British person, exposing everything from poverty to interracial relationships, abortion, fragile masculinity, class divisions and social isolation.
This movement is typically regarded as the most significant example of British cinema harnessing itself to social realism, with movies like Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Taste of Honey, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Billy Liar becoming some of the most successful. By the end of the ‘60s and the early ‘70s, filmmakers like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach were also emerging, becoming some of social realism’s most enduring and acclaimed filmmakers.
In the decades since, people like Shane Meadows (This Is England), Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank), Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher), and Carine Adler (Under the Skin) have become attached to the British social realist genre, with an increase of female directors helping to diversify it further.
However, a name that is often forgotten when discussing the history of social realism is Carol Reed. It is rare for many of his works, if any, to come up in lists of great British social realist films, yet he made several that can be considered important precursors to the movement. The filmmaker began his career in the ‘30s, but it was 1940’s The Stars Look Down which could be considered his first foray into social realist territory.
The film is set in a coal mining district, with the opening sequences depicting workers on strike. It’s a fantastic look at the way that the government neglected miners, with actors Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood giving great performances as family and romantic issues intertwine with economic and vocational ones. Made years before the British New Wave began highlighting social issues, the film is a vital forerunner, depicting the harsh conditions of the mines and the realities of living under a government who don’t have their citizens’ best interests at heart.
Another work of Reed’s that has echoes of social realism in it is A Kid for Two Farthings, released in 1955. The film follows a young child as he dreams his way through London, with Reed allowing us to glimpse the lives of ordinary people in the East End, where many are resigned to jobs they’d rather not be doing. It’s not as bleak as many other social realist films – shot in colour and blending echoes of magical realism into its narrative.
One of Reed’s best-known works is 1968’s Oliver!, the musical based on Charles Dickens’ classic tale, which exposes the Victorian era’s seedy underworld of crime and poverty. While this isn’t a social realist film, it definitely contains traces of the genre, which Reed had been experimenting with way before it became a popular phenomenon. Thus, it is important to recognise his contributions to the movement, which remains a staple feature of British cinema.