Cinematic New Wave Contextual Studies Essay - Jasmin Sprake
I have decided to research the British new wave which will be focusing on some of the most influential films from the British new wave:
- A taste of honey
- Saturday night Sunday morning
- Kes
New wave had a big influence on filmmaking and how social realist films today are produced, you can see significant findings from new wave that are still relevant in today's cinema, in particular British cinema. British New Wave focuses mainly on social change and it uses the working class as a device to confront the capitalists of Britain with the social injustices. The cultural movement was rooted to the ideals of social realism, and shows the gritty real life issues that Britain has faced and still faces today even more so with issues surrounding gender and ethnicity.
The British New Wave was inspired by the 1940's work of the American auteurs as well as 1940's Italian Realism and especially from the concurrent French New Wave filmmakers who used certain techniques to convey realism such as real people(not actors), for the documentary feel, location shots are used, long tracking shots are used black and white footage is mainly used and handheld camera's were also used. Filmmakers show the poetry of everyday life and to give the illusion of real life and real space there are no constructed sets. As well as the techniques used all these films contained one or more of the following; unhappy marriages, excessive drinking, secret affairs, unplanned pregnancies, barroom brawls and clear generation gaps showing how peoples views on subjects have drastically changed due to continuously evolving world. This essay concentrates on three influential movies around the period of the new wave which flowed from 1959-1963 however with exception of Kes which was produced in 1969 but still connotes the traditional values of new wave;
- Saturday Night And Sunday Morning(1960), Karel Reisz
In a Nottingham factory, Arthur Seaton works in a mindless haze, but his weekends are even more muddled due to his love affairs and his alcohol problem. One of the women Arthur is involved with, Brenda, is married to his coworker, but pregnant with Arthur's child. Meanwhile, Arthur is also pursuing Doreen. Soon enough, he is found out by Brenda, who wants money or an abortion, and Arthur finds himself at a crossroads. Saturday Night Sunday Morning is a kitchen sink drama which is apart of a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 60s in theatre and cinema, the films they cost practically nothing to produce because they weren't bland advertisements for the British way of life they were bland and unpolished. They didn't need to pay for big actors because they used real people (most of the time).
Saturday Night Sunday morning contained a real view of what the world was like, working class really did work all week and spend their hard earned money at the weekend drinking and partying. Karel Reisz uses the role of Arthur Seaton to present this working class lifestyle and Arthurs immodest morals in life seen through many scenes in particular where he spills his drink on a male after 'sinking many pints' and gets told to apologise however, in his patronising role he plays he refuses to and consequently falls down the stairs.
The film is based on a novel, Albert Finney who plays Arthur has a special way in which he acts, Timothy Spall claim's Finney's acting is "extremely uncomfortable in its reality, the film seemed to be about people you knew and Finney was irritating, annoying and arrogant all in a character and he played the part brilliantly and constructed this character who said what was on everybody's minds". He illustrates his main points that he "can't stand this" and that "he's just part of a machine" he also had the audience saying "don't let the bastards grind you down" was a catchy phrase and helped to get across to the capitalists that everyone has their own individual lives, they are showing that they do not deserve to be personified as robots.
In the scene where Author Seaton shoots an old woman with a air soft gun for "gossiping" also proves how women were treated and disrespected to the upmost unlike the male species which was praised and believed over the women in them times male dominance was a reality. Related to now, women still fight for rights and have gained a lot more respect from society and governments in particular. In this scene we are shown with basic camera angles, no tracking shots just really general shot like shot-reverse-shot which creates a very general aspect - not like today's Hollywood films where we are immersed into a made up fantasy world. The shots in the house that include everyone are all composed to get everyone in and they are all very long so we get this lack of different takes and angles to provide us with the element that we are almost involved. Another line Seaton "Get out-go or else you'll get another one, in your fat gut this time". There is minimal cuts and the camera is very sparsely moved with longer takes to show realism. 'If she goes to the coppers she wont be able to show the bruise on her arse'. Also connotes this same disrespect women were given especially in this case it is an older women who are meant to be admired and looked up to. It also highlights the fact that the New Wave was really about people who you knew and had differences with. Within the film you can also hear that the sound was very raw, due to not having exact scripts and directors telling the actors so improvise to provide this realism.
The frequent scenes filmed in Seaton works at the Raleigh Bicycle Factory in Radford bought it home for the working class population as most people worked in factories as that was the place with most vacancies during that era as no particular education was needed and only 1 in 20 young people were seeking and going into higher education. Finney himself was apart of the working class sector as he went to grammar school. During the film Finney 'downs a pint in one' which the target audience of the cinema would've been the upper class, Nick Moran exclaims that the snobs at the time would walk out the cinema's in outrage and disgust as "that doesn't happen" but in reality to their little knowledge it did in fact happen.
- A Taste Of Honey(1961), Shelagh Dalaney
Focuses on a teenage schoolgirl who has an affair with a black sailor, gets pregnant, and the sailor moves away, she then moves in with a gay male acquaintance. Shelagh Dalaney actually wrote it to be a novel, but changed it into a play because she wanted to bring important social issues back into British theatre.
Studios wanted Audrey Hepburn to play the role they didn't want an unknown, more like documentary still the same obsession with the working class life. Kitchen Sink drama makers were often from rather privileged backgrounds theres a sense of them being tourists in the world of the working class. And seeing in the working class the energy and authenticity that they have lost.
A taste of honey undeniably shows the difference in societies and how back then being homosexual was seen as wrong Jo the main character exclaims "i've always wanted to know about people like you", as if to be homosexual was seen as an unheard of breed and abnormal to the human race. She carried on to say "i want to know what you do, i want to know why you do it". The lack of education surrounding the subject is notably making the audience watching it feel slightly uncomfortable as the subject of homosexuality had never been addressed in early cinema. It was the first time people had ever seen the subject of homosexuality dealt with in such a sensitive and positive way was an eye opener for many people.
Jo exclaims in one sequence "my baby may be black", a response she got "oh shut-up, you'll be giving yourself nightmares". Creates an illusion for people that it was uncanny almost for races to segregate and work together. The woman is shocked and in disbelief when she finds out and her reaction suggests that she is disgusted by it she finally lets out "god, i need a drink". And this in fact is suggestive of how people dealt with their issues and tried to plaster them by the use of alcohol and how getting drunk would solve all their issues's. The lighting in this scene is very natural and low-key which provides the audience with knowledge that it's in a very natural setting - as if it were real life connoting the social aspects.
Jo's friendship with a very gay Jeffery was new, as from earlier British cinema it had been considered unheard of to even mention the subject let alone show it in a positive way. The best of British Kitchen sink drama encapsulated a naive innocence that hadn't been shown on screen and people believed it was real. To further relay this reality some actors were encourages to improvise lines although more stuck to the script since the films are known for provocative dialogue.
- Kes(1969), Ken Loach
I have chosen this film, however it is not within the boundaries of 'new wave' in regards to the date and time released however. But it still has all the significant values and ideologies of the more traditional new wave films. Kes was also filmed in colour unlike other new wave films.
Ken Loach is a very well known independent film maker and has made films continuously with the themes of contemporary British issues such as poverty how the social welfare system fails us as British citizens. As an independent filmmaker his films are shot within a low budget, in most of his films and this film in particular he used all untrained actors to get the natural feeling as if you were watching someone you knew on screen, none of the cast were remotely famous and it really was the first Ken Loach picture, he wanted ordinary children/adults to play the part as Loach is gifted with working with untrained actors, which captures the actors in a very raw state to give that feel.
This film focuses on Billy Casper, a tormented working class boy who is subjected to abuse both at school and at home. The son of a single mother Billy's existence is mostly bleak until he takes up interest falconry and begins training a kestrel that he finds on a nearby farm. While Billy forms a close bond with the falcon, his hardscrabble life and harsh environment prove to be a challenge to the boy and his bird.
When producing this film Loach and co conspirator Tony Garnett marched into the BBC with an aggressive attitude towards addressing the issue of the lack of social and political content, what was shown was more of a capitalist rich view, the UK was represented through rose tinted glasses as if there were no such issues portrayed at all in fact when that is not the case.
Characters also appear more realistic when shown in private moments such as when Mr Farthing, Billy's supprotive teacher is alone in the bird shed with Billy, even the actors themselves David Bradley and Collin Welland said it wasn't as if they were filming as Loach used a technique of putting the camera through a hole in the shed to create this really raw and natural effect as if they didn't even have to act at all. The lighting in this instance was dim and natural light which was coming through the windows, no artificial lighting was added to add that really raw effect.
Another one of Loach's more realist films Cathy Come Home which stars Carol White, one of Loach's first productions became a subject of National debate when it arrived at the box office as it made audiences (of upper class) and the head of BBC uncomfortable as it had immense realism particularly the scenes involving her real life children getting taken away from her, were extremely heartbreaking and overwhelming to watch as audiences were hit with the sense of realism they had not been shown in cinema before.
Loach uses the recurring theme of British social realism in all of his films the protagonist plays a major role to put across Loach's very political- social views, and in this instance he uses young Billy Casper to do so and delivers it in more of a general more naturalistic way where audiences can relate to it.
The changing times reflected a shift from realism to surrealism as international colour satires emerged and ultimately closed the chapter on the British New Wave as what we now know, British New Wave has influenced many social realist films today which is now the current genre representing the New Wave tradition and keeps many values and ideologies the same as new wave to show the concept of time however there is very sparse 'change' within the years as many problems including poverty, unhappy marriages, excessive drinking problems etc are all still the same in society and how capitalism rules over us.
