The genre of British Social Realism

Social realism is one of few genres that desperatly trys to portray "Normal" life. Whilst directors each have a varied vision of what is normal life they each strive to portray it as clearly as possible to the viewer with the illusion of little mediation.
Social realism has always been a key area where the British Film Industry has pioneered and potentionally our greatest contribution to the global film industry. The genre of social realism had a slow start in Britain and only really took off following the first world war where social realism films obtained a reputation of connoting intelligence and class, two characteristics that were highly sought after during the post war period.

 Michael Balcon in the 1940s sought to revive this prestige associated with British Social Realism by portraying it as a competing industry against big hollywood budget films. He would eventually, as head of ealing studios, become a key figure in the emergence of a national cinema characterised by stoicism and verismilitude. He combined the documentary style of the genre with established actors and by the end of the 1940s british cinema had a huge appeal to a mass audience.

The second world war brought with it heaps of war films that set to show the people that they are fighting the good fight. Morale was high due to the large audiences watching these films portraying them, the ordinary worker as the hero. People would often flood into cinemas after work as a form of escapism ( Blumler and Katz) in order to derive some sense of humanity back into their lives during this grim period. Films such as Millions Like Us and In Which We Serve were hugely popular at the time and acted as a morale boosting form of propaganda for the ordinary British person during the war.