Social Revolution in Britain and the British New Wave Cinema
Do you agree with the view that the British New Wave cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s were part of a wider social revolution that was taking place in British society?
The British New Wave was characterised by many of the same stylistic and thematic conventions as the French New Wave. Usually in black-and-white, these films had a spontaneous quality, often shot in pseudo style on real locations and with real people rather than extras, apparently capturing life as it happens. Source 2 says that critics generally accept that women have fared badly in the representations of the British New Wave, as women at the time would have still been held under the gender stereotype of housewife and mother, rather than worker, as taken from the period before the war, despite the fact that the majority of women went into work during and after the Second World War. Source 3 agrees with this, as it says that the new wave protagonist was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society in which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline, as women were largely ignored, even in new wave films, unless it was to support the male protagonist. Source 2 does disagree with this however, with the statement By the 1980s social realist films such as Letter to Brehznev (1985), Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) reflected the changing nature of society and the growing importance of women in the workforce. This shows that women were becoming more included in films as a more central character, showing the changing role of women in society, showing that new wave cinema in Britain was part of a wider social revolution. Source 1 shows that many people, both the general public and the critics of such films, were interested in them, adding to the general growing consumerist culture, where money earned was spent on entertainment and materialist goods. The films, albeit small in number, were influential and powerfully evocative, and enough to prompt
The British New Wave was characterised by many of the same stylistic and thematic conventions as the French New Wave. Usually in black-and-white, these films had a spontaneous quality, often shot in pseudo style on real locations and with real people rather than extras, apparently capturing life as it happens. Source 2 says that critics generally accept that women have fared badly in the representations of the British New Wave, as women at the time would have still been held under the gender stereotype of housewife and mother, rather than worker, as taken from the period before the war, despite the fact that the majority of women went into work during and after the Second World War. Source 3 agrees with this, as it says that the new wave protagonist was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society in which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline, as women were largely ignored, even in new wave films, unless it was to support the male protagonist. Source 2 does disagree with this however, with the statement By the 1980s social realist films such as Letter to Brehznev (1985), Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) reflected the changing nature of society and the growing importance of women in the workforce. This shows that women were becoming more included in films as a more central character, showing the changing role of women in society, showing that new wave cinema in Britain was part of a wider social revolution. Source 1 shows that many people, both the general public and the critics of such films, were interested in them, adding to the general growing consumerist culture, where money earned was spent on entertainment and materialist goods. The films, albeit small in number, were influential and powerfully evocative, and enough to prompt