Tag: Social Realism
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Twelve Monkeys. Dir. Terry Gilliam. Universal Pictures . 1996.
Do you want a second chance, Cole?” In other words – Do you want your body experimented upon to benefit our research again, Cole? The film cuts to a scene where Cole is injected and pinned to the time machine… or rather, torture machine. Cole never gets to answer the question – he has no…
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The Squid and the Whale. Dir. Noah Baumbach. Sony Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Destination Films. 2005.
The Squid and the Whale is a film all about conflict. It tracks the divorce of a couple of New York intellectuals and the effect it has on their two sons. The film opens with a line from the younger boy, Frank; ‘mom and me versus you and dad,’ cleverly summing up the central…
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Au Hasard Balthazar. Dir. Robert Bresson. Cinema Ventures. 1966.
Au Hasard Balthazar (dir. Robert Bresson, 1966) juxtaposes the human treatment of animals with animal camaraderie between different species, emphasising a human/animal divide and how we think of animals as one homogeneous group that we are not apart of, despite biological taxonomy saying otherwise.
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Kes. Dir. Ken Loach. Woodfall Films. 1969.
Kes (dir. Ken Loach, 1969) depicts working class Billy using his kestrel training as a means of escaping the grim reality of life in the industrial north, while the juxtaposition of industry with local nature represents the man-made depression of the mining town. In the scene we see Billy’s first glimpse of the kestrels in flight.…
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Kes. Dir. Ken Loach. Tony Garnett. 1969.
Ken Loach (dir.) “Kes” 1969 (Fig 1: Promotional Poster for the film) Since the dawn of man Birds, or more precisely, the notion of flight, has fascinated humankind. Proud and mighty birds of prey have found their way onto flags and military insignia as symbols of strength, independence and freedom. As such, the idea of…
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Wasp. Dir. Andrea Arnold. None. 2003.
Andrea Arnold’s realism focuses itself around the lower rungs of the British socioeconomic hierarchy, where the housing estates are run down, children roam the streets instead of the school ground, and poverty seeps into the lives of the protagonists we follow. This is exactly the case in her 2003 short film Wasp, which follows young…
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A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. Dir. Roy Andersson. Curzon Film World. 2015.
A man dies whilst trying to open a bottle of wine. Shots of aquavit are handed out in a bar in exchange for kisses. A young couple lie together on a beach, accompanied by a dog. The owner of a delicatessen addresses the camera from the steps to his shop as his co-worker ridicules him…
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The Grand Seduction. Dir. Don McKellar. Entertainment One. 2014.
Don McKellar’s 2013 film The Grand Seduction, delves into the lives of those living in the small fishing town of Tickle Head, Newfoundland. The film follows the life of Murray French, a lifelong resident of Tickle Head who is determined to reinvigorate and restore his once esteemed town. When Murray was but a young boy, the…
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The Plague Dogs. Dir. Martin Rosen. United Artists Corporation. 1982.
The Plague Dogs – Revival of a Masterpiece* By Loredana Loy Based on the book with the same title by Richard Adams, The Plague Dogs (1982) is a one of a kind movie. Snitter and Rowf are two dogs who escape from an animal experimentation facility only to find that the outside world is just as cruel. They try to survive…
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Werckmeister Harmonies. Dir. Béla Tarr. Artificial Eye. 2000.
Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), based on László Krasznahorkai’s 1989 novel The Melancholy of Resistance, sees the arrival of an enormous taxidermy whale in a small Hungarian town. Local postman János, played by the wide-eyed Lars Rudolph, becomes fascinated by the displaced beast, seeing the divine beauty and awe of God’s creation in its rotting…