Conventions of Gritty realism

Gritty Realism:

Gritty realism is a genre of British film which came about as a new wave of film particularly in the 1950's-1960's. Gritty realism does not follow Todorov's Narrative Theory which often is used most commonly in Blockbuster/Hollywood-esque films, which often creates a sense of plot prediction for the audience. Gritty Realism also avoids Phil Parker's theory on 'The Eight Archetypal Myths' that there are only 8 basic narratives which a screen-write must draw upon. By not including these theories into this genre of British film, high levels of verisimilitude are created. The plot of most Gritty realism films involves a moral to be learnt, such as Bullet Boy (2004) portraying the dangers of weapons and children who witness violence in action, and many contain typically 'taboo' subjects, a good example of this being This is England (2006) which covers the topic of British skinheads in the 80's and racism. Taboo subjects are a common theme within almost all gritty realism films.

The look of almost all gritty realism films is very grimy and includes a lot of grey tones within the scenes, This is because this genre has characters that are, according to the theory of the Socio-Economic Scale, Grade E, which means they are casual workers of the lowest grade. They are people who usually depend on the welfare state to make their living. These people are of associated with lower standard areas of living such as council housing estates, which is commonly where films in this genre are set, this particular setting gives the films a dark and non-glamorous appearance. Also contributing to this specific style is the fact that films within this genre have very small budgets compared to most Hollywood films. In 2006 both 'This is England' and 'P.O.T.C. Dead Man's Chest' were released; This is England had a budget of £1.5 million whereas Dead Man's Chest had a budget of $225 million. This means that gritty realism films do not have that glossy perfected look and high quality cameras . The key to the look of the genre is also in the name, 'Gritty' suggests that the films are not clean cut and burnished and 'Realism' suggests the films will be authentic and as if the whole film was non-fictional.

The protagonists are mostly from deprived communities that face difficulties in life, like the 1969 film 'Kes' where the protagonist is beaten and neglected by his family and teachers at school. Furthermore, the protagonist is, more common than not, a male. This could be because men are seen to be the ones who struggle most in deprived areas and as statistics show commit more crime which is a frequently seen theme within the gritty realism genre, evidently seen in Bullet Boy. Other than crime, another reoccurring theme in gritty realism is family and a strong sense of community which is prominently seen in the 1991 film 'Life is Sweet', the 1996 film 'Beautiful Thing' as well as the 2002 film 'Once Upon a Time in the Midland'.

Target audiences are most likely to be British people as they would be more likely to identify with the characters, therefore will gain more narrative pleasure from the films, whereas in general non-British people will not be able to gain this familiarity. However, some audiences outside of Britain may be appealed by the genre of Gritty Realism because it offers an insight to normal Briton's lives and widens their view far from the British stereotype (hopefully).