Best Social Realist Films
Social realist & socialist film
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21 titles
- DirectorJohn BoultingRoy BoultingStarsHayley MillsHywel BennettAvril AngersCompassionate look at the troubles of two young newlyweds, whose marriage has yet to be consummated.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDavid BradleyBrian GloverFreddie FletcherA working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsTerence StampCarol WhiteJohn BindonA young woman lives a life full of bad choices. At a young age she has a baby by an abusive thief who quickly lands in prison. When her son goes missing, she gets to grips with what is most important to her.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCarol WhiteRay BrooksWinifred DennisA wedding. Happy and promising. A young couple, new to the ways of life. The joys of parenthood: A dream comes true. Then the first incident in a long, spiraling chain of events, and down they go. No job, no money. Moving from house to house, each smaller than the last. Hope is briefly found, But fate strikes again under a cruel word: Eviction. The family flees. A caravan is their shelter. But little did they know what was to come. Fire, destruction. Rage. Discrimination towards the poor. Hope is lost. The last straw is pulled. Distress. Separation. The family torn apart. Mother and children, father all alone. The ship can sink no lower. Or so they thought. Broke. Crushed. Chased from their last shelter. A mother clings to her children. And the final blow: children ripped from her loving arms.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCarol WhiteGeraldine ShermanVickery TurnerFragments of the life of three working-class women, and the people around them, in South London in the 1960s. Scenes in homes, streets, pubs, prison and their workplace cover family, friendship, romance, sex, and abortion.
- DirectorKarel ReiszStarsAlbert FinneyShirley Anne FieldRachel RobertsA rebellious, hard-living factory worker juggles relationships with two women, one of whom is married to another man but pregnant with his child.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsRita TushinghamDora BryanRobert StephensA pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her mother remarries, leaving the girl with only a new male friend for support.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsLeslie CaronAnthony BoothAvis BunnageA single, pregnant woman moves into a London boarding house where she meets a group of fellow misfits.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsRobert ShawPatrick MageeSydney TaflerThe down-at-heel lodger in a seaside boarding house is menaced by two mysterious strangers, who eventually take him away.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsMarion BaileyTim RothPhil DanielsWhen one brother gets a job from their wealthy aunt, the other becomes increasingly jealous.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsTim RothTerry RichardsBill StewartAfter being sent to a detention center, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers, who want to conform him to the status quo.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsRay WinstoneMick FordJulian FirthAn uncompromising story of life in a British juvenile offender institution in the '70s.
- DirectorJohn MackenzieStarsCarol WhiteRoy HarperJohn CastleThe story of the relationship between a young single mother and an insecure rock star.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsTom CourtenayJulie ChristieWilfred PicklesA lazy, irresponsible young clerk (Sir Tom Courtenay) in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMichael RedgraveTom CourtenayAvis BunnageA young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsRobert CarlyleEmer McCourtJim R. ColemanThe story of construction-worker Stevie and his unemployed pop-singer girlfriend shows the living conditions of the British poor class.
- StarsMichael AngelisBernard HillAlan IgbonFive unemployed men would do anything just to have a job in Thatcher's Britain.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsDavid ThewlisLesley SharpKatrin CartlidgeAn unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
- DirectorAmma AsanteStarsStephanie JamesGary SheppeardNathan JonesAt 17 LeighAnne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet. A neighbour (actually from Turkey) across the street becomes target to her growing paranoia that Social Services are going to take her daughter, Rebecca, away from her. Her behavior becoming increasingly desperate as her delusions over her neighbor grow. She convinces Steven, Gavin, and Robbie he needs a lesson.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsRichard BurtonClaire BloomMary UreA disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.
- DirectorUli EdelStarsMartina GedeckMoritz BleibtreuJohanna WokalekA look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.