BRITISH FILMS - REALISTIC OR NOT REALISTIC?
There are many ways we can classify how authentic a film represents itself to the British audience. For example, we can look at whether it includes British actors, if it's funded by a British company such as, film four and by the social representations such as the specific use of habits, behaviour & symbols. These are a few things we take into consideration to see whether it's realistic or not.
I will be looking at two films. One which is realistic - Kidulthood (a film set in Nottingham which explores the lifes of troubled 15 years old) and in comparison, one which isn't as realistic - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
FILM #1 - Kidulthood
(does contain some graphic fighting scenes with quite a lot of swearing)
The first film I will focus on is Kidulthood. This film is quite clearly a genuine representation of the British life in some ways. Immediately, we can see a group of teenagers who are living a tough life in the most deprived areas of Britain which people can relate to just by the un-inviting settings such as the small, cramped room in the film clip above. There is also a lot of slang and swearing which gives us quite a realistic representation of young people today in contrary to the obedient, quiet children of the early 20th century. In this film, there is also a theme of loud behaviour and rage which most young people are generally like today (on the transport and playing sports in the park). Therefore, this film is obviously something which young kids can relate to.
Despite there being many conventions which fit the British representations/way of life for young people, you've got to ask the question, are all young people like this? Quite clearly, not all, but most certainly it is going to be a raw representation for youths with troubled experiences in life, for example, those involved in crime or living in urban areas because in the film, there is shop-lifting, fighting and ultimately death. Therefore, it is very realistic to a young audience from this way of life. In addition to this, as it is funded by a British company and all the cast are from Britain it gives us a more truthful representation for the British culture.
FILM #2 - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (Part ll)
The un-realistic representation of Britain obviously shown here is: Harry Potter and the Death Hallows (Part ll). Set in hogwarts. With Three British wizards. And moving staircases. We can make out that the film is fictional in a lot of senses which young kids and families love to watch. The behaviour is obviously not of the British way of life because you would not come across wizards with wands casting spells to defeat evil. However, it does capture some essence of Britishness, for example, the three main characters, Ron, Hermoine and Harry have posh accents and some of the teachers like Hagrid have a Bristolian accent. Therefore, it shows a realistic representation of the British accents. On the other hand, most British people don't live in massive castles and wear wizard robes. Therefore, it is mostly unrealistic. Another reason why this film wouldn't represent Britain properly is because the film sets a theme of a good vs evil battle against Voldemort and his minions whereas, the most common good vs evil in Britain is with people commiting crime. As well as the fact that, the film is funded by an American company.
FINAL CONCLUSION FOR BOTH FILMS
Both films offer an element of Britishness. In Kidulthood, we can see the diversity of society, for example, in the film you have different ethnicities and personas which is quite similar in Harry Potter. However, Harry potter is mostly an un-realistic representation of Britain because it does not offer a genuine storyline. For example, the characters are all wizards in this film and they don't deal with normal situations in British life. On the other hand, Kidulthood does present us with a genuine representation of Britain because it focuses on the normality of everyday life and what really happens such as knife crime and fighting with young people.
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