Fires Were Started and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - Movie Review Example

The film, “Fires Were Started” released in 1943, was a semi-documentary feature film produced in Britain during World War II. The story of this film was based on the lives of firemen who were real life heroes in their dedicated service during the World War. One such event of fire fighting was recreated in the film and the firemen who had been participants in that event were chosen as the actors in the film. Work of the Auxiliary Fire Service during the German firebomb raids on London was the situation in which the story unfolds. Film ends with the work heroically completed, the dead fireman buried and the munitions ship they had saved, moving ahead in its voyage. The quality and courage of the British people and their togetherness in facing adversities are emphasized through out the film (Ellis, 2001). The technical and methodical detail of fire fighting, which is not known to the outsiders, is depicted in great detail, thereby arousing interest and empathy (Ellis, 2001). The film was realistic in every aspect with its carefully formulated dialogues and situations. Chapman (1998, 176) has called this film “the finest film testament to the people’s war.” But unlike the American films, nowhere in this film is a reference or glorification of the British military might and there is no mention of the enemy as well. Thus war is viewed from another angle, the angle of the less-celebrated heroes, the common men, who cope with such distress situations with their instincts of togetherness. ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ is a 1960 film depicting very realistically the mundane lives of the working class. It has been observed that the film “is emotionally understated” and “rejects the conventional devices of cinematic melodrama” in favour of extreme realism (Higson, 2001). The scene in which the Character played by Rachael Roberts confronts Arthur played by Robert Finney, and questions him about his affair with another girl, is a good example in this regard. Their conversation is matter of fact and both of them seem to understand the reality that their relationship was going to end. There is no display of heightened emotions at all. And there is no use of melodramatic music also. In general, there was no heavy music or complicated mise-en- scene in the film and the narrative does not give hopes of a happy ending (Higson, 2001). By showing “the alienation of manual labour… the nostalgic celebration of traditional working-class cultures and communities, …. middle-class fears about the increasing commodification of leisure, and the apparent growth of mass culture and Americanisation,” the film anchors itself in the stark realities and anxieties of the British society of that period (Higson, 2001). Both these films marked a point of departure for British films and world cinema in general, from sheer fictional to the effective application of docu-fiction. From 1940s onwards, British critics had developed a concept of ‘quality’ judging films in relation with the realistic techniques employed in acting, direction and mis-en-scene (Ellis, 1996, p.66-93). A genre of story-documentaries was evolving which always claimed to have reproduced real life events (Ellis, 1996, p.66-93). ‘Close Quarters’ was one such film on the same line. The method of incorporating real footages into feature films also became trendy in this period. The ‘Victory’ trilogy and ‘The True Glory’ were films that come under this definition, to name a few. A big number of non-fiction films and realistically inclined fiction films followed course. Films like ‘49th Parallel’, ‘In Which We Serve’, ‘The Lamp Still Burns’, ‘The Gentle Sex’ etc. were all made on similar lines. Critics and the film industry in those days, agreed among themselves “ the post-war citizen(s) will want realism” (Fennel, 1945, p.5). The realism in the films was also in a sense supporting nationalism in Britain. The American fantasy movies and gangster movies were criticized for their unrealistic content and the realism in British movies was always put forth as a meaningful alternative ( Mayer, 1978, p.251-275). At that time, British Films Division was also promoting documentaries. Aldgate and Richards (1986, p.8) have pointed out that the documentary movement had a lot to offer the wartime cinema. But it has also been stressed by scholars (Barr, 1974, p.97) “there was no special political or aesthetic rigour in the documentary tradition which created a barrier to its easy assimilation by a commercial studio.” So the commercial studios took whatever they felt novel and appealing in the documentary tradition. Feature films began to adopt filming methods like “location shooting, realistic editing techniques and sober narratives” (Barr, 1974, p.97). The first shooting location for the film, ‘Fires Were Started’ was the ruins of the London dockland, which was very badly bombed in the World War. The war was not yet over and the firemen-turned-actors were only taking a few days’ off from their duty to be part of this film. William Sansom, one of the actors, had recollected that the dialogues of the film “were made up on the spot” (Sansom, 1961). The wartime propaganda machinery was also responsible for the growth of docu-fiction films. Ministry of Information and its Films Division financed and supported war propaganda films. ‘Fires Were Started’ was one such film. Aldgate and Richards (1986, 6) described the involvement of MOI and Films Division in the British film scenario in the following words: Sir Joseph Ball (who was in charge of the Films Division until the end of 1939) …clearly favoured what he described as the ‘leaders’ of the British film industry by which he specifically meant the news real companies… much more was expected on the documentary front from his successor, Sir Kenneth Clark…Clark was indeed soon circulating within the Ministry a wide ranging and imaginative ‘Programme for Film Propaganda’, which envisaged using all three kinds of films-feature films, documentaries and news reels-as part of a concerted effort to put across ‘The Principles Underlying British wartime propaganda. Later when there was a move from the Ministry of Information and its Films Division to reduce the number of war films (the overabundance of which were feared to have bad effects on the society), realistic films depicting every day life were promoted and financially supported (Aldgate and Richards, 1986, 12). This gave yet another boost to the realistic tradition in feature film making and as the memories of war subsided and the wounds that remained in the social body became more prominent, films like ‘Fires Were Started’ eventually gave way to a new kind of realistic genre called new wave films. ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ is considered a typical new wave film. In ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’, the protagonist Arthur Seaton is seen rebelling against the tedium of work and the working class life. But this rebellion is more instinctive than based on a political vision. He seeks refuge in sexuality, breaks conventions and approved social norms and survives on sheer spontaneity. "Dont let the bastards grind you down," is his motto. But as the plot moves forward, he is subdued by the realization that he was fighting a losing struggle and there was no way out. This was a perfect showcasing of individual against the system and system against the individual. This was the first film by the director, Karel Reisz. This film was also the first one to popularize the use of urban stock shots to set the mood of the film rather than to establish the landscape. Chimneystacks and factories seen inside the frames impart to the viewer a feeling of claustrophobia. The lives of the British youth also was depressive in those days with no other option than to work, drink and get old. There was no space for ambition, life was so predictable and there was a feeling of entrapment, around. The viewers turned up heavily in theatres to watch this film. They were seeing a reflection of their own lives in this film. An escapade to the countryside and looking back to the panoramic view of the city left behind was one recurring image in new wave cinema. This was an unconscious effort to adapt to the new realities of an industrialized society. Critics also interpreted this as the expression of a class position and Hugson (1984, p.18) commented, “ it is only from a class position outside the city that the city can appear beautiful.” Though a social issue is presented here, these films are individualistic in all aspects. So the protagonist is not only alienated from the society as a whole but he is also alienated from his own working class community. All the new wave films were made on the same lines. In films like, ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ and ‘This Sporting Life’, also the main character is seen in confrontation with his own community. Many films that succeeded ‘Saturday Night’ adopted the same technique, which still continue to be present in many films as a memoir of documentary realism. ‘A Kind of Loving’, ‘ The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’, ‘The Sporting Life’ and ‘Billy Lair’ were a few new wave films all of which dealt with social realities in the same way. Such films dealt with topics considered taboo in mainstream film, as they wanted to show reality as it was (Lacey, 1995, p.164). In the last shot of the film, ‘Fires Were Started’, the ammunition ship saved from the fires by firemen is seen sailing away like a ghostly shadow in the morning light. This image give us an impression of how alien is the ideology of war to the common man and still how it looms large over his horizons. And the coffin of the dead fireman reminds the viewer that there is only loses to be enjoyed in a war. Thus the realism of the film though aroused wartime patriotism, stood aloof from the celebration of war. This subtle ideological position of the director, Humphrey Jennings was unfortunately not repeated in many a docu-fiction films that came after. Critics described the realist films as ‘Free Cinema’, which amounted to freedom from commercial compulsions and freedom to make highly personal statements and also the ultimate freedom of the director as the authority of his film (Hayward, 2000,142). The new wave films especially were identified with their directors rather than the industry. They also marked the rise of art films as against the mainstream cinema. The chaos created by the arrival of consumerism and the erosion of social and traditional value systems and life styles were brought to the discussion platform by these films. But the British realist films were criticized for focusing around masculinity and patriarchy. Realism for the sake of realism soon made many of these films drab and repetitive. Realism also became the justification for depicting violence beyond limits of ethics and decency. Humphrey Jennings, the director of ‘Fires Were Started’, had called his films, ‘camera poems’. His brilliant ability to combine the documentary format with aesthetic treatment and imagery was never equaled by many others who followed course. It was being evident that non-fiction genre could degrade into boring stereotypes in the hands of less creative people. The realist movement had its other drawbacks also. Friedman (2006, 9-10) pointed to this fact when he said: No British Director could possibly escape the influence of Britain’s documentary-realist tradition, a powerful ideological and aesthetic force that shaped directors’ visions of the role and the responsibility of both the film maker and his or her film. So while the British documentary movement provided the commercial cinema with a particular form and focus, its aesthetics often rendered such films drably pedestrian and unable to compete with their flashy American counterparts. It was only in 1962, for the first time, this realist school of film making was questioned by a group of young critics who started a film journal called ‘Movie’ (Leach, 2004). Even before that, the stage was set for a departure from realism when Tatcherism abolished the ‘Nanny state’, brought in market competition and changed the economic structure of the society. Soon, the movement as such, faded naturally but remained embedded in world cinema as one of the many successful genres. In British films also the tradition lingers in films of directors like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. The problems created by a consumer society, the erosion of family values, the diminishing welfare support from the state, etc. are discussed in these films though from the view points of individuals. The 1990s saw films like ‘Raining Stones’, ‘Ladybird Ladybird’, ‘Naked’, and ‘Secrets and Lies’ which belong to this genre. The first decade of 21st century also saw films like ‘Sweet Sixteen’, ‘All For Nothing’ and Morvern Callar’ which had similar realist tendencies reflected in them. Hollywood also adopted greatly from British realist cinema. The realistic depiction of catastrophes, wars, and terrorist attacks remain one dominant genre in Hollywood films. The celebration of real life heroes has been the recurring theme of innumerable Hollywood movies. Earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tornadoes and city fires thus became the stage for depicting their stories in many Hollywood blockbusters. In the new global context, as Jaguaribe (2005, p.68) observes, “the saturation of media society and the overflow of spectacularised images produces a demand for the “real” and the rendering of reality that become narrative ballasts in times of crisis and uncertainty.” So, the legacy continues in new forms like reality television and what not. Works Cited Aldgate, A & Richards, J (1986) ‘England, Their England: Fires Were Started’, Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War, Oxford: Basil Blackwell  Barr, C. (1974) (ed.) Projecting Britain and British Character, Screen, 15, Spring, 1974, p.97.  Chapman, J. (1998) The British at War: Cinema, State and Propaganda 1939 – 1945, London:I.B.Tauris, pp.161-163, 174-177  Ellis, J. (1996) ‘The Quality Film Adventure: British Critics and the Cinema, 1942-1948’, in Andrew Higson (ed.) Dissolving Views: Key Writings on British Cinema, London, Cassel, pp.66-93. Ellis, J (2001) ‘Fires Were Started’ in Lyon, C. (ed.) The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, London:Macmillan. Fennel, C.W. (1945) ‘Television will be No Rival: What We Want is Longer Newsreels’, Kinematograph Weekly, 9 August 1945, p.5. Friedman, L.D. (2006) ‘Fires were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism’, Wallflower Press, p.9-10. Hayward, S. (2000) ‘Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts, London: Routledge, p.142. Higson, A. (1986) “Britain’s Outstanding Contribution to the Film” : The Documentary-Realist Tradition’ in Barr, C. (ed.) All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema, London: BFI, pp 72-97.  Higson, A., (2001) ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ in Lyon, C. (ed.) The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, London:Macmillan. Jaguaribe, Beatriz, 2005, The shock of the real: Realist aesthetics in the media and the urban experience, Space and Culture, Vol.8, no.1; 66-82, SAGE Publications. Lacey, S. (1995) ‘British realist Theatre: The New Wave in its Context 1956-1965’, London:Routledge.p.164. Leach, J. (2004), ‘British Film’, Cambridge University Press.p.50. Mayer, J.P. (1978) ‘British Cinemas and Their Audiences’, London: Ayer Publishing, pp.251-275. Sansom, W. (1961) ‘The Making of Fires Were Started’, University of California Press. Read More