This is England - political and social context

How does This is England reflect the political and social contexts of the 80's?
- refer to film form including mise-en-scene (costume, setting, performance etc.) and sound specifically the music.

This is England reflects political and social context of the 80's by the mise-en-scene in which the use of costume and the setting reflects this. In 1979 Thatcher became the prime minister, in which during the 1980's many people suffered due to her ruling as she believed in a free market and small state, because of this many people in England became unemployed which led to poverty creating a capitalistic society. This then created the 'skinhead' subculture although this emerged in the 1960/70s of which this stood for people who shared the same taste in fashionable clothes and an interest in black culture & music, but by the 1980's the 'skinheads' synonymously became a term for neo-Nazism and stood for far-right politics. This is England reflects this by the use of costume, as Woody and his friends all stereotypically represent the 'skinheads' by their doc martens boots, checkered shirts, braces and Harrington jackets. Setting in This is England reflects the social and political views, as Meadows chooses to place the film in a working class location which is nameless and populated by a number of regional accents, this reflects how the problems caused by the capitalist society that created the 'skinhead subculture' is a widespread problem which has affected the main population of England. 

OFOTCN & Vertigo - auteur essay

Compare how far your chosen film reflects the auteur signature features of their filmmakers.
(40 marks)


In this essay I will explore how far Vertigo reflects Hitchcock's auteur signature and also how Forman reflects his auteur signature in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (OFOTCN). Auteur is how each filmmaker influences their films so that it reflects them and their own visions.


The filmmaker of Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock - uses multiple auteur signature features within this film, for example Hitchcock uses the colour green in contrast to red throughout the film, firstly the colour green is shown when Scottie first sees Madeleine, in which she wears a green dress, this is used to draw the spectators towards Madeleine by creating a more vivid character and shows her importance in the role she plays. Green is then used again in the scene when Scottie first sees Judy, as she also wears green. The colour green carries connotations of jealousy, envy, greed and ambition. This reflects Scotties feelings towards Judy as his ambition and jealousy of her appearance, has led him to his obsession because of her resemblance to Madeleine. This is then portrayed again in the scene where Scottie asks Judy to change her appearance so that she reflects Madeleine, green lighting is used in this scene to reflect Scotties emotions towards Judy. Green is frequently contrasted with the colour red, as Madeleine/Judy would wear mainly green colours and Scottie would mainly wear red or red and green together. This contrast between red and green could be a motif of reality Vs. appearance, as Madeleines appearance is altered between her and Judy, Scotties appearance is also altered an example of this is Scottie's red and green tie. Hitchcock may have decided to do this so that the spectators may be aware of Scotties unbalanced personality between reality which his profession of being a Detective and then appearance which is his obsession to Madeleine.


Hitchcock's other signature auteur feature within his films is the centered idea of guilt and misogyny, this is portrayed throughout Vertigo. For example guilt is reflected in the opening scene of Vertigo when the policeman working with Scotties saves his life, but ends up falling off the building himself. This then led to his acrophobia which made him retire from his job. Another example of where guilt is presented is Madeleines death, because of his phobia of heights he couldn't save Madeleine which  then led to his guilt over her death. Because of the guilt he carries this led him to become possessive of Judy because of her resemblance to Madeleine.Another theme centered around this film is misogyny, this is reflected in Vertigo through Scotties obsession to Judy, his greed and ambition for her to change her appearance portrays the pre-feminist politics of the late 1950's in which women were inferior to men. Because of this inferiority Judy suffers in contrast to Scottie as she feels subordinate compared to him as he made her manipulate her appearance so that he would love her. This reflects the stereotype of how males are more tended to be active and females were passive, and that the female characters are seen as objects to male characters.


The filmmaker of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Milos Forman - uses various auteur signature features in this film, an example of one of his auteur signatures is the frequent use of the colour white. White carries many connotations including: oppression, innocence and safety. This colour reflects the patients suppression in the mental institution because of Nurse Ratched, this also shows how they aren't able to express their true emotions and are controlled. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest the patients also wear white which symbolises their oppression through their appearance. Forman also includes the use of fencing and high walls to reflect the feeling of being trapped and unable to escape. This is shown through the scene when McMurphy arrives at the institute and also when the patients are playing basketball. The use of this could be a parallel to Milos Forman's upbringing in how his parents suffered and died in the Nazi concentration camps, the repressed environment created by the use of fencing by Forman reflects this.


Forman's other auteur signature feature is Jack Nicholson's performance in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Jack Nicholson's portrayal of McMurphy, gives a realistic depiction of someone suffering in a mental institution. McMurphy's character was a man feigning to be insane so that he didn't have to complete the manual labour given to him by prison, his maniacal laugh reflects this role of a mental patient. Nicholson has given this signature feature of a maniacal man in many other roles after Forman's OFOTCN this includes his portrayal of Jack Torrance in The Shining, The Joker in Batman and many other roles.


In conclusion, Vertigo reflects Hitchcock's auteur by the use of colour, costume and through key themes such as guilt and misogyny whereas Forman also reflects his auteur signature in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by the use of colour but also through character performances such a Jack Nicholson's portrayal of McMurphy.