English coursework Media Coursework AssignmentA Kind of Loving’A Kind of Loving’ is regarded as a milestone in British cinema because it focused on gritty social realism, and not idealized life shown in many films of the time. The film was open-minded and first of its type. This meant that the audience was able to relate to this film unlike other films. It focuses on ordinary people and their ordinary lives. Personally I really enjoyed the film. It kept me engaged, mainly because the issues explored are similar to the ones today and there is still a contemporary relevance. Although I do think that it’s fairly dated and old fashioned, it is still enjoyable and thought-provoking. I didn’t particularly like the ending because your feelings as an audience are ambivalent. UK’s first edition of ’A kind of Loving’ was a book written by Michael Joseph in 1960.It was later filmed in 1961, directed by John Schlesinger, produced by Joseph Janni and script by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse (taken from the novel by Stan Barstow) it mainly looked at the new social realism.A 112 minutes long film starred: Alan Bates VicJune Ritchie IngridThora Hird Mrs. Rothwell (Ingrid’s’ mother)’A kind of loving’ has also been produced as a radio play, audio book and a stage play. `A Kind of Loving` is the story of a young man who has a physical infatuation for a girl, which eventually leads to pregnancy and marriage.Young and handsome Vic works as a draughtsman in a factory. He leads a carefree easygoing life until he has an affair with Ingrid who works in the same factory as him. After several dates, they sleep together and Ingrid becomes pregnant with Vic’s child. Because of family and friends forcing them, they get married. Ingrid’s mother Mrs.Rothwell is very over powering and unhappy with the marriage. Their relationship doesn’t go too well and soon enough Ingrid has a miscarriage. Vic is now annoyed at his decision to get married.Soon they discover their marriage isn’t working out too well and is mainly based on sex, this is when they realize that a romantic marriage for some is just an illusion. But they decide to stay together in hope of finding ‘A Kind of Loving’. Schlesinger directs the
film very well and shows all aspects of their lives from both views, Ingrid and Vic’s. Over all it’s a moral tale, with a lesson to learn and a price to pay. The producer and director try to communicate what England was like in the 1960’s. It’s purposely been set in a dreary area of England to set the mood. Another thing that sets the mood is the black and white print of the film.The explicit references to set marriage and the fact that women have sexual natures as well were regarded as ‘shocking’ at the time. The realistic portrayal ...
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film very well and shows all aspects of their lives from both views, Ingrid and Vic’s. Over all it’s a moral tale, with a lesson to learn and a price to pay. The producer and director try to communicate what England was like in the 1960’s. It’s purposely been set in a dreary area of England to set the mood. Another thing that sets the mood is the black and white print of the film.The explicit references to set marriage and the fact that women have sexual natures as well were regarded as ‘shocking’ at the time. The realistic portrayal of kissing and other love scenes was quite shocking as well, but the director did this very sensibly and sensitively. It wouldn’t have made the audience uncomfortable. Schlesinger establishes looking at a male world, when Vic and his friends are shown looking at pornography. This intimidates Ingrid because she feels she can never be like those women, she feels degraded and somewhat jealous. Women are shown as sex objects. The fact that when men look at them they are de-humanized has been made here.The film shows a safe middle class world, where there was no kind of explicit discussion of sex, romance and marriage. It wasn’t really appropriate to talk about it and sex is still discussed in ‘coy’ terms.A sense of reality is shown by the industrial landscape and incidental details, such as school children going home, the lights going off at night children running around the streets, shouting and women giggling. The sounds of factories, trains and industry in the background establish the mood amongst the audience. The bright lighting and dull gloomy days contrast with Vic and Ingrid’s lives. The film explores the social differences between Ingrid and Vic; she lives in the suburbs where as he lives down town. This was like reality, people had social problems and the audience would probably find it easy to relate to this. There’s one scene in particular that really looks at the real aspects of life.When Vic goes to the chemists to buy a pack of condoms, but he’s too embarrassed so buys a bottle of lucozade instead! Most men probably went through this sometime or the other, because sex was not openly discussed in those days.John Schlesinger’s skill as a director is shown immediately the film starts… Vic’s sisters’ wedding sceneThis is the opening of the film. The mood, scenery and atmosphere are established for the rest of the film. The opening is slightly unconventional for 1962-the audience would have expected the credits to come up and the cast to be named first. They could have been upset, because it’s not like the films they would have watched before.Documentary realism or the new realism is shown. He deliberately begins the film as if it is a documentary, to engage the audience since they had never seen anything like it before. The first sounds you hear are children shouting and talking amongst themselves, ice cream trucks and church bells ringing. Then the music starts, which are the ceremony bells after the wedding and the music the director ordered, which is original. The music is jaunty. The mood during the wedding is sort of mixed-its shot in autumn, there’s rain and it’s gloomy. All of this seems to reveal something negative.As the wedding finishes, you’re shown the country side and into town. The audience is given a view of the factories and railways. It’s wintry and signs of poverty are shown due to the sort of architecture of the buildings.Schlesinger gives clues to what the story could be about- a couple! - He doesn’t just establish the mood but also the story; in a matter of seconds the director has done so much. Vic and Ingrid’s eyes meet, which shows that the story will be about the 2 of them. Ingrid also stands out in the crowd; she’s beautiful and is dressed up uniquely. It’s almost like we’re guessing Ingrid and Vic’s life, just like the people at the wedding. The audience is shown a distant connection between the 2 of them, and then close ups.The photographer at the wedding takes photos of the bride and groom with different important people in their lives. Before taking each photograph, the director freezes the whole screen for the audience to analyze, which then becomes into a wedding photo. Schlesinger does this to show the picture perfect couple with the family at their flawless wedding.Vic then starts making jokes about not getting married-This alerts us to the fast that he’s a bachelor and seems to be head strong about what he wants to do further in life, concerning his love life.The young lovers’ first meet on the bus… They first met on the bus. Ingrid senses that Vic is watching her from above. She’s aware of him, and there’s a moment of tension established. He makes an excuse to talk to her, borrows some money for the bus ticket. They look at each other directly and their eyes meet, the journey begins here. The director focuses on their profiles very closely, making us feel as though we’re sitting right next to them. This engages the audience and develops a sense of excitement.Although Ingrid isn’t too eager for him to pay her back soon, he seems to want to pay back the money as soon as possible. They arrange a meeting. At the coffee barThis is when Vic starts to wonder if Ingrid is really interesting enough to him and Ingrid’s worried if he thinks she’s ordinary and common. Vic understands that Ingrid talks too much and she isn’t really interested in him all that much.When Ingrid gives Vic the birthday present he opens it up and looks at him in the shiny reflection. Wonders what he’s doing in life and wants to go back and change things slightly. Ingrid is talking while wonders what to do with her. He doesn’t hate her but he doesn’t know if he loves her. He’s tried to say ‘I love you ‘but it hasn’t been able to come out of his mouth. Time and time again he focuses on her. This makes the audience focus on her features as well as his. They’re physically close on the table, but are mentally separated. They’re on different thought tracks. Vic starts to mentally distant himself from the café scene and wanders of thinking leaving Ingrid talking to herself.He thinks about his life further on, he hears a crying baby in the background and doesn’t want to be trapped in such a situation, which makes him want to get out of the relationship even more. ‘Its rotten being a girl sometimes’ says Ingrid. This could imply a lot of stuff. Probably Vic’s behavior towards her, or basically men’s behavior towards women and the way society looks at them.He avoids saying ‘lovey dovey’ things to her; because he’s scared it might make her fall in love with him!Majority of the shots were filmed on location like the coffee bar one, very little were shot in the studio. This helps show realism and I guess helped the author of the film convey his message to the audience. It perhaps makes the audience feel at home since they have probably had experiences similar to ones like that and are able to relate to them directly without losing interest.First KissAnother key moment in the film is when Ingrid and Vic first kiss in the park (shelter). They are shown in a covered small area, which is mostly used by the young people. It’s where other lovers have been before. The closing shot is very effective. Ingrid and Vic kiss each other, the camera then focuses and lingers on the graffiti on the wall which says ‘I love Adam’ which could perhaps have a link to Adam and Eve. This symbolizes first and last love, or long lasting love. It could also symbolize betrayal and selfishness.Ingrid also asks Vic if he loves her, because she’s insecure, he never replies saying ‘I love you’ but always seems to say something on the lines of ‘I want you’- this proves the fact that he didn’t really love her but was using her. Ingrid and Vic seemed to have different views towards their relationship. We as audience are shown both viewpoints. The director shows us close-ups of both their faces, we get to examine them and see both view points. It’s almost like self-examination. I think the author of the film did a great job. He adopted a kind of documentary realism issue in this film. This kept the audience engaged because they had never seen something like that. The sound added to the technique because he used the noises of little children playing in the streets as well as sounds of trains, factories and industry. This showed realism.The black and white print help set the mood, tone and atmosphere. And the harsh lighting he used on Vic and Ingrid’s face helps us examine them properly. The director going on around them as well in shows us close up shots as well as distant ones. I think this is very interesting because the audience is shown what’s going on around them as well as in their minds.The way he uses the incidental details in the background is very effective!Throughout the film, Schlesinger uses symbolic images and sounds such as the graffiti on the wall saying ‘I love Adam’ this symbolized the love between Adam and eve as well as the fact that many couples had been to this spot before. The sounds of the crying baby were incidental, but linked with the miscarriage.All in all I think the realism technique was very effective and it attracted many people to the film. And was the main reason why Stan Barstow’s novel was a hit too.
