Analysis of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Below is a essay I had to write in my first year of University for Film Studies and Film Production, the first Assessed piece of work under the Cinema in Context sub course. This essay awarded me 60/100.

The film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning can be analysed specifically to show what time period the film is driven from. The film is clearly from the era of the British New Wave Cinema, being released in 1960, straight into the crux of the release of this cinema. The British New Wave was a distinct style of films that ranged throughout 1959 and 1963, that were released following the events of World War 2. The films in this new wave commonly followed formulas in their narratives and direction style, so that they can all fit together into a distinct style. This film follows clear formulas that are found in the New Wave, placing it clearly in the wave.

The New Wave commonly made the use of similar plots and filmmaking methods throughout the films released in the period. This film follows this as well, the use of a working-class main character shows that it is part of the New Wave. It was very common for the films to use this type of character so that the films can show off how Britain truly is, the films want to show that Britain is really a class-based society despite its claims of the opposite. The main character, Arthur, is a machinist and is on the low end of the scale for money making, he is used to show how hard life is for the working class in Britain, compared to how easy the upper classes live. The films of the new wave strive for a sense of social realism, using characters like Arthur to show a sense of the real world, or what the director believes that real world to be, ‘despite the claim to realism, the directorial hand is not hidden in the folds of the narrative.’ (1986:132)[i] Commonly, the films strived for ‘kitchen sink realism,’ a common realism used in the time, usually following a young man who is against the modern society. They usually followed more controversial social ideas that Hollywood would not base films on, like abortion and sex. Arthur follows this idea of ‘kitchen sink realism’ with him being a male protagonist who is on the outwards of what society expects. The film also delves into taboo subjects like abortion and sex in the narrative, clearly showing the elements of the New Wave. Through this realism its evident it was part of the new wave, ‘its controversial themes, strong language, and sober realism are characteristic of the movement.’ (2020:77)[ii]

Alongside this, the New Wave makes use of certain stylistic directions to put across its specific points, especially using black and white cinematography. This film also uses this direction style, using the black and white cinematography to make the film feel more real and personal, enforcing the sense of the dramatic realism. The New Wave also commonly makes the use of location shooting instead of the common Hollywood style of studio shooting. This film also clearly follows this by being shot in actual buildings and streets, the rejection of the studios allowed for the films to be more honest and truthful. The New Wave mostly strived for a level of realism in creating its films, using unknown actors and directors so that it can be differentiated from a typical Hollywood film. This was clearly shown in the advertising of the film, ‘practically all its leading players are either completely new to the cinema or here have their biggest roles.’ (2010:9) [iii]This shows clearly that the film followed this feature found in the new wave, with it making the use of actor Albert Finney, who was relatively unknown at the time, alongside the unknown director Karel Reisz. This makes the film fit into the new wave, with it going into a sense of realism, avoiding the big-name actors that are a drive for Hollywood, being described as a, ‘move towards a mature, intelligent engagement with contemporary British social life.’ (2006:2)[iv]

The film shares many common elements as Room at the Top, another film that is in the British New Wave. Both films make the use of a very clear male working-class protagonist, which was a staple of the films of this new wave. They also both make the use of sex as a driving force of the narrative, with Room at the Top following Joe Lampton pursuing Susan Brown, while Saturday Night and Sunday Morning follows Alex’s relationship with Brenda. The New Wave cinema allows a higher sense of realism by using sex on screen, what would not be common in the classic British cinema. The films set during this new wave period all commonly follow documentary traditions, they are not conveyed as traditional narrative, instead playing out like a true story. Both films follow through with this by using realistic settings, using real factories, bars and homes. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning follows the typical formulas of being almost a documentary, the characters are shown off honestly and like how people would live and act at the time. The film’s shooting on location has even been documented, ‘when two days were lost due mainly to working in an actual factory in Nottingham.’ (2014:23)[v]

In conclusion, the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning makes the use of several formulas that place it clearly in the British New Wave. The film shares many clear elements that are found in the films at the time, through the clear production elements, making use of documentary traditions, like unknown actors and on location shooting rather than studio shooting, alongside the use of black and white cinematography. As well as this, the film also fits into the new wave because of its narrative elements, the film is a male focused narrative, striving for social realism of the time, showing sex on film and focusing on the British class divisions through the working-class character.

Bibliography: [i] David Forrest (2009) Shane Meadows and The British New Wave: Britain’s hidden art cinema, Studies in European Cinema, 6:2-3, 191-201 [ii] Annette Kuhn and Guy Westwell (2020) A Dictionary of Film Studies, 77-500 [iii] Yael Zarhy-Levo (2010) Looking Back at The British New Wave, 9-17 [iv] B.F. Taylor and Susan Williams (2006) The British New Wave: A Certain Tendency? Manchester University Press, 2-189 [v] Sarah Street (2014) Film Finances and The British New Wave, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 23-42 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_and_Sunday_Morning_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_at_the_Top_%281959_film%29 Filmography: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960, directed by Karel Reisz) Room at the Top (1959, directed by Jack Clayton)