Lindsay Anderson was a Scottish director working throughout the second half of the 20th century. Known primarily as a filmmaker, Anderson worked prolifically in the theatre, particularly at the Royal Court. He was also a prominent writer and critic for both film and theatre. This dissertation will assess Anderson’s works using the concept of Brechtian realism as an underpinning lens. It will argue that one of the core principles of Brechtian realism- that ‘a simple reproduction of reality’ cannot really ‘say anything about reality’ (Brecht, trans. Carl Gelderoos, 2014,549) can be applied to what Anderson developed as his own distinct sense of realism. Framing Andersons’s work within its contextual roots of the social realist movement, this essay will look at how Anderson’s realism became unusual by separating itself from the naturalistic and reproductive trends of realism from which it stemmed and flourishing into something new and distinct. The idea of commenting on reality without trying to superficially replicate it, is part of what constituted Anderson’s notion of the ‘poetic’. Looking at two of Anderson’s films: The White Bus (1967) and If…. (1969), this dissertation will analyze how these works encapsulate this notion of the ‘poetic’ through the irruption of fantasy, satire and emotion into the supposed reality of the works themselves, acting as part of an effort to truly depict and expose what is real about the world and abandoning any attempts to simply reproduce reality. Additionally, Anderson’s notion of the ‘poetic’ is rooted in an artistic mindset of rebellion and non-conformism. As Isobel Gourdin-Sangouard points out: ‘integrity versus conformism’ is ‘the central duality that informs Anderson’s own artistic ethics’ (Gourdin-Sangouard, 2014,218). Using this assertion, this dissertation will examine the ways in which rebelliousness and the struggle between conformism and integrity are transposed and reflected in Anderson’s works.
PLEASE NOTE: You must be a member of the University of Lincoln to be able to view this dissertation. Please log in here.