Reality Isn't What it Used to Be: The Changing Face of British Film Realism

Looking at two films from very different eras in British cinema – Brief Encounter (David Lean) and Another Year (Mike Leigh) – Brian McFarlane traces the changes in the nation's portrayal of 'real' lives on screen. How much has our idea of realism on film changed, he asks, and how much has the 'reality' that realism represents changed with it?