MFL DVD ResourceTOPIC: LEISURE

Amelie

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘fantasy-realist’ film followsa woman, who discovers her true vocation in life.

Excerpt from the film: 11:11 > 11:38Amelie is in the cinema.

Amelie• Discuss what the advantages are of watching films at the cinema, as opposed to at home.

• Why do you think Amelie enjoys watching the people at the cinema? Why do you think she is fascinated by people’s reactions?

• Who is telling this story? Who is watching whom?

• Write a review of the last film you watched in three registers. Firstly as an email to a friend. Then as an in-school newsletter and finally as an article for a newspaper.

Amelie• What technical device does the director use in this clip? How does this affect the viewer? Have you seen this technique used anywhere else in film or on TV?

• In which ways do directors try to manipulate audiences?

• What is the irony of this sequence, and what does it make you think about the idea of ‘film’ in a wider context?

• It has been said that the emotions that film produces are sometimes too manufactured or that small details are lost, as Amelie suggests. To what extent do you agree?

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Au Revoir Les Enfants is Louis Malle’s film about lifein a French boarding school during WWII.

Excerpt from the film: 01:10:52 > 01:13:10The boys take a break from classes to watch a Charlie Chaplin film.

Au Revoir Les Enfants• Describe the scene that you have just watched in terms of the leisure activities in wartime France. • Write a short comparison with your own leisure activities.

• This film is set over fifty years ago in wartime France – discuss the contrast between a modern idea of leisure and the scene that Malle presents.

Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis

A French comedy in which a postmaster in Southern Francetries to get transferred to a remote region in Northern France.

Excerpt from the film: 00:40 > 02:19Philippe and his family are driving through the south of France aftera visit on the Côte d’Azur in a town where they might move to.

Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis• Make a weather forecast relating to France. This can be done in any tense (past, present, future).

• Whilst viewing the clip:

– Pick out 3 towns on the map.– What do you notice about the geography of France?– Do you recognise places where you have been?

Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis• After viewing the clip go on various websites to find out how to get from the south to the north of France. Prepare a breakdown of means of transport, costs, times.

(Try http://maps.google.fr/maps/ms?hl=fr&ie=UTF8&msa=2)

• Write two short paragraphs saying how you travelled there and where you went on holiday last summer and where you will go next summer (in the south or the north of France).

• OR write two paragraphs comparing a holiday in the North of France with one in the South of France describing the differences in climate, weather, people, … (try using comparative and superlative)

Joyeux Noël

Joyeux Noël is a film about the unofficial World War I Christmastruce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French,British and German soldiers.

Excerpt from the film: 01:15:47 > 01:17:57The soldiers relax.

Joyeux Noël• What are the recreational activities of the soldiers? How do they amuse themselves?

• What are the comforts and pleasures that they have in common? What will they do tomorrow?

• In groups of three, one British, one French and one German, you are playing cards. You still have an hour before the end of the cease-fire. Imagine the conversation in which everyone expresses his impressions of this special day. Will you also speak of your future plans?

Joyeux Noël

On google.fr, search for ‘cease-fire Christmas 1914’.After watching some videos, discuss in class this time in history.

Imagine you are one of the youngest French soldiers.Before you go to bed in the dugout at the end ofthis Christmas day, you write a letter to your parents.What do you tell them? You must include at least:

a) what you did last nightb) what happened todayc) what you will do tomorrowd) what your feelings are at this time

La Haine

La Haine is a French black-and-white film written, co-edited,and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. It is about three teenagefriends and their struggle to live in the banlieues of Paris.

Excerpt from the film: 09:04 > 12:20The boys go to the gym.

La Haine• In this scene we meet the three main protagonists together. It appears that the community has burnt down their main source of leisure activity in the riots. What does this say about how they must have felt?

• Why do you think they did it? What do you think will happen now?

La Haine• Write down at least two adjectives to describe each of the three characters as they appear in this scene. • What are the main features of the area in which they live? • Describe the daily routine of the three characters presented here OR compare and contrast your local area with the area Portrayed in this clip OR imagine that you have just been Elected Mayor of this borough: describe the changes you plan to make and why.