MFL DVD Resource

1. MFL DVD Resource TOPIC: LEISURE

2. Amelie • Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘fantasy-realist’ film follows • a woman, who discovers her true vocation in life. • Excerpt from the film: 11:11 > 11:38 • Amelie is in the cinema.

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. Au Revoir Les Enfants • Au Revoir Les Enfants is Louis Malle’s film about life • in a French boarding school during WWII. • Excerpt from the film: 01:10:52 > 01:13:10 • The boys take a break from classes to watch a Charlie Chaplin film.

6. 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.

7. Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis • A French comedy in which a postmaster in Southern France • tries to get transferred to a remote region in Northern France. • Excerpt from the film: 00:40 > 02:19 • Philippe and his family are driving through the south of France after • a visit on the Côte d’Azur in a town where they might move to.

8. 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?

9. 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)

10. Joyeux Noël • Joyeux Noël is a film about the unofficial World War I Christmas • truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, • British and German soldiers. • Excerpt from the film: 01:15:47 > 01:17:57 • The soldiers relax.

11. 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?

12. 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 of • this Christmas day, you write a letter to your parents. • What do you tell them? You must include at least: a) what you did last night b) what happened today c) what you will do tomorrow d) what your feelings are at this time

13. La Haine • La Haine is a French black-and-white film written, co-edited, • and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. It is about three teenage • friends and their struggle to live in the banlieues of Paris. • Excerpt from the film: 09:04 > 12:20 • The boys go to the gym.

14. 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?

15. 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.