UNIT 9 Brit-Flicks

« UNIT 9 Brit-Flicks Key question: What do British screen fictions say about today’s society? Interview a British film director about his/her goals when portraying British society. Lesson I Doc 1.

A snapshot of British cinema Observe the infographic and answer the questions below. ACTIVITY I a.

Look at the infographic and focus on the most successful films in Great Britain.

What image of British cinema do they convey? Among the most successful films presented in the infographic, we find several episodes of the Harry Potter franchise, films which have totalized a revenue of £66.4 million and the Star Wars franchise with £75.6 million, then comes the James Bond franchise with £63.7 million.

What is striking is the fact that these franchises are the fruit of a collaboration between the US and the UK.

So, most of the British box office reveals a rather international image. ACTIVITY II b.

Listen to the audio and take notes about the specificities of British movies. Among the common points that characterise British movies are the omnipresence of London, the rise of a certain type of hero, often an unwilling and awkward hero, an excellent soundtrack, a cold, wet and workingclass portrait of Northern cities and the depiction of the harsh reality. ACTITIVY III c.

According to the speaker, explain what vision of the UK British films tend to give. According to the speaker, British films tend to give a rather stereotyped vision of the UK, either by being over- romanticised or self-deprecating.

From the Londoncentred rom-coms of the 1990s to the post-industrial city dramas picturing down to earth, unwilling heroes, British cinema explores both extremes of the clichés, always with wit and a deep sense of reality. ACTIVITY IV d.

Sum up in your own words what characterises British movies. In a nutshell, a film can be considered as British when the members of its crew are mainly British, when it deals with British culture and history, when it is mainly shot in Britain but the movies also share a few characteristics like the way the hero is depicted, the accents which reveal a social origin and the sense of drama which is inherent to most of the British movies, even the comedies. Lesson II Doc 2.

Beatlemania A film by Danny Boyle, 2019. ACTIVITY I a.

Look at the film poster and identify all the references to The Beatles, Read the quotes and imagine the film plot. Jack crossing the road like the Beatles for the cover of their album Abbey Road – “Yesterday” is both the title of the film and of one of their songs.

The plot might be about how the world remembers the group and its successful songs, or how they were idolised. ACTIVITY II b.

Watch the trailer and take some notes on British elements you recognise. Big Ben; the song “Yesterday”; the Beatles; Coldplay and their song “Fix You”; “Let it Be”; “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”; the British news anchor James Corden in the US version of “The late show”; British singer Ed Sheeran playing his own part and British actress Lily James acting the part of a school teacher. ACTIVITY III c.

Name the genre of the film and sum up the plot. Explain what might have built up the film’s success. This is a musical film with comic tones.

It deals with the story of Jack Malik, a musician who wakes up in a world where the Beatles have never been discovered.

He starts singing these songs himself and becomes a beloved British idol, with fans waiting for him at the airport and real famous British singers like Ed Sheeran working with him or with British journalists inviting him on set.

The film offers a portrayal of the group’s history and most famous songs, which might have built its success.

Fans are likely to be attracted by this plot.

But the film is also a typical British rom-com, a genre that has always appealed to people. ACTIVITY IV d.

Comment on the certain image of Britishness the film conveys. The film offers a romanticised although a bit cliché vision of Britishness, with images of national treasures of British culture abroad like Big Ben, the Beatles, Coldplay or Ed Sheeran.

These are part of the globalised vision of British culture portrayed by the British film and music industries. Lesson III Is this really Britain? ACTIVITY I a.

Read the text and take notes on the success çf films about British royalty. British films about royalty are presented as having a “massive American appeal” for the audience as well as for the industry.

Actors and actresses who act in them are awarded prices in American ceremonies like the Oscars (Judi Dench, Ellen Mirren and Colin Firth for examples are all British but accustomed to receiving American awards for their performances in films about royals) ACTIVITY II b.

Identify the author’s critiques towards these productions. According to the journalist, the vision of royals given by these productions is fictional and romanticised.

It is deceptive because it is meant to please the audience. They belong to a stereotyped vision of British society and its class system, supporting a deceptive image of monarchy as icons for the cinema. ACTIVITY III c.

Pick out the expressions or rhetorical devices used to question the success of these films.

Describe the tone of the journalist. “shockingly homogenous”, “of course” (used twice), “well”: these expressions convey irony as well as criticism. ACTIVITY IV d.

Explain why the author calls such a depiction of Britain a ‘fiction’. The journalist sees these representations of royals as a fiction because, to him, they belong to a stereotyped vision of British society and its class system, supporting a deceptive and nostalgic image of monarchy as icons for the cinema.

It distracts society from looking at the daily reality of British politics which is more about political divisions than autocratic rule. Lesson IV ACTIVITY I Doc 1.

Immutable heroes ? Untouchable 007 ACTIVITY I a.

Look at the film poster (doc 1) and identify the immutable. The film poster displays the immutable signs of the James Bond franchise: Daniel Craig as the hero looking over his shoulder as if always in control; beautiful women embodying the Bond girls (one with blond hair, probably the nice one, one with brown hair and dramatic style of clothing, probably the not so nice one, and in the background, one is heavily armed); the enemy in the middle embodied by a man with dark hair showing an evil look to the audience; the British Aston Martin car, etc. ACTIVITY II b.

Read the article.

Pick out the reasons why Idris Elba would seem like a good fit to play James Bond. Idris Elba seems to be a good fit: he fits the part physically (handsome, strong, black hair from Fleming’s description) and he is British.

He could act the ladies-man in a tuxedo.

It would rejuvenate the vision of this iconic character. Obstacles /reservations noted by the journalist: some would criticise the fact that he is Black and too old for the part, not fitting the exact description of the character by its author (a white male with dark hair).

As for her personal reservations, the journalist argues Idris Elba would benefit from a production that would underline his acting qualities rather than stress his skin colour and subject him to undue criticism for playing a cliché character with a renewed vision. ACTIVITY III c.

Observe the poster on Harry Potter and explain the message of the legally Black campaign. The Legally Black campaign is a group of young activists defending the need.... »