00:00:00
1
Close shot of a YOUNG MAN's face. He looks confused and scared. There is a lot of smoke and the light is very yellow.
Close shot of a FAT, older MAN's face. He looks bored. The smoke comes from his cigarette. He slaps the young man.
Fade to black.
2
Words appear on the screen:
Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it?
A) He cheated.
b) He's lucky.
c) He's a geniius.
d) It is written.
3
We see the beginning of the TV game show "Who wants to be a millionaire?"
4
Close shot of JAMAL's face, as he is slapped. He is with the fat man.
FAT MAN: Name.
JAMAL: Jamal Malik.
FAT MAN: So, you have a name. Good. Stop Crying.
5
Back on the TV show. JAMAL and the HOST sit down, facing each other. The HOST is a middle-aged, smiling man.
GAME SHOW HOST: So... tell me something about yourself.
6
JAMAL's face underwater. He's being tortured. He is pulled out of the water.
JAMAL: I work in a call center in Juhu.
The FAT MAN pushes JAMAL's head back into a small bucket of water.
7
The show.
HOST: A phone basher! And what type of a call center would that be?
JAMAL: XL 5 mobile phones.
HOST: So, you're the one who calls me up every single day with special offers, uh?
AUDIENCE laughs.
JAMAL: No, actually, I'm an assistant.
HOST: An assistant phone basher?
AUDIENCE laughs.
HOST: And what does an assistant phone basher do?
JAMAL: A bring tea for people, and...
HOST: Chai wallah. A chai wallah! (excited).
AUDIENCE laughs.
HOST: Well, Jamal Malik from Mumbai, let's play Who wants to be a millionaire?!
8
Shot of a young Indian woman in a yellow top. She is smiling directly to the camera. There is a train moving just behind her.
9.
Close shot of a man's feet. Black shoes and formal grey trousers. He comes into the room with yellow light.
JAMAL is on the right side of the room. He is tied up from his wrists, hanging from the cealing by a rope, his feet about 20 cm from the floor. The FAT MAN is sitting on a chair, left, about 2 meters away.
We see the face of the THIN MAN.
THIN MAN: So, has he confessed yet?
FAT MAN: Except his name, I could not get anything out of the runt.
THIN MAN: You have been here the whole bloody night, Srinivas. what have you been doing?
SRINIVAS: He's a tough guy.
THIN MAN: A little electricity will loosen him up.
SRINIVAS: Yes, sir.
SRINIVAS gets up to get a car battery from a corner. It has two cords, a red and a black one, with clips at the end. he puts the battery next to JAMAL. The two policemen look for a chip under JAMAL's shirt. There's nothing.
BOSS: It's hot, and my wife is giving me hell, and I've got a desk full of murderers, rapists, exhortionists, bum bandits and you. So why don't you save us both a lot of time and tell me how you cheated?
JAMAL says nothing. The BOSS nods to SRINIVAS. He puts the battery's clips on Jamal's toes. The BOSS keeps interrogating JAMAL in a quiet voice. SRINIVAS gives him an electric discharge. JAMAL moans.
SRINIVAS: I'm done, sir.
BOSS, to JAMAL: Now, listen. Hello!
He slaps JAMAL, not hard. JAMAL is unconscious.
BOSS: He's unconscious, Juti. What good is that? How many times have I told you, Srinivas?
SRINIVAS: I'm sorry, sir. Now next time we'll have Amnesty International here, peeing in their pants about human rights.
SRINIVAS: Sir, I was thinking....
BOSS: Get him down, tidy him up, for God's sake!!!!
SRINIVAS: What if he did know the answers?
00:06:00.
******************************
00:30:34
A little boy is singing. SALIM and three adults are there: MAMAN, PUNOOSE, and an OLD MAN.
PUNOOSE: Good. I'm ready.
OLD MAN: I'm ready too.
The men drug the little boy, who falls asleep immediately. SALIM looks alarmed, but he doesn't move.
The men make the anesthesised boy lie down on a table and blind him by pouring acid into his eyes.
MAMAN, to SALIM: go get Jamal.
00:32:44
lunes, 11 de abril de 2011
jueves, 7 de abril de 2011
Film commentary guide for Term 3: Cinema and Social Issues
OK, these are your instructions.
1. Watch each film and try to answer all the questions in this list, separately. You can do this while you watch, or immediately afterwards. You don't need to answer the question in exactly the order I give you.
2. Compare the answers you have given in one film and in the other. Work section by section.
3. Try to make conclusions in your comparison. Don't be afraid to give personal opinions.
4. Work in pairs, and edit each other's work.
1 The characters.
The heroes are Oliver Twist and Jamal.
What are their personal circumstances, their position in life?
What are their objectives? Do they work actively to obtain those objectives? Why or why not?
Are any physical characteristics very important for the story?
Personality traits, positive and negative. (see note)
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
Do they evolve?
The heroine in “Oliver!” is Nancy. In Slumdog Millionaire, it's Latika.
Describe some differences between Nancy and all the other heroines we have studied this year.
What are their personal circumstances, their position in life? Is it worse, better, or the same than the heroes? Why?
Do they have any objectives? Do they work actively to obtain those objectives? Why or why not?
Are any physical characteristics very important for the story?
Personality traits, positive and negative. (see final note)
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
Do they evolve?
The villains. In Oliver!, you have the Beadle, Sikes, and Fagin. In Slumdog Millionaire, you have Maman, Javed, and Prem (the TV game show host).
What are personal circumstances and their objectives?
What are their personal characteristics? They are all very bad, but in the same way and for the same reasons?
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
The Artful Dodger and Salim.
Determine their narrative role (antiheroes? Villains? Antagonists?). They do not necessarily coincide.
What are their circumstances and objectives?
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
Do they evolve?
Other characters:
Comment on any other character in the story as you wish.
NOTE: Some characteristics that you need to consider in your analysis of most characters, except maybe the villains, are: responsibility, violence, maturity, decisiveness, love and affection, generosity or selfishness, kindness, sincerity, shyness vs. sociability, perseverance (stubborness), ambition, naïveté, resourcefulness.
2 Time.
How fast does time pass? How long does the story take? Are the films full of many quick events, or not?
What happens in the musical scenes in Oliver!? Does the action stop, or goes on? What about Slumdog Millionaire?
Comment on the time structure in Slumdog Millionaire. Have you ever seen similar films?
Determine the act division in both films, and at least one climactic event in each act.
3 Space.
Make a list of all the different spaces that appear in the films. Determine which ones are “positive” (clean, pretty, peaceful), which ones are “negative” (dirty, ugly, dangerous), which ones are ambiguous (for example: pretty but dangerous? ugly but full of love?). Consider the purpose of different spaces (they can be workplaces, homes, nature, transport....) Compare the locations in both films.
Consider the way in which changes in location affects the characters. Maybe they like some places more than others. Maybe they are in places that they hate. Maybe they are locked in claustrophobic places and they cannot get out.
4 Social issues.
What is the genre of each film? Do you think that it is the right genre to tell a story of social injustice?
Some of the issues that are part of both films are: poverty; education; pollution; gender inequality; violence; work exploitation (of children and adults); corrupt or inept justice systems.
Describe and compare the situations presented in each film, regarding each of those seven issues.
Do you think the films offer any solutions about any of these injustices?
Are the endings happy, sad, or bittersweet? Are they believable?
What do you think about Salim's behaviour at the end of the film? Why does he act in that way at the end?
5 Language and music.
How do the characters speak? (formally, informally, a lot, too little.....)
Mention at least ten specific examples of language in each film that you find interesting and expressive (words or complete lines of dialogue). Justify your answer. The examples from Oliver! can be from the songs, and be included in this question:
In Oliver!, make a one- or two-line summary of every song and describe it with AT LEAST two adjectives or expressions. (For example: funny, boring, it stops the action, it advances the plot, strange, pretty, sad, etc.)
1. Watch each film and try to answer all the questions in this list, separately. You can do this while you watch, or immediately afterwards. You don't need to answer the question in exactly the order I give you.
2. Compare the answers you have given in one film and in the other. Work section by section.
3. Try to make conclusions in your comparison. Don't be afraid to give personal opinions.
4. Work in pairs, and edit each other's work.
1 The characters.
The heroes are Oliver Twist and Jamal.
What are their personal circumstances, their position in life?
What are their objectives? Do they work actively to obtain those objectives? Why or why not?
Are any physical characteristics very important for the story?
Personality traits, positive and negative. (see note)
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
Do they evolve?
The heroine in “Oliver!” is Nancy. In Slumdog Millionaire, it's Latika.
Describe some differences between Nancy and all the other heroines we have studied this year.
What are their personal circumstances, their position in life? Is it worse, better, or the same than the heroes? Why?
Do they have any objectives? Do they work actively to obtain those objectives? Why or why not?
Are any physical characteristics very important for the story?
Personality traits, positive and negative. (see final note)
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
Do they evolve?
The villains. In Oliver!, you have the Beadle, Sikes, and Fagin. In Slumdog Millionaire, you have Maman, Javed, and Prem (the TV game show host).
What are personal circumstances and their objectives?
What are their personal characteristics? They are all very bad, but in the same way and for the same reasons?
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
The Artful Dodger and Salim.
Determine their narrative role (antiheroes? Villains? Antagonists?). They do not necessarily coincide.
What are their circumstances and objectives?
Which of their characteristics help them survive and obtain their objectives? Which don't?
Do they evolve?
Other characters:
Comment on any other character in the story as you wish.
NOTE: Some characteristics that you need to consider in your analysis of most characters, except maybe the villains, are: responsibility, violence, maturity, decisiveness, love and affection, generosity or selfishness, kindness, sincerity, shyness vs. sociability, perseverance (stubborness), ambition, naïveté, resourcefulness.
2 Time.
How fast does time pass? How long does the story take? Are the films full of many quick events, or not?
What happens in the musical scenes in Oliver!? Does the action stop, or goes on? What about Slumdog Millionaire?
Comment on the time structure in Slumdog Millionaire. Have you ever seen similar films?
Determine the act division in both films, and at least one climactic event in each act.
3 Space.
Make a list of all the different spaces that appear in the films. Determine which ones are “positive” (clean, pretty, peaceful), which ones are “negative” (dirty, ugly, dangerous), which ones are ambiguous (for example: pretty but dangerous? ugly but full of love?). Consider the purpose of different spaces (they can be workplaces, homes, nature, transport....) Compare the locations in both films.
Consider the way in which changes in location affects the characters. Maybe they like some places more than others. Maybe they are in places that they hate. Maybe they are locked in claustrophobic places and they cannot get out.
4 Social issues.
What is the genre of each film? Do you think that it is the right genre to tell a story of social injustice?
Some of the issues that are part of both films are: poverty; education; pollution; gender inequality; violence; work exploitation (of children and adults); corrupt or inept justice systems.
Describe and compare the situations presented in each film, regarding each of those seven issues.
Do you think the films offer any solutions about any of these injustices?
Are the endings happy, sad, or bittersweet? Are they believable?
What do you think about Salim's behaviour at the end of the film? Why does he act in that way at the end?
5 Language and music.
How do the characters speak? (formally, informally, a lot, too little.....)
Mention at least ten specific examples of language in each film that you find interesting and expressive (words or complete lines of dialogue). Justify your answer. The examples from Oliver! can be from the songs, and be included in this question:
In Oliver!, make a one- or two-line summary of every song and describe it with AT LEAST two adjectives or expressions. (For example: funny, boring, it stops the action, it advances the plot, strange, pretty, sad, etc.)
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