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.)

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