T O P I C : C U LT U R E

Jean de Florette
Jean de Florette is a French historical drama film directed by Claude Berri, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol.
Excerpt from the film: 01:03:55 > 01:05:35
Cultural differences between the villagers and the city folk

Jean de Florette
• Why do you think the family goes into the village?
• What are the men of the village in the middle of doing?
• What are the obvious differences between the Concordet family and the village people?
• What is the attitude of the servers at the bakery?
• What happens when the family leave the bakery?
• What might be the feelings of Jean the hunchback at this time?

Jean de Florette
• Imagine you are Manon, the little girl. Before going to bed that evening, you write in your private diary. Tell what happened in the village and describe your feelings.
Start:
Mon cher journal,
Aujourd ’hui c’était une journée… .
• In pairs, imagine the conversation between Jean and his wife Aimée that evening. Create a dialogue that lasts at least 2 minutes.

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 (outskirts) of Paris, during the riots.
Excerpt from the film: 01:11:44 > 01:15:38
The three protagonists find themselves in an art gallery.

La Haine
• The three protagonists find themselves inside an art gallery at an opening event. Make a list of differences between the boys and the guests at the gallery.
• Do you think they fit in? Why/not?
Is their response justified?

La Haine
• Have you been / would you go to an art gallery?
What are your views on street art?
Describe the people you saw there/think you would see there.

Joyeux Noël
Joyeux Noël is a film about the World War I unofficial
Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, British and German soldiers.
Excerpt from the film: 01:32 > 02:40
The first scene of the film where students from three countries are reciting phrases about how brilliant their country is compared to others.

Joyeux Noël
• Talk about what you already know about the
First World War, and compare it to today ’s wars.
• Watch the first time without sound or subtitles.
What historical period is it? How do we know?
How can we tell what nationality the boys are?
In your opinion, what are each saying?
Do they express their own ideas?
• Re-watch with sound and subtitles.
Review the questions above.
• What do they say? Write down a sentence for each boy, that, to you, sums their speech up.

Joyeux Noël
• Write a description of each student. Mention his appearance, his clothes, his demeanor and attitude.
(40 words per person)
• Describe or draw three students in 2010, one from each country:
Great Britain, France and Germany. Do an oral comparison of your drawn students with the students from the film.
For example: The German boy from 2010 is wearing trainers, but the one from 1913 was wearing leather boots.
• Do you think you could talk about your nationality with such pride at school? Why/why not?

Bienvenue chez les Ch ’tis
A comedy where a postmaster in Southern France gets transferred to a remote region in Northern France.
Excerpt from the film: 01:15:51 > 01:18:38
Julie arrives in Bergues and is being shown around by Antoine and his colleagues.

Bienvenue chez les Ch ’tis
• Describe what there is and isn’t in Bergues mining village
(look up and review some words that usefully describe town and rural life beforehand).
• What might be (culturally) lacking, and why?
• What stereotype might the ‘residents’ be playing up to?
• Design a leaflet to advertise your area to attract new business.

Bienvenue chez les Ch ’tis
• Use this scene to start a research task about very rural northern communities in France.
• In groups produce a well researched voice-over to accompany the clip in the style of a mock documentary on this.

Persepolis
Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution
Excerpt from the film: 01:15:48 > 01:17:25
Marji questions authority.

Persepolis
• What do you feel about Marji’s comments about the unfairness of religion? Do you agree that there appears to be a level of hypocrisy being shown by the men and if so, what might their response be?
• How is the scene set up to illustrate the divisions between men and women that the committee members are seeking to widen further?

Persepolis
• What do you think about the discussion in the garden afterwards?
• What did you learn about the attitudes and thoughts of the two women? How do you react to them?
Are you in agreement with some of the attitudes expressed?