Write a film review.

2.1.Write a favourable review for a film you have seen lately.

2.2. Write an unfavourable review for a film you didn't like.

Note. While writing your review you should mention the following facts about the film:

What is the title of the film?

What kind of film is it (comedy, suspense, etc.)?

Who does the film star? What actors and actresses appear in the film? What roles do they play?

Who directed the film?

What is the story about?

What do you think about the acting, the direction, the screenplay, the music or any other elements you consider important?

Do you recommend that people see the film? Why or why not? What type of film-goer is most likely to enjoy the film?

Some of these expressions might help:

moving, violent, powerful, gripping, good fun, slow;

what I liked best is …; the thing I don't like about the film is …, I don't think much of …; … doesn't appeal to me at all;

a marvellous movie starring / featuring …;

an outstanding performance, directed by …, produced by …;

a humourous and touching story, based on the novel …;

skillfully written, made with great professionalism;

5 Oscar nominations;

it is based on a book of the same name;

… tells the story of …, and as the story unfolds, we see …;

it stars X in the title role of Y;

it's set in rural England at the beginning of the 19^th century;

what we don't learn until the end is that ….

The reviews below may serve as examples.

1) CASABLANKA. Released by Warner Bros. 1942. Directed by Michael Curtiz.

Cast: Rick - Humphrey Bogart

Ilsa - Ingrid Bergman

Her husband - Paul Henreid

Casablanka was first shown in November 1942, a few days after Allied Forces had landed in Morocco to liberate the city from the Nazis. For its fiftieth anniversary, the film was shown once again in main cinemas in London and New York, and in the intervening years it has never lost its popularity. How has this film become probably the best-loved of all motion pictures?

The question has been asked many times, above all because the film was largely improvised. The scriptwriters were making alterations up to the last minute, and it is said that Ingrid Bergman was not told until just before the last scene whether Ilsa would end in the arms of Rick or her husband.

The film has never been very popular with the critics, though. When it was first shown, it was greeted with lukewarm reviews and even though it won the Oscars for the best film, best direction and the best screenplay a year later, many share the view of Pauline Kael, who described it as "a movie that demonstrates how entertaining a bad movie can be".

But I am totally convinced that on this occasion the general public have always been right and the critics wrong. The film is a wonderful professional achievement. It has well organised scenes, building up to climax. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and most of the jokes have not lost their savour.

The acting is impeccable in the minor as well as the major roles, and the stars themselves are so perfectly cast that the shots of them together have become mythical. Humphrey Bogart has never been surpassed as the man whose tough, professional exterior hides a romantic sense of honour. There has never been a film actress with a more beautifully expressive face in close-up than Ingrid Bergman.

In the final assessment, the myth and the continuing popularity of the film rest on the fact that it embodies human values that are far more attractive to the general public than to intellectual critics. It is about love that may involve self-sacrifice, being willing to fight for what one believes in, and the idea that being independent and making your own choices involves a sense of responsibility. If these things are now considered romantic, sentimental, old-fashioned, so much the worse for our generation.

2) GONE WITH THE WIND (a shortened version). Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cucor.

Gone With the Wind: motion-picture epic about a tempestuous Southern belle and the changes in her life due to the American Civil War (1861-1865), based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Mitchell. Released in 1939, this film won eight Academy Awards and was one of the biggest production events in film history. The story involves Scarlett O'Hara (played by Vivien Leigh), the beautiful and difficult daughter of a large plantation owner. O'Hara is hopelessly infatuated with Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), but becomes distraught when Wilkes becomes engaged to Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland). In the midst of a tantrum over this news she meets the rakish Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). The two Southerners form a fiery romance and then endure hardship and loss in the Civil War, including the famous burning of Atlanta, Georgia.

3. DISCUSS THE POINTS:

Ø Many producers are interested only in films with great box-office potential rather than ones of artistic value.

Ø Thу film industry is confronted with the task of surviving in the face of tough competition from TV and the video business.

Ø Censorship.

Ø What can the cinema offer that the theatre can’t?

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30