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UNIT 4 CINEMA

The cinema, like the detective story, makes it possible to experience without danger all the excitement, passion and desirousness which must be repressed in a humanitarian ordering of life. Carl Jung

Before you start doing the main activities of this unit, brush up on active vocabulary to the topic. Exercise 1. Answer t:e following questions: 1. Do you like watching ? Why? / Why not? How often do you… a) go to the cinema, b) rent , c) buy DVDs, d) watch films on TV? 2. What’s your favourite ? Why do you like it? Who stars in it? Who directed it? How many times have you seen it? Does it hold any special memories for you? Can you tell the plot in thirty seconds? What (s) of films do you a) love, b) hate? Why 3. Have you got a video camera? What do you use it for? Why do people make home movies? Which is more special, a home movie or a photo? Why? 4. Would you like to work in the film industry? Why? / Why not? Which job(s) do you think are the most rewarding? Why? Do you prefer to watch films made in your country, or movies? Why? 5. Have you ever downloaded a film from the internet – either legally or illegally? How do you prefer to watch films, and why? Have you ever watched a film on… a) a plasma TV, b) a very large IMAX screen, c) an iPod? Compare these experiences to watching films on a normal TV. 6. Do special effects, e.g. CGI, improve films, or make them worse? Which films have... a) good special effects, b) poor special effects? Describe them.

Exercise 2. Match the following film and their definitions. Work in pairs and discuss specific features of the given film genres: 1. A. a screenplay adapted from a novel, biography, or other source. B. a movie based on an actual person’s life; a biographical movie. 3.sword and C. a in which the humor springs from such dark subjects as sorcery death, political incorrectness, prejudice, etc 4.sword and D. any second-rate, low-budget movie. sandal 5.spaghetti E. a movie sold only on VHS tape or DVD and not previously released western in theaters. 6. F. a movie based on a real event. 7. G. a heroic movie with a story line that frequently film 8.romantic H. French term meaning, literally, “black film,” used to describe some comedy American movies made in the 1940s that were notable for their low-key or dark lighting effects. I. a western. 10. pickup J. slang, referring to a movie but not ready for distribution. 11. in the can K. a motion picture produced and shot by one studio and purchased by another. 12. horse L. a European western, usually made in Italy or Spain, popular in the opera 1960s. M. slang for biblically based movie epic, named after the costumes and props used. 14. N. slang for a fantasy epic. 15. epic O. a film that is intended to make you feel frightened, for example one in which people get attacked by strange creatures, or in which dead people come to life 16. docudram P. a film about life in the future, often with people or creatures who a live in other parts of the universe 17. direct to Q. a film about cowboys and life in the 19th century in the American video West R. a film about people fighting a war 19. black S. a film that has a lot of exciting events in it, for example people comedy fighting or chasing each other in cars 20. biopic T. a film about people who are on a long journey in a car, and the adventures they have while they are travelling 21. B picture U. a film that is intended to make you laugh, about two people who meet and have a romantic relationship 22. adaptatio V. a film made using photographs of models or drawings, which are n put together to look as if they are moving 23. action W. a long film in which a lot of things happen, for example one about a film period in history or the whole of someone's life

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

Exercise 3. Now read the following descriptions of the main film genres and see if your ideas about were correct. Check you understand the words and expressions in bold.

Main Film Genres Genre Genre Descriptions Types Action films usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional 'good-guy' (or recently, heroines) battling 'bad guys' - all designed for pure audience escapism. Includes the James Bond 'fantasy' spy/espionage series, martial arts films, and so-called '' films. A major sub-genre is the . See also Greatest Disaster and Crowd Film Scenes and Greatest Classic Chase Scenes in Films. Adventure films are usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the action . They can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and historical spectacles (similar to the epics film genre), searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown. are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters. This section describes various forms of comedy through cinematic history, including slapstick, screwball, spoofs and , romantic comedies, (dark satirical comedy), and more. Crime (gangster) films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster films are often categorized as film noir or detective-mystery films - because of underlying similarities between these cinematic forms. This category includes a description of various 'serial killer' films.

Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. See also , epics (historical dramas), or romantic genres. Dramatic biographical films (or "biopics") are a major sub-genre, as are 'adult' films (with mature subject content). Epics include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. Epics often share elements of the elaborate adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score. Epics are often a more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film. Some 'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occuring during antiquity) qualify as a sub- genre. Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance integrated as part of the film ), or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. Major subgenres include the musical comedy or the . Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters ('things or creatures from space'), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. They are sometimes an offshoot of fantasy films, or they share some similarities with action/adventure films. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent, as in the "Atomic Age" of sci-fi films in the 1950s. War (and anti-war) films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting (against nations or humankind) on land, sea, or in the air provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. War films are often paired with other genres, such as action, adventure, drama, romance, comedy (black), suspense, and even epics and westerns, and they often take a denunciatory approach toward warfare. They may include POW tales, stories of military operations, and training. Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry - a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring genres with very recognizable plots, elements, and characters (six-guns, horses, dusty towns and trails, cowboys, Indians, etc.). Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. (adopted from http://www.filmsite.org) Exercise 4. Work in pairs and discuss the following films defining their genre/ subgenre peculiarities. What is your favourite film genre?: (2009) Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England. (128 mins.) Director: Guy Ritchie Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong

Dog Soldiers (2002) A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness. (105 mins.) Director: Neil Marshall Stars: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby, Liam Cunningham

The Incredible Hulk (2008) Dr. Bruce Banner, thanks to a gamma ray experiment gone wrong, transforms into a giant green-skinned hulk whenever his pulse rate gets too high. Meanwhile, a soldier uses the same technology to become an evil version of the original. (112 mins.) Director: Louis Leterrier Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt

X-Men (2000) Two mutants come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers. (104 mins.) Director: Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen

Troy (2004) An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved. (163 mins.) Director: Wolfgang Petersen Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julian Glover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead. (143 mins.) Director: Gore Verbinski Stars: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley The Brothers (2005) Will and Jake Grimm are travelling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms. (118 mins.) Director: Terry Gilliam Stars: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Monica Bellucci, Petr Ratimec Avatar (2009) A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. (162 mins.) Director: James Cameron Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez

The Da Vinci Code (2006) A murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years -- which could shake the foundations of Christianity. (149 mins.) Director: Ron Howard Stars: , Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Frodo and Sam continue on to Mordor in their mission to destroy the One Ring. Whilst their former companions make new allies and launch an assault on Isengard. (179 mins.) Director: Peter Jackson Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom

Gladiator (2000) When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. (155 mins.) Director: Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed

biopic slasher film film noir western Exercise 5. Match the words in the box with the sentences 1-12:

1) Dark-toned camera work and moody music give this war film a chilling atmosphere until the final scenes of combat-movie cliches. 2) Children's fantasy novels slip into a space between the fairy tales of childhood and the sword and sorcery epics that occupy most of the bookstore fantasy shelf. 3) The gore and high body count made this slasher film an instant classic. 4) For many people, this was their first glimpse at what space travel might be like. The science fiction film " 2001: A Space Odyssey " captured the hearts and minds of a generation. 5) SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE In this wholly original romantic comedy, a struggling young writer named Will Shakespeare in 16th century England is inspired to greatness by the woman of his dreams. 6) In cinema, the earliest road movies were about the discovery of a new land or about the expansion of frontiers, as with westerns in North America. Films like " The Searchers, " John Ford's masterpiece set in the aftermath of the Civil War, were about a national identity in construction. Especially in later decades, road movies also tried to accomplish a different task: to show national identities in transformation. Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 movie, " Detour, " an early film noir about a New York pianist who travels a dark road to Hollywood, was an account of a country plagued by individualism and greed. The film that defined road movies for today's audiences, Dennis Hopper's " Easy Rider, " was about of innocence and the implosion of the American dream during the Vietnam years. Such films suggest that the most interesting road movies are those in which the identity crisis of the protagonist mirrors the identity crisis of the culture itself. 7) Schreiber will soon film a remake of a classic horror film called " The Omen 666 " about a man who realizes his young son might just be the devil. 8) ' Finally, also in limited release is the re-release of " The Battle of Algiers, " a 1965 docudrama about the French occupation of Algeria that was screened by the Pentagon last summer as a primer on terrorism. 9) The approach arguably reached its zenith in Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which Michael Herm script-doctored in ways that make it far more enticing as film noir than as a war movie. 10) The inspirational movie is Clint Eastwood's Invictus, a biopic that tells the story of Nelson Mandela's early months as the first black president of South Africa. 11) For Nicolas Cage, fresh off an Oscar for the dark, low-budget Leaving Las Vegas, the testosterone-charged action film about military terrorists who take over Alcatraz is his best shot yet at mainstream superstardom. 12) Ford acknowledges that the attraction of westerns comes from an " escape complex ": " We all want to leave the troubles of our civilized world behind us. We envy those who can live the most natural way of life, with nature, bravely, and simply. TEXT 1 PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

Exercise 1. You going to read an article about one of the film genres. Before you read, discuss these questions using active vocabulary to the topic: 1. What was the most exciting/ amusing/ moving/ disappointing/ memorable/ overrated/ underrated film you’ve ever seen? 2. How did it make you feel? 3. What film genres do you like? Why?

TEXT READING Exercise 4. Read through the article quickly, ignoring the gaps for now. What is the article about?

ROYAL ROMANCE IMMORTALISED IN SCREEN CHEESE

Prince William's wedding provides fodder for a bizarre sub-section of the film industry

Critics sneer at them and experts ridicule their inaccuracies, but for a week or two, at least, they pique the curiosity of audiences everywhere. Welcome to the world of the cut-price, quickly made biopic. This is a form of film-making as old as cinema itself, where lurid or uplifting topical tales are transformed into cheap movies. The ground rules are simple: keep the budget modest, cast actors who look at least vaguely like the real-life protagonists they are playing and shoot the movies at breakneck pace, so they can be released before the memories of the events have faded. In biopics, murder trials or scandals have almost as much allure as British royal weddings. During the OJ Simpson trial of the mid-1990s, films were quickly set up (and, it is rumoured, quietly abandoned after OJ was cleared of murder). In the past year, movies have been announced about Bernie Madoff and the trapped Chilean miners. Biopics often exist in a netherworld between reportage and drama, preying on audiences' morbidity and voyeurism. When Beverly Hills brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents, rival TV movies were hastily produced. At the same time, biopics are often about escapism and real-life soap opera. Next week sees the UK release (on DVD) of William and Kate – the Love Story, shot in Los Angeles and telling the story of Prince William and Kate's relationship from their St Andrews University days to the moment they walk down the aisle. The film has already had stinking reviews. "The naffest royal movie ever made", "God-awful", "cringeworthy" and "ghastly" are the some of the phrases that critics have been lobbing in its direction. But these are as much a recommendation as a put- down. It is the movie equivalent of the commemorative mug or tea towel, an exercise in merchandising and moment-seizing as much as one in storytelling. Part of the pleasure in such biopics – at least for British audiences – lies in their innate cheesiness. If the actors do not really look like the characters they are portraying (Ben Cross of Chariots Of Fire fame is certainly no dead ringer for Prince Charles), the actresses sound like Valley girls and the inaccuracies and anachronisms abound, that only adds to the enjoyment. The films are not weighed down with the deadening attention to detail that makes so many British heritage pictures painful to watch. "The interest in William and Kate is already huge and we're looking forward to releasing a high-quality film that will undoubtedly satisfy the unprecedented appetite for what is the biggest event in the UK in years. It will appeal to audiences of all ages," said Stephen Staniland, of the UK distributor Revolver. Such hyperbolic language is clearly absurd but comes with the territory. Still, the real drama in the story of the courtship of the Berkshire-born girl (played by Camilla Luddington) and the clean-cut young royal (played by Kiwi actor Nico Evers-Swindell) is pretty minimal. Speaking yesterday, Mr Staniland struck a more modest note. "The film is not meant to be taken seriously. It is not a documentary about the life of William and Kate," he said. "It's an interpretation." William and Kate will also be screened on Channel Five this month but, even so, Revolver is optimistic of being able to sell between 50,000 and 100,000 copies of the DVD. A rival biopic, William & Kate: A Royal Love Story, is to go into production in Romania, and reports say it will be on Hallmark in the US in August, "a few weeks before the 14-year anniversary of the death of William's mother, Princess Diana". Low-budget biopics The Royal Romance Of Charles and Diana (1982) Real royalty in the supporting cast: Olivia De Havilland as the Queen mum and Catherine Oxenberg as Princess Diana. Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After (1992) A decade on, Oxenberg returned to play the Princess again, opposite Roger Rees. The OJ Simpson Story (1995) This TV movie was started before OJ’s trial was over – before he was acquitted. Polanski Unauthorised (2009) This film about the Polish director was made before his arrest in 2009. Madoff: Made Off With America (2011) New budget drama about the swindler. The trailer does not inspire confidence. Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills (1994) One of two morbid TV movies made in double-quick time about the brothers. (By Geoffrey Macnab, 2011 Independent.co.uk)

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Exercise 4. Read the article again and fill in the gaps with suitable words from the list below. Use a dictionary if necessary. A. pique the B. the cut- C. shoot the D. have as E. a put-down curiosity of price, quickly movies at much allure as audiences made biopic breakneck pace F. real-life G. stinking H. the deadening I. the J. appeal to soap opera reviews attention to detail inaccuracies and audiences of all anachronisms ages K. to be taken L. lurid or M. an N. go into O. are seriously uplifting interpretation production portraying topical tales

Exercise 5. Each of the sentences about the article below contains one mistake. Find the mistakes and correct them: 1. Biopic is a new from of film-making, where lurid or uplifting topical tales are transformed into cheap movies 2. The gound rules of a biopic are not simple. 3. Celebrity murder trials and scandals have less allure than British royal weddings. 4. Biopics have the same status as reportage and drama. 5. This type of movie-making is characterized by a strict precision to detils. 6. The film about the life of Prince William and Kate Middelton is a serous autobiographical saga about the Royal family.

VOCABULARY PRACTICE Exercise 6. Work in pairs. Discuss what you think the following words and phrases from the article mean: a form of film-making, to keep the budget modest, to be vaguely like the real-life protagonists, to be released, to be quickly set up, a reportage, a drama, a high-quality film, a rival biopic. Exercise 7. Use the words and phrases from Exercises 4 and 6 to tell about your favorite film. Exercise 8. Look at the words and phrases in bold in the given passage. Match them with the synonyms in the box. Just about films and acting I've never had any desire to go on the stage myself but I’d love to produce a film. I think historical dramas work particularly well on the big screen and I'd love to make a film about Vikings in Britain. There' d be plenty of opportunities to use special effects during battle scenes . I'd want the male lead to be played by Hugh Grant , while Nicole Kidman could have the female lead . could play the role of a Viking warrior and I'd like Judi Dench to take on a cameo role . I'm sure that , as always , would give an excellent performance . My dream is to make a film that would be nominated for an Oscar. Of course, I'd also like it to be an immediate box-office hit, playing to full houses worldwide.

 cinemas/theatres with no empty seats  extremely successful with audiences  main male part  powerful visual effects, often created using technology  put on the official list of people in the film world who may receive a special prize (an Oscar)  become an actor  small but special part  the cinema

DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES Exercise 7. Work in pairs and discuss these questions: 1. What do you think about biopics? Do you like them? Why/Why not? 2. What is your favoutite biopics? 3. Should biopics present the events with the precision of a documentary? 4. What is your attitude to the inaccuracies and anachronisms in biopics? 5. If a film was made of your life, who would star as you? Who would direct it? Would it be a drama, a comedy, an action adventure, or a horror film? What would be the most important events in the plot? Why TEXT 2 PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

Exercise 1. You are going to read an article about modern screen versions of classical fairy tales. Before you read, note down advantages/ disadvantages of screen versions over books.

TEXT READING

Exercise 2. Read this article and then answer the questions below. Use a pencil to underline the phrases in the text where you found the answers.

SNOW WHITE AND THE NEVER-ENDING FRANCHISE OPTIONS

Once upon a time, studios decided to reboot classic fairy tales. Sarah Hughes wonders if the results will fare happily ever after

(1) We've had sparkly vampires, half-naked werewolves and increasingly weary teen wizards. Now, film and television executives are hoping that they can spin box office gold from the good, old-fashioned fairy story. With three versions of Snow White in pre-production, teen re-imaginings of Beauty and the Beast and Little Red Riding Hood due in cinemas soon, and all- action spins on Jack and the Beanstalk, Pinocchio and Hansel and Gretel coming next year, Hollywood is clearly betting that a revitalised "Once Upon a Time" format will turn beans into big bucks. (2) And they're not the only ones. This year's television pilots also have a fairy-tale theme, with shows such as NBC'S Grimm, described as a dark cop drama in which "characters inspired by Grimm's Fairy Tales exist", and ABC's Once Upon a Time, billed as a modern day take on the fairy-tale genre. (3) So why all the sudden interest in evil queens and wicked witches? In part, it's because these stories are in the public domain and, thus, the rights are free. As Catherine Hardwicke, the director of Red Riding Hood, told Entertainment Weekly: "They [fairy tales] are known all over the world. Studios are enamoured with making something that already has built- in name recognition or a fan base." (4) Not, however, that these are the sort of films that you might take your children to see. We're not talking about Disney's animated princesses or a Shrek-style reworking of old stories for a young audience but rather about dark and distinctly gothic tales told with an older audience in mind. (5) Take Red Riding Hood, which opens in the UK on 15 April. Featuring Amanda Seyfried in wide-eyed ingénue mode, and a pair of just-the-right-side-of-hammy turns from Gary Oldman and Julie Christie, Hardwicke's atmospheric film nods more to Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves, a darkly enjoyable adaptation of short stories by Angela Carter, than it does to the original source material. (6) Spun off from an idea by Leonardo DiCaprio, who suggested that the Little Red Riding Hood story could work as a romantic , and written by David Leslie Johnson, who also wrote the superbly creepy Orphan, this Red Riding Hood is as concerned with the beast within as it is with the dangers of straying off the right path. (7) These stories were told for adults, and they were bawdy," Johnson told the New York Post. "In some original versions, Red is not a hapless victim... not a fairy-tale heroine waiting for Prince Charming to swoop in. This was a young woman who went into the woods, got into trouble, and figured it out for herself." (8) The belief that the traditional fairytale is ripe for a return to its Grimm roots and ready to kick some ass also informs the three mooted Snow White productions, which are slated for late-2012, early-2013 release dates. There's Disney's Snow and the Seven, which relocates the fairy-tale to 19th-century China and recasts the dwarves as Shaolin monks; ' Snow White and the Huntsman, where the young princess, no longer a damsel in distress, learns about weapons and how to wield them from the man sent to kill her; and there's the Brett Ratner-produced The Brothers Grimm: Snow White, which returns to the source material for what Ratner has called an "edgier" take on the tale. (9) All three projects have attracted heavyweight cast rumours, with 2011's Best Actress Oscar-winner, Natalie Portman, apparently wanted by the makers of both Snow and the Seven and The Brothers Grimm: Snow White. The makers of Snow White and the Huntsman have approached that other ivory-skinned, dark-haired actress, Twilight's Kristen Stewart, to be their princess. (10) They've also been in talks with Viggo Mortensen to play the Huntsman (though they are reported to have fallen through), while Charlize Theron has signed on as the Evil Queen, a role to be played by Julia Roberts in the Ratner film, which Tarsem Singh will direct. The original porcelain princess also features heavily in ABC's much-anticipated fairy-tale from Lost's executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, this time in the guise of Big Love's Ginnifer Goodwin. (11) As if the proliferation of Snow Whites wasn't overwhelming enough, there are also two Pinocchio movies potentially facing off: a stop-motion from Guillermo del Toro as well as a live-action version scripted by Bryan Fuller, creator of , and produced by Dan Jinks, who claims to 's Alice in Wonderland inspired him to come up with a "fresh approach". (12) The director Bryan Singer is also hoping to give a new twist to an old tale with his big-budget reworking of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, which has a strong cast including Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Stanley Tucci, and, perhaps more importantly, an inevitably complex script from Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote Singer's breakthrough hit The Usual Suspects. (13) Yet while both Jack and the Snow White remakes are concerned with the darkness at the heart of Grimm's tales, not every fairy-tale remake is quite so serious. Take Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (yes, really). The high-concept action-comedy-thriller, which is slated for release next March, is set 15 years after the whole Gingerbread House incident, with our and heroine now working as bounty hunters and tackling mystical creatures somewhat in the manner of the TV series Supernatural. It sounds utterly ridiculous, although the fact that the brother/sister duo are to be played by Hollywood's du jour Jeremy Renner and the ever- luscious Gemma Arterton, with Famke Janssen co-starring as their nemesis, at least means that there will be plenty of scope for some crazy, over-the-top acting. (14) If the movie fairy-tales are all about big-name casts and high concepts, the television reworkings are more concerned with getting the feel just right, unsurprisingly so when you look at the teams involved. Damon Lindelof, Lost's co-creator, has taken a consulting role in Kitsis and Horowitz's Once Upon a Time, while Grimm is the work of David Greenwalt, the co- executive producer of and co-creator of its spin-off Angel. Consequently, both shows look likely to be heavy on mythology and detailed world-building, with Once Upon a Time in particular expected to combine a (perhaps overly) complicated mix of fantasy, mystery and science fiction. (15) But the possibility of over-egging the pudding is not the only pitfall present in fairy- tale adaptations, where the potential for unintentional hilarity is high. Indeed, the teams behind all these new adaptations need only look at Beastly, the reworking of Beauty and the Beast for a teen market that opened in the US last week and is slated for a summer release in the UK, to see what can go wrong. (16) Intended as a high-school updating in the style of the slew of late-Nineties, early- Noughties Shakespeare reimaginings, such as Get Over It and 10 Things I Hate about You, Beastly stars High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens and the British hopeful Alex Pettyfer. But it manages to miss every target it aims for, from its risible dialogue (sample: "You come near me, I Taser your ass") to its dreadful performances (most notably from Mary-Kate Olsen, who stars as a goth-styled teen witch out-acted by her own facial tattoo). (17) Proof that sometimes it doesn't matter how strong or dark or emotionally resonant the original source story is, without the right cast or strong dialogue you still end up with a kitschy, unwatchable mess. 'Red Riding Hood' opens in the UK on 15 April; 'Beastly' opens on 22 April (Sarah Hughes, The Independent ,2011)

COMPREHENSION CHECK 1) What words in Paragraph 1 emphasize Hollywood’s desire to make great profit from re-imagining of classical fairy tales? 2) Explain in your own words a phrase “a modern day take on the fairy-tale genre” from Paragraph 2? 3) According to the article, why are fairy stories so popular with film production and television companies (Paragraph 3)? 4) What is suggested about modern screen versions of fairy-tales by the phrase “dark and distinctly gothic tales told with an older audience in mind” (Paragraphs 4-7)? 5) According to the text, is it true that “traditional fairytale is ripe for a return to its Grimm roots” (Paragraph 8)? 6) What remakes of popular fairy tales are mentioned in the article? 7) What does the writer suggest by comparing film remakes of fairy tales to television reworkings of the stories (Paragraph 14)? 8) Explain in your own words “the possibility of over-egging the pudding is not the only pitfall present in fairy-tale adaptations” (Paragraph 15). 9) By using the words “it doesn't matter how strong or dark or emotionally resonant the original source story is, without the right cast or strong dialogue you still end up with a kitschy, unwatchable mess”, what does the author suggest about the screen adaptations of classical stories? 10) Summarize in a paragraph of 50-100 words the main idea if the given article, according to the writer’s argument. (See STUDY BOX – Summary Writing on Page 1111).

VOCABULARY PRACTICE Exercise 2. Match the words with their definitions: 1) a stop-motion A. to shoot a new version of a classical story animation 2) an adaptation B. to make changes in something such as music or a piece of writing 3) live -action C. to issue for sale or circulation 4) to be ripe for D. to give new life to 5) bill something as E. to be ready for a change to happen, especially when it something should have happened sooner 6) pre-production F. to be planned to happen in the future, especially at a particular time 7) somebody's take G. to be available for anyone to have or use (on something) 8) to reboot a H. to advertise or describe something in a particular way classical story 9) to be in public I. the steps necessary to prepare a film for production, as domain casting, choosing locations, and desingning sets and costumes 10) rework J. someone's opinion about a situation or idea 11) pilot K. open for discussion or debate 12) remake L. Animated, as distinguished from a single drawing or sketch 13) to be slated for M. a television programme that is made in order to test something whether people like it and would watch it 14) mooted N. a technique used in animation and photography in which a subject is filmed then adjusted a frame at a time 15) revitalise O. a record or film that has the same music or story as one that was made before 16) to release P. a film or television programme that is based on a book or play

Exericse 3. Work in pairs. Deduce from the context of the article the meaning of the following phrases and suggest their Ukrainian equivalents: to spin box office gold from the good, old-fashioned fairy story ______a revitalised "Once Upon a Time" format ______a modern day take on the fairy-tale genre ______something that already has built-in name recognition or a fan base ______the sort of films that you might take your children to see ______to be spun off from an idea ______to be ripe for a return ______to be slated for release ______to attract heavyweight cast rumours ______to be in talks with ______to give a new twist to an old tale ______to have a strong cast ______a breakthrough hit ______the high-concept action-comedy-thriller ______crazy, over-the-top acting ______big-name casts and high concepts ______TEXT 3 PRE-READING ACTIVITIES. Exercise 1. Read the quotation and answer the following questions:

Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls. 1. Do you agree or disagree with the idea expressed? Why? Why not? 2. What film touched the deepest strings of your soul? Has this fim influenced your perception of the world? 3. Are all film genres equally emotional?

Exercise 2. Read the article and highlight what you consider to be the most interesting points. Then work in pairs. Discuss your ideas.

WHY WE'RE STILL SEDUCED BY THE ROMCOM (1) The on-screen chemistry of romantic comedies has kept cinema audiences swooning since the golden age of Hollywood, and the release this week of Crazy, Stupid, Love proves that they do still make 'em like that, albeit with male nudity that might have made the old matinee idols blush. Here we analyse the enduring appeal of the romcom.

Poignant: and Steve Carell in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Photograph: Lmk (2) A tonic for the downhearted brooding under the grey skies of this blustery autumn comes this week in the romcom Crazy, Stupid, Love. Starring, among others, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and the delectable Emma Stone, and ticking every box for escapist , the movie still manages to raise laughs and, equally importantly, hope for the lovelorn. Ryan Gosling is clearly man of the moment with a winning performance in the George Clooney- directed The Ides of March and a libido-raising turn as a serial seducer in this movie, where he gleefully offers up his perfect pecs and finely honed seduction techniques. (3) In a welcome sign of the times, the gratuitous nudity is also left up to this irrepressible new star. Lacing the inevitable saccharine moments with a lesson in contemporary date etiquette and a poignant portrait of a lost but loving marriage from Steve Carell and the luminous Moore, Crazy, Stupid, Love is a thoroughly modern love story. As put it: "Crazy, Stupid, Love is, on balance, remarkably sane and reasonably smart… packed with appealing stars, it is a smooth blend of modern comic genres with a surprising undercurrent of dark, difficult emotion." It's also the latest in a long line of contemporary romantic comedies – proving that no matter how progressive we imagine we have become, our dating aspirations remain rooted in centuries-old tradition. (4) Romantic comedies seem to take over where the fairytales of childhood left off, feeding our dreams of a soulmate; though sadly the Hollywood endings prove quite elusive in the real world. For many of my generation, Woody Allen's Annie Hall was our introduction to onscreen dating and came as a great relief after the celluloid bloodbath prompted by Vietnam. Lines like "That sex was the most fun I've ever had without laughing" provided perfect tittering material for 15-year-old schoolgirls in Ireland – though we couldn't understand why a cool woman like Annie would waste time on a geek like Woody Allen. After all, Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers and David Cassidy were yet to be snapped up! A decade or so later the Nora Ephron-scripted When Harry Met Sally captured another zeitgeist moment when the romantic rogues so attractive in our teens began to lose their allure, and finding Mr Right instead of Mr One Night became an ambition. A few cataclysmic years later, Four Weddings and a Funeral summed up our emotional biosphere again, cowering in the shadow of the Aids epidemic and miserably attending the seemingly endless nuptials of the lucky few while desperately trying to keep the party going. And so it went on with poor old Meg Ryan breathing life into more Ephron scripts as we witnessed her bumpy dating experiences in real life. (5) For most of us, when our "dreams" – I use the word with reservations – came true, and marriage and motherhood became a reality, the romcoms, like horoscopes, swiftly lost their allure. One friend valiantly tried to keep the tradition alive, sitting through three consecutive screenings of One Fine Day while sobbing for the demise of her own marriage. Already in her late 30s, she was one of a very few of us still paying the ticket price to see unbelievable things happen on screen that we'd given up expecting from life. (6) Now, hot on the heels of It's Complicated, Crazy, Stupid, Love offers further proof that the romcom, rather than desert we middle-lifers, has decided to mature with us. In the US, 64% of the opening weekend audience was female and 71% were over 25. Not that our aspirations have changed much, judging by this script. We still want our hero and heroine to convince us that a stroll into the sunset and beyond is the most likely outcome of initial adversity. Who didn't want warring divorcees Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin to reunite in It's Complicated? (7) And it is still heroes and heroines we're talking about; despite long ago entering the cultural mainstream, a single-sex relationship has yet to be the full focus of a mainstream romance, unless you count Brokeback Mountain where, I believe, the comedy was unintentional; or Mel Gibson and Danny DeVito. "When Harry Met Henry" and "When Sally Met Sarah" are long overdue, and this only confirms how conventional the rules of engagement are when it comes to the romantic comedy genre. Today's cinema audience may be more cynical (and sexually active) than that of our parents but they still demand that verbal foreplay lead to physical consummation, and misunderstandings to love with a capital L. In the world of the romantic comedy, life hasn't changed much since the 1950s. (8) Allowed only one word to describe the defining chemistry of the genre, it would surely be adversarial. Ironically for a movie category not renowned for its originality or inventiveness, it's the one arena where women have been allowed to be feisty way before made it de rigueur. In many ways equality has continued to represent a turn-on, with the winning and wooing of reluctant, independent and unimpressed women a staple of many of the storylines from It Happened One Night to Maverick. Disgraceful, or at least questionable, behaviour also seems to contribute to our affection for protagonists, particularly if they're female. Katharine Hepburn shocked fans by wearing trousers, Meg Ryan caused consternation with her public orgasm, and then there was working girl Julia Roberts who, we were asked to believe, was charging Richard Gere for sex – the most unlikely aspect of Pretty Woman, since most female viewers would have sold their souls to be in similar proximity. Yet all of them ended up falling for their man in the most conventional of ways, conforming to standards set in the last century and adhered to in this one. Changing social mores have failed almost entirely to alter the dynamics. (9) Since so many romantic comedies vary little in their storyline, the success or failure of such movies depends largely on whether we believe in the relationship of the protagonists. One of the most successful pairings of all time was Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Arguably, their playful antics and on-screen smoulder exceeded that on offer from Hepburn's favoured co-star and real-life lover Spencer Tracy. (10) Such real-world romances don't often set the screen alight. Think of Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in Proof of Life, starring together in the midst of a passionate real-life affair but failing entirely to capture even a frisson of sexual chemistry on the big screen, while Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman provided ample evidence in Eyes Wide Shut of why their marriage was about to end. Yet watching George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight, I remember thinking that the opposite was the case, and that all the real action must surely have occurred after Steven Soderbergh called "cut". It was with incredulity that I later learnt from one half of the partnership that the fireworks between them were of an altogether less romantic nature and revolved around more mercurial issues like trailer length and star billing. I guess that's acting for you. Nevertheless, there's only one thing more seductive to viewers than on- screen chemistry, and that's the kind that we're led to believe keeps sizzling off screen. When supernovas hook up, whether Bogart and Bacall, Burton and Taylor or Brad and Angelina, it's box office gold. If I were Jennifer Aniston I would have started marriage guidance the moment I Mr and Mrs Smith; the gleams in the eyes of Pitt and Jolie were clearly not down to the pedestrian script, and you didn't need an oracle to know it spelled doom for the Jen and Brad union. (11) And who can forget Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, whether in Cleopatra or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Clearly this was a duo that knew how to love and how to hate, emotions that are admittedly close cousins at the best of times. (12) Some film stars seem to be able to conjure up chemistry with any Tom, Dick or Nancy, and when it comes to romantic idols I'd argue it's an essential qualification. It's a talent that has less to do with thespian range and more to do with your ability to twinkle and deliver questionable lines with utter conviction – George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, Emma Thompson, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Huston and Hugh Grant are some of my favourite living exponents of the art, boasting the same effortless chemistry with their co-stars as the old matinee idols of yore. And in Crazy, Stupid, Love, Ryan Gosling with his shirt off creates a chemistry all of his own, even before he starts shooting the breeze with his co-star. (13) But what about we grown-ups who, despite all the evidence to the contrary, continue to embrace these fairytale stories for innocents dressed up in contemporary clothes? During the screening of Crazy, Stupid, Love I was compelled to text my husband, realising as I watched Julianne Moore and Steve Carell try to work out their differences that, although I was born into The War of the Roses, it wasn't where I wanted to spend my own adulthood. Could romantic comedies, once a shameful addiction, actually be good for our emotional health?

COMPREHENSION CHECK Exercise 2. Work in pairs. Find in which paragraphs (1-13) are the following questions are answered. Scan the text to find the answers and then write the number of the paragraph beside the question: 1) Does the romcom Crazy, Stupid, Love differ from other films in the genre? ______2) What are the reviews of the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love? ______3) Who stars in the romcom Crazy, Stupid, Love? ______4) How has audience the accepted the comedy? ______5) What other famous romantic comedies are mentioned by the author? ______6) How do the popular romantic comedies enlisted in the article reflect the spirit of the epoch they represent? ______7) What are the conventions of a romantic comedy? Have they changed through years? ______8) According to the writer, what are the positive and negative moments of the romantic comedies discussed? ______9) What does success/failure of a romantic comedy depend on? ______10) What is the author’s attitude to the romcom genre? ______

VOCABULARY Exercise 3. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following phrases. The phrases are in text order: тримати аудиторію у непритомному стані (1) ______тривала привабливість романтичної комедії (2) ______викликати сміх та подавати надію безнадійно закоханим (2) ______цілком сучасна історія про кохання (3) ______втрачати привабливість (4) ______любов з великої літери Л (7) ______«хімія» жанру (8) ______додавати до нашої симпатії до головного героя (8) ______мало відрізнятися в сюжеті (9) ______представники мистецтва (кіно) (12) ______Exercise 4. Look at paragraphs 1-12 and find the word or words which mean the same as: a man who has recently done something important (2) the film directed by George Clooney (2) containing a lot of actors (3) the film scripted by Nora Ephron (4) very soon after something (6) considered to be necessary if you want to be accepted, fashionable etc (8) an actor (12) an actor who is very popular with women (12)

DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES

Work in pairs. Find out your partner’s opinion on the question presented at the end of the article “Could romantic comedies, once a shameful addiction, actually be good for our emotional health?”. Present the results of your discussion to the rest of your group-mates. Listen to the other opinions and ask questions. TEXT 4 PRE-READING ACTIVITIES Exercise 1. Read the quotation and answer the questions:

It is the failing of youth not to be able to restrain its own violence. Seneca 1) Do agree/disagree with the idea expressed? Why? Why not? 2) What was the most violent film you’ve ever seen? 3) Do you avoid seeing violence on the screen? 4) Should violent and frightening films be banned?

TEXT READING Exercise 1. Read the opening paragraph of a research article and decide:  why the author wrote the article.  what the rest of the article will be about. A new paper in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics documents the alarming numbers of young adolescents age 10-14 who are exposed to graphic violence in movies rated R for violence.

Exercise 2. Read the rest of the article and see if your ideas were correct.

They found that these extremely violent movies were seen by an average of 12.5 percent of an estimated 22 million children age 10-14. One R-rated movie, Scary Movie, was seen by an estimated 10 million children, or about 48 percent of 10-14 year olds. “Our data reveal a disturbingly high rate of exposure among 10-14 year olds nationally to extremely violent movies,” says Keilah Worth, the lead author on the study and a post-doctoral fellow at Dartmouth Medical School and at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center. “In Britain, no adolescent would be admitted to these movies unless they were 18. The R rating in this country is clearly not preventing our young people from seeing them.” Many scientific studies have established the connection between exposure to media violence and aggression and violence in children. For example, playing video games can lead to changes in attitudes and behavior as well as desensitization to actual violence. “We know so much about the harmful effects of exposure to violent media content, but how much exposure children actually get has been largely ignored. Now, we’re learning more about the large numbers of kids seeing this material and who they are,” says Worth. For this assessment of exposure to violence in movies, the researchers used data from national telephone surveys of more than 6,500 adolescents age 10-14 in 2003. Out of 532 recent releases, the researchers chose to look at exposure to 40 of the most violent movies. The study also revealed some independent risk factors for exposure: boys, minorities, those with lower socioeconomic status, and those with lower academic performance were all more likely to see extremely violent movies. Black male adolescents were at particularly high risk of seeing these movies. For example, Blade, Training Day, and Scary Movie were seen by 37 percent, 27 percent, and 48 percent respectively of all the adolescents surveyed, compared to 82 percent, 81 percent, and 81 percent of black males. “No expert in child development would advocate for subjecting children as young as 10 to this level of violence, yet the study shows that such exposure is commonplace in this country,” says James Sargent, the senior scientist on this study and a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School. “We should re-think the current movie rating system, which has been in place for 40 years, and was designed when kids could only see movies in theaters. Ratings need to be more prominent on all movies, whether they are seen in theaters or purchased in the store, and we need clearer messages to parents. Pediatricians and child advocates should instruct parents to strictly abide by the movie-age guidelines and to closely monitor movie viewing.” (By RICK NAUERT PHD http://psychcentral.com) COMPREHENSION CHECK Exercise 3. Choose the best heading for the article and explain your choice: 1) FILMS AND VIOLENCE 2) SCREEN VIOLENCE AND REAL VIOLENCE 3) MOVIE VIOLENCE CAN OVERWHELM CHILDREN 4) DOES VIOLENCE ON THE SCREEN CREATE VIOLENCE IN SOCIETY? Exercise 4. Decide if these sentences about the article are true or false. 1) One R-rated movie, Scary Movie, was seen by about 60 percent of 10-14 year olds. 2) The data of the research conducted by Keilah Worth show that teenagers do not watch violent movies. 3) The R rating does not prevent young people in America from seeing these films. 4) There is a correlation between media violence and violence in children. 5) The scientists used data from national telephone surveys to find out what films are preferred by 10-14 year olds. 6) Black male adolescents are not accustomed of seeing violent films. 7) Rating is the only way out to prevent adolescents from screen violence. DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES Work in pairs. Role-play a conversation between the parents of a teenager, who is exposed to seeing violent films. Try to find a solution how to prevent your child from watching frightening and violent films. TEXT 5

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES Exercise 1. Read the following quotation and answer the questions that follow:

Actors are to be larger than life. You come across quite enough ordinary, nondescript people in daily life and I don’t see why you should be subjected to them on the stage too. Donald Sinden 1) Do you agree or disagree with the idea expressed? 2) Should an actor be original? 3) What’s the difference between an actor and a movie star? 4) Who is your favourite actress/actor? Why? 5) What genre does he/she mostly work in? 6) What films has this actor/actress been involved with? 7) Are his/her films popular with the audience?

TEXT READING Exercise 2. You are going to read an article about a prominent Ukraininan Ivan Mykolaichuk. Render the article into English and discuss Ivan Mykolaichuk’s creative activies and cinematographic achievements. Iван Миколайчук — «білий птах» українського кіно Як будемо відзначати ювілей славетного митця?

ФОТО З АРХІВУ С. ТРИМБАЧА

ІВАН МИКОЛАЙЧУК У ФІЛЬМІ «ПРОПАЛА ГРАМОТА»

… Іван Миколайчук виконує важливу місію на цій землі — йому випало стати моральним авторитетом і незабутнім символом для цілого покоління українців. …Творчий внесок Миколайчука у розвиток кіно, зміцнення національної духовності українського народу безперечний. Вже сам дебют його акторської кінокар’єри в картині «Тіні забутих предків» завершився тріумфом. Сергій Параджанов, режисер фільму, згодом писав: «З Іваном пов’язаний мій перший успіх — фільм «Тіні забутих предків», який... був визнаний однією із двадцяти кращих картин світу всіх країн і народів. Не вважаю це своєю заслугою — успіхові цього фільму сприяла участь у ньому цілого грона талановитих митців, звісно, передусім Івана Миколайчука». Своє захоплення цією яскравою акторською особистістю відомий кінорежисер визначив так: «Я не знаю більш національного, більш народного генія».

Можна було б навести ще багато хвальних і піднесених висловів про відзначений кінотвір, але вистачить одного, який належить перу знаної шанувальниці високодостойного митця з України. «Миколайчук змусив найширшу (в сенсі світову) глядацьку аудиторію зачаруватись образом Івана Палійчука, будучи магічним у цій ролі, органічним та граційним актором, без будь-яких зусиль зчитуючи коди національної культури, ментальності, зрештою — світоглядних обширів... Він зробив це тоді, коли йому виповнилося лише 23 роки...» — підкреслила відомий кінокритик Лариса Брюховецька. А тому не дивно, що фільм кіностудії імені О. Довженка «Тіні забутих предків» зажив світової слави, отримавши, як преса зазначала, 47 відзнак на різних міжнародних кінофестивалях! Французькі кінокритики відразу назвали картину шедевром. 1965 року «Тіні забутих предків» відзначили гран-прі в Аргентині. Через рік — приз Британської кіноакадемії за найкращий зарубіжний фільм. Згодом була золота медаль у Салоніках. Потім — нагороди в інших країнах... Так український актор став зіркою світового масштабу.

Іван Миколайчук втілює в собі незбагненну велич духу, потужну силу розуму й рідкісного таланту. Перечитавши майже все, що надруковано про нього в книгах, журналах і газетах, я збагнув його магнетичну силу: він напрочуд чистий, щирий і красивий у своїй любові до України, якій чесно служив. У часи злету українського кіно, в 1960 — 1970-х рр., майже жоден фільм не обходився без його участі. Згадаймо інших екранних героїв талановитого кіномитця — його думи, пристрасті, його тривожну совість: юного Тараса зі «Сну», героїв «Бур’яну», «Комісарів» й «Білого птаха з чорною ознакою», «Камінного хреста», «Помилки Оноре де Бальзака», «Аннички», «Захара Беркута», «Пропалої грамоти», «Гадюки», князя Володимира з «Легенди про княгиню Ольгу». Згадаймо його сповідально-чесний «Вавілон-ХХ»... Доля послала Миколайчуку 34 ролі у фільмах, більшість яких увійшли до золотої колекції українського кіно. По них, як по своєрідних віхах пам’яті, можна пізнавати біографію як самого кіноактора, так і України в цілому. Іван був родом з буковинського села, а став виразником суті, душі та думок всього українського народу. Кіно для нього було всім: навіть отримавши телеграму про смерть батька, він поїхав на похорон лише по закінченню знімального дня, нікому нічого не сказавши. Тоді саме знімали прощальний танець Івана і Марічки... Прикро, але сучасна молодь в Україні дуже мало знає про цю гарну, великої душі людину, обдарованого актора, справжнього художника, не усвідомлюючи особливого місця і значення Миколайчука для української культури...

Гірка іронія долі полягає в тому, що красивого, статного, з проникливими очима актора, який міг «переграти» всіх на знімальному майданчику, не любили тогочасні можновладці. Як згадував Іван Гаврилюк, після фільму «Білий птах з чорною ознакою» життя Миколайчука ускладнилося. У владних кабінетах на талановитому акторі було тавро «націоналіста». Неодноразово йому доводилося пояснювати свою позицію в різних інстанціях, однак стіна відчуження і відторгнення навколо нього постійно зростала. Картини, в яких він мав зніматися, почали закривати. Актор тривалий час не грав, нервував, відчував себе зацькованим і обкладеним з усіх боків... І як результат — підірване здоров’я, важка хвороба, смерть 3 серпня 1987 року.

Письменник і журналіст Олександр Перлюк, визнаний майстер у царині сучасного українського афористичного жанру, якось слушно зазначив: «Першими у чорні списки потрапляють світлі голови». Тож маємо усвідомити, хто ми є, громадяни України, що нам дороге і що ми захищатимемо. Ми повинні не лише знати своїх геніїв, з великою пошаною до них ставитися, а й активно відстоювати свій спосіб життя, обраний і вистражданий в історичному процесі.

У кінофільмах Миколайчук був дуже органічний. Режисер Юрій Іллєнко, вперше побачивши Івана на кінопробах, вигукнув: «Це щось неймовірне! Це щось нелюдське! Щось за межами розуміння і сприйняття»!

Іван Васильович увійшов до історії вітчизняної кінематографії як відданий син свого народу та визнаний світом майстер кіно. Особливу його роль у житті українства напрочуд вдало визначив у своїх спостереженнях Борис Івченко: «Для рідних, друзів та знайомих він — Людина. Саме так — з великої літери. Для всіх решти — актор і режисер, літератор і сценарист, поет і музикант. І все-таки у всіх цих визначеннях чогось не вистачає... Чогось головного в Іванові. Це поняття — народний філософ, на мою думку, найбільш точно визначає суть Івана Васильовича Миколайчука — людини і митця».

Фільми, образи, сценарії, створені нашим кіномитцем, займають почесне місце в галереї вітчизняної культурної спадщини. І дуже добре, що відзначення ювілею І. Миколайчука дає можливість не лише згадати українські кінематографічні здобутки глобального рівня, а й вшанувати гідно його пам’ять. …

Давайте свято берегти пам’ять про цього блискучого самородка. Пам’ять — то не лише єдиний рай, з якого нас неможливо вигнати. Пам’ять — це сила. «Завдяки історичній пам’яті, — закликав Михайло Грушевський, — людина стає особистістю, народ — нацією, країна — державою»!

(Юрій КИЛИМНИК, кандидат філософських наук, The Day, 2010)

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Exercise 3. Give proper English equivalents to the following phrases:

моральний авторитет і незабутній символ для цілого покоління українців

______

творчий внесок у розвиток кіно, зміцнення національної духоності

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яскрава акторська особистість

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органічний, граційний актор

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зажити світової слави

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втілювати в собі незбагненну велич духу, потужну силу розуму й рідкісного таланту

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увійти до золотої колекції українського кіно

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виразник суті, душі та думок всього українського народу

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займати почесне місце в галереї вітчизняної культурної спадщини

______DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES.

Voice your opinion on the main problems of present-day Ukrainian cinema. TEXT 6 PRE-TEXT ACTIVITIES Exercise 1. You are ging to read about three popular films. Before you start reading, answer the following questions: 1) What film have you recently seen? 2) Would you give it favourable or an unfavourable review? Why 3) Which adjectives best describe it? interesting breathtaking stunning spectacular over-long tedious gripping ground-breaking 4) What are the main aspects that could be described? special effects directing acting setting theme plot characters cast

Exerices 2. Read the passages and answer the questions from Exercise 1 about the films: 1) Gone With the Wind

Year: 1939, Color Director: Victor Fleming Running Time: 222 minutes Studio: MGM

The quintessential American epic, Gone With the Wind sweeps across the Old South, the Civil War and Reconstruction. The tale of a selfish, headstrong Southern belle who draws her strength from the land, it’s a sumptuous costume drama and a richly entertaining movie. By today’s standards, Gone With the Wind occasionally lapses into outright , and its often-stereotypical 1939 portrayal of black people rankles modern viewers. Despite the flaws of its time, this star-studded, big-budget spectacular is an icon of American filmmaking, and not to be missed. The Plot The film is quite faithful to Margaret Mitchell’s blockbuster best-seller, and follows the adventures of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh in her debut role). Stunningly beautiful and utterly self-absorbed, Scarlett is the daughter of plantation owner Gerald O’Hara, and secretly in love with neighboring plantation owner Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). Ashley, meanwhile is pledged to his sweet-tempered and lovely cousin, Melanie (Olivia De Havilland). The movie opens with a flowery description of the Old South as the place where “gallantry took its last bow,” and “a dream remembered, a civilization gone with the wind.” On the eve of the Civil War, the wealthy families gather for a party at the Wilkes’ plantation, Seven Oaks, where Scarlett first catches sight of Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). This rakish and slightly disreputable gentleman is clearly interested in the pampered southern belle – and the only man there who understands the North will overpower the South in the conflict to come. And that very night, war is declared. Rejected by Ashley, Scarlett impulsively marries Melanie’s brother Charles, tying the two families together before Charles goes off to war (where he promptly dies of pneumonia). We follow the indomitable Scarlett through the ravages of war, her reluctant protection of Melanie, the fall of Atlanta, the ruin of Tara and near-starvation. Then it’s another marriage and her plucky and scandalous behavior during Reconstruction. She relies on Rhett throughout – but continues to reject him and cling stubbornly to her belief that she loves Ashley. The Cast of 'Gone With the Wind' Leigh didn’t land the role until after filming had begun – in fact, she signed on the day the famous burning of Atlanta was filmed, using an actual conflagration of old sets on the studio’s back lots. (A stunt woman played Scarlett in the fire scenes.) The young English actress was an excellent choice for the selfish, scheming Scarlett, a delicate beauty with a will of iron. She’s hard to like, but she must be admired. Gable is irresistible as the rake with a heart of gold and his own admirable code of honor. His confidence and easy masculinity so far overshadow the pale attractions of Ashley Wilkes that Scarlett’s continued devotion strains credulity. De Havilland is strong as the almost too-saintly Melanie, and Howard is just the right sort of weak tea as Ashley. Hattie McDaniel almost walks away with the movie as Mammy, the family servant who sees through Scarlett’s schemes and has more life and zest in her little finger than half the genteel household. She was the first African American nominated for an Oscar, and the first to win one, as Best Supporting Actress. By contrast, Butterfly McQueen’s squeaky- voiced turn as the simple-minded Prissy has become the stuff of , especially her “I don’t know nuthin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies” line. With more than 50 speaking roles, keeping all the characters straight is a daunting task, but the huge cast adds to the scope of the story. The lush score by Max Steiner, detailed sets and sumptuous costumes, superb art direction, and gorgeous Technicolor cinematography by Ernest Haller round out the sweep of this . The Backstory Years in the making, at $4 million it was one of the most expensive films ever made, and it held the record as highest-grossing movie for many years. Although that record has since been eclipsed, Gone With the Wind is still the box office champ for most theater tickets sold. It won the Best Picture Oscar in one of the most creatively competitive years ever seen in Hollywood. Other movies released in 1939 included Ninotchka, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights and Goodbye Mr. Chips. Incredibly, the former stunt man who directed Gone with the Wind, Victor Fleming, is also credited with the other immortal classic released in 1939: The Wizard of Oz. 'Gone With the Wind' - the bottom line It’s a little overblown, with attitudes that are more than a little dated, yet Gone with the Wind is justly famous. Mostly for the better, and sometimes for worse, this epic movie is a uniquely American story. 2) Courtroom Scene from 'To KIll a To Kill a Mockingbird Mockingbird' Harper Lee's Classic Coming-of-Age Masterpiece on Film Year: 1962, Director: Robert Mulligan Running Time: 129 minutes “It's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” - Studio: Universal Atticus Finch

It’s a rare that a movie captures the magic of a great book, and yet holds its own as a masterpiece of cinema. To Kill a Mockingbird does just that. Set in a small Alabama town during the Great Depression, it raises great questions of racism, poverty, ignorance and injustice with enormous grace and emotional power. Moral and deeply humane, the movie is a classic coming-of-age story of childhood innocence lost in the segregated American south. The Plot In hot, dusty Maycomb County, lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) takes on the case of an innocent black man accused of assaulting a white girl. He’s up against the entrenched racial power structure of the Old South, fierce taboos against interracial sex, and the pride of the girl’s impoverished and violent family. The story is told from the perspective of Finch’s daughter Scout (Mary Badham, whose character narrates the film in flashback), her brother Jem and their friend Dill (modeled on author Harper Lee’s childhood friend, writer Truman Capote.) The children are fascinated by the decaying old Radley place, where Boo Radley (Robert Duvall in his film debut) is a recluse. A grown man who has not left the house for years, Boo is a bogeyman to the children ---until he begins to leave them small gifts at the risk of displeasing his abusive father. Hounded at school because their father is defending a black man, the children watch from the blacks-only balcony of the courtroom, and begin to see Atticus in a new light. Both they and their father are put in real danger as the trial progresses, and the two story lines come together as the tension rises. The Cast of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Peck plays a hero who’s such a perfect human being he’d be a little hard to believe if not for Peck’s forthright, understated performance. He’s intelligent and modest, a softspoken man of unquestionable integrity devoted to the cause of justice. He’s also a devoted single father and the best shot in the county. It’s a good thing the studio’s original pick for the role – Rock Hudson – didn’t work out. Peck won a well-deserved, long-overdue Oscar. Badham, delightful as the willful tomboy Scout, was nominated for her amazingly natural and engaging performance, but lost the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to Patty Duke as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. Brock Peters is wonderful as the falsely accused Tom Robinson, terrified, but clinging to his own pride and the truth. A terrific ensemble cast brings the entire town to life with a great sense of place. And although Duvall has only a few moments of screen time as the damaged Boo Radley, he’s unforgettable. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' - the Bottom Line Beautifully shot in black and white, To Kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece that everybody should see, and no serious movie collector should be without. The film celebrates the power of innocence to turn back evil, but acknowledges that true justice is often impossible to reach. The great achievement of To Kill a Mockingbird is its unsentimental appeal to what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.” It shows us who we want to be, and who we deserve to be, even when we fail. 3) Alien , the Movie Year: 1979, Color Director: Ridley Scott Running Time: 117 minutes Studio: 20th Century Fox

It’s probably best to watch Alien without thinking too much about the rest of the franchise. The film’s main character, Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) went on to appear in three more films in the series, and the alien itself was the centerpiece of yet two more (including the stultifyingly dumb marketing stunt Alien vs. Predator: Requiem.) But don’t judge the original by what came after -- Alien isn’t just the scariest space movie ever made, it’s a meticulously constructed master class in film suspense. The Plot Don’t adjust your set - the first few moments of the film are almost silent. The spaceship Nostromo (named after Joseph Conrad’s novel of existential dread) is slowly drifting back to Earth carrying twenty million tons of minerals ore. The crew is held in suspended animation for the long trip home, and we watch them wake up and stumble towards breakfast. They haven’t made it home yet. Instead, the ship's computer (“Mother”) has woken them to offer assistance to a deep space distress signal. But they don’t find anyone in need of help. Touching down on a barren planet the crew discovers the remains of a huge spaceship, with an alien pilot long dead and a horde of leathery eggs. Soon they’ve brought aboard a supremely lethal new life form, and it’s not long before they're hunted down one by one. The plot is neither complicated nor innovative, but that’s not the point. Under Ridley Scott’s direction, the film unspools deliberately and without mercy. Whether or not you’ve seen it before, be advised: This is not a movie to watch alone! The Cast of 'Alien' Ridley Scott managed to procure quite a team for his ragtag group of blue-collar, workaday hacks - the coal miners of the space age. Sigourney Weaver, in one of her earliest roles, plays the hard-nosed protagonist, Ellen Ripley; Tom Skeritt is Captain Dallas; and Ian Holm (well before he became a Knight of the British Empire) plays the two-faced science officer, Ash. Leave It to Beaver alumn Veronica Cartwright, the always excellent John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Yaphet Kotto of Roots round out the cast. Turns out, these marvelous players turn out to be merely supporting characters (and lunch) for the real star of the show. The Alien To design the alien, Scott brought on Swiss painter and sculptor H.R. Giger. Giger combined organic and mechanical elements, phallic imagery and feminine sleekness to create a thoroughly nightmarish creature. (A thick layer of mucus doesn’t hurt in the creepy department.) But don’t expect to see too much right away. The genius of Alien genius lies how little we actually see of the monster. Confined to shadows and held just outside the camera as it stalks the crew, what the audience imagines in far more frightening than anything Scott could ever show. The Backstory Even a casual viewer will probably see superficial traces of Star Wars (with its weathered, battered technology) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (with its all-controlling computer pseudo-character.) But a more persuasive inspiration is Howard Hawks’s claustrophobic The Thing From Another World (itself a landmark of science-fiction horror.) Later movies in the franchise became exercises for different directors to make extremely different films. Alien remains the best of the series and called it "the most influential of modern action pictures." (1997’s Alien Resurrection, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is my pick for second. Imagine a sequel to Alien by the same person who directed the lovely Amelie!) In 2002, the movie was included in the United States National Film Registry. 'Alien' - The Bottom Line No question, watch this one when you want to be scared silly. Go ahead. Watch it with the lights off. I dare you.

VOCABULARY PRACTICE Exercise 3. Look at the words and phrases in bold in the passages. From the context in which they appear, try to come up with a synonym or definition for them. Then use the phrases in your own sentences. Exercise 4. Complete the sentences with the words in the box. When a new film comes out, newspapers will 1) it. The people who A. review review the film are called 2) and they write 3) . If they don't highly like a film they give it a bad review . We can say that a film 4) a B. true story. We say that a film 5) or that a film 6) . We talk recommended about the opening/closing scenes of a film.We talk about the beginning and C. deals with a topic end of a film ( N O T start and finish) . If everything work s out well for 7) D. the central , we say that the film has 8) . You may recommend a film that you characters enjoyed to a friend. If a lot of people have enjoyed it, it is 9) . E. film critics F. a happy ending G. film reviews H. is based on I. captures an atmosphere FINAL DISCUSSION Voice your opinion on the following quotations about cinema. 1) All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl (Jean-Luc Godard). 2) Does art reflect life? In movies, yes. Because more than any other art form, films have been a mirror held up to society's porous face (Marjorie Rosen). 3) For me, the cinema is not a , but a piece of cake (). 4) If you can't believe a little in what you see on the screen, it's not worth wasting your time on cinema (Serge Dane). 5) In good films, there is always a directness that entirely frees us from the itch to interpret (Susan Sontag). 6) My belief is that no movie, nothing in life, leaves people neutral. You either leave them up or you leave them down (David Puttnam). 7) My movie is born first in my head, dies on paper; is resuscitated by the living persons and real objects I use, which are killed on film but, placed in a certain order and projected on to a screen, come to life again like flowers in water (). 8) People sometimes say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen to you in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television -- you don't feel anything (Andy Warhol). 9) The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn't (Jean-Luc Godard). WRITING PRACTICE 1) Imagine you're writing in a student magazine or a local English-language newspaper. Write a review of a film, explaining why you recommend / don't recommend it to the readers (about 250 words) . Show your completed review to another student and ask for comments.

2) Write an essay on one of the topics suggested.

3)

Oscar Is Born

The first were announced on February 18, 1929, but the dinner to hand out the statuettes was not held until three months later, on May 19, at the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. It took only five minutes to distribute the first Oscars. Though there was no suspense, the pattern of star behavior for the awards was beginning to show. None of the three nominated actors bothered to show up. Emil Jannings, who won the first two years, sent a telegram from his native Germany, which was read aloud by Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., first president of the Academy: "Hand me now already the statuette award," it went, perhaps too carefully translated from the German. Charlie Chaplin, who was nominated for The Circus (1928), stayed away "due to cold feet," as William C. De Mille was to remark. Al Jolson, commenting on the fact that The Jazz Singer (1927) received a special Oscar for pioneering sound, got the laugh of the evening by pointing to the statuette: "For the life of me I can't sec what Jack Warner would do with one of them. It can't say yes." Screenwriter Frances Marion (who remembers the first award night as held at the Alexandria Hotel) described Oscar "as a perfect symbol of the picture business: a powerful athletic body clutching a gleaming sword with half of his head, that part which held his brains, completely sliced off." (from Movie Anecdotes by Peter Hay) NUMERICAL FUN FACTS ABOUT THE OSCARS THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW.  Three films are tied for winning 11 awards, the most ever: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Titanic (1997), Ben Hur (1959).  300 limousines are reserved for each year’s show.  Singer Michael Jackson paid US$1.54 million in 1999 to Sotheby’s for David Selznick’s Best Picture Oscar for the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind.  Walt Disney holds the record for more Academy Award nominations than any other individual (he won 26).  Peter O’Toole holds the record for being nominated for Best Actor— 8 times— and never winning.  At 234 minutes, Gone With the Wind is the longest film ever to win Best Picture.  The largest U.S. audience was in 1997, when 52.2 million people watched Titanic win Best Picture.  The youngest-ever Oscar winner was Tatum O’Neal, 10, for Paper Moon in 1973; the oldest was Jessica Tandy, 80, for her role in Driving Miss Daisy in 1989. (By Rob Kiener,from Reader's Digest Australia, 2010)

8 MEMORABLE OSCAR MOMENTS

The Oscars have been around for over 80 years, and have had many memorable moments in its history. Here are 8 amazing highlights.

 May 16, 1929 The first Academy Awards are held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; 250 people attend. Tickets cost US$5 and the event lasts ten minutes. Best Picture goes to silent movie Wings.  1934 After winning the Best Actor award for It Happened One Night, Clark Gable makes the shortest-ever acceptance speech, saying simply, “Thank you.”  1939 Hattie McDaniel becomes the first black person to be nominated for an Academy Award (or to attend an Academy banquet) and bursts into tears when she wins her Oscar for best supporting actress as the maid Mammy in Gone With the Wind.  1969 Midnight Cowboy was (and is) the only X-rated film to win Best Picture.  1973 For the only time in her career, Katharine Hepburn attends the ceremony. After a few minutes on stage to present an honorary award, she dashes into a waiting limousine. As she once noted, “Prizes are nothing. My prize is my work.” She holds the record for most acting Oscars (four).  1991 After winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, , 73, drops to the floor and does one-armed push-ups to prove he can still compete with younger actors.  1997 Titanic is nominated for 14 Oscars and wins 11. After winning the Best Director Oscar, James Cameron announces, “I’m the king of the world!”  1998 Italian actor Roberto Benigni thrills the Oscar audience by climbing over seats and bounding to the stage to receive his award as Best Actor in Life is Beautiful. (By Rob Kiener, from Reader's Digest Australia, 2010)