Peter’s Friends EOI Lucena

III Ciclo CineGuri 2 December 2010

PETER’S FRIENDS

(Kenneth Branagh,1992)

UK, 101 min

N. BÁSICO (KEY)

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES

1. Ask students about their best friend(s). Sit students in pairs or small groups and ask them to tell their partner(s) about their best friend: name, age, how they met, when, how often they see each other, why is (s)he their best friend, etc. Ask students to pool ideas on what is friendship to them, and what keeps friends together.

In pairs/small groups discuss the following questions:

·  What do you value most in a friend?

·  Is there any friend you haven’t seen for a long time?

·  What do you argue about with your friends?

·  How long have you known your closest friends for?

2.  Watch the trailer to “Peter’s friends” (http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1350566169/) and then answer the following questions:

a) Where does the story take place? AT A LARGE ENGLISH

COUNTRYSIDE MANOR

b) How old are the characters? AROUND 30-35

c) Is the story a comedy, a drama, a thriller? COMEDY /DRAMA

d) What time of year does is the story set in? CHRISTMAS/NEW YEARS EVE

3.  Brainstorm / Ask your students what do they know about London. When the word “underground” comes up, ask them if they know the name of any of the lines and/or stops, and write them on the board. Then show your students a map of the London underground and explain to them how it works (different colour lines, most famous stops, etc.) (http://mappery.com/maps/London-Underground-Tube-Map-2.gif) [Check in the English Department for London Underground pocket maps]

Then listen to the Underground song, at the beginning of the film, and ask students to fill in the gaps with words/phrases/orders to give directions.


THE UNDERGROUND SONG

Stand clear of the doors. Mind the gap.

Let's all go down to Oxford Circus, past Trafalgar Square...

And then from Charing Cross right up to Euston.

Then change to the Victoria, then the Piccadilly takes us round to Gloucester Road,

Kensington and Notting Hill Gate. Holland Park, and Shepherds Bush.

- Ladbroke Grove, Westbourne Park.

- Royal Oak and Paddington.

Edgware Road and Baker Street.

Great Portland Street and Euston Square. Barbican and Aldgate East and change for Tower Hill.

Fulham Broadway, heading down for Wimbledon.

Wimbledon Park.

Now we've crossed the Thames.

Back to Earl's Court right up to Victoria.

Change for Green Park.

Home in time for tea.

To check the map to find the route to start again.

So, after tea we're off again.

We go through Swiss Cottage heading northward on the Jubilee.

We change to the Metropolitan at Finchley Road, which takes us round

to change at Rayner's Lane.

- Sudbury Hill and Sudbury Town.

- Alperton and Acton Town.

- Chiswick Park and Turnham Green.

- Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park.

- Hammersmith and Barons Court.

- West Kensington and Bayswater.

And again, Paddington...

Then change for Maida Vale.

Willesden Junction.

Didn't notice Kensal Green.

Watford High Street.

Christ, we've gone too far.

Stop at Watford.

Back again to Baker Street.

King's Cross, Moorgate,

Northern line to Bank.

And the escalator link to Monument.

We jump the Circle and we're going round and round

and round and round.

All change!

4.  Brainstorm students on what they remember of the 80s.

Show students the beginning credits of the film, which show a review in pictures of the period 1982-1992 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFgWbWJMs4g). Ask them to write down who/what they recognise. Alternatively, you can read out the information/definitions/explanations in brackets to your students, and ask your students to listen to you and guess who/what you are talking about.

·  Margaret Thatcher (UK Prime Minister 1979-1990)

·  Pacman (comecocos) (1980, Japanese company Namco)

·  Argentina invades the Falkland islands (=Malvinas, 1982)

·  Break dance (in Spain, mid 80s)

·  Anti-acid rain demonstrations (The largest anti-nuclear protest was held on June 12, 1982, when one million people demonstrated in New York City against nuclear weapons. A 1983 nuclear weapons protest in West Berlin had about 600,000 participants. In May 1986, following the Chernobyl disaster, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people marched in Rome to protest against the Italian nuclear program.)

·  Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, Rambo and new film roles, 1978–1989)

·  Ronald & Nancy Reagan (the 40th President of the United States, 1981–1989)

·  Female high-jump record (2.09 Stefka Kostadinova Bulgaria Rome 30 August 1987)

·  Yasser Arafat (He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA),[3] and leader of the Fatah political party. Arafat spent much of his life fighting against Israel in the name of Palestinian self-determination. Originally opposed to Israel's existence, he modified his position in 1988 when he accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242.)

·  Boy George (Culture Club) (British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s.)

·  Perestroika (political movement within the Communist Party of Soviet Union widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system. Perestroika is often argued to be one reason for the fall of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and for the end of the Cold War. After Mikhail Gorbachev took the office of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, he began a series of political reforms that were resisted by many established members of the communist party.)

·  Solidarność (sindicato no gubernamental polaco, comienza en agosto de 1980 en los astilleros de Gdańsk, donde Lech Wałęsa junto a otros obreros fundaron el sindicato clandestino Solidaridad cuya principal demanda era la constitución de sindicatos autónomos del partido y del gobierno)

·  Michael Jackson (In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music; music videos for his songs including "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and "Thriller")

·  Rock Hudson (American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with his most famous co-star, Doris Day. Hudson was also one of the first major Hollywood celebrities to die from an AIDS-related illness on October 2, 1985)

·  “Fighting for Our Lives” (GMHC -Gay Men’s Health Crisis- largest AIDS organization in the world)

·  “Abortion & Birth Control safe and legal”

·  Pope John Paul II (reigned as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005. He was one of the most-travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate)

·  Ayatollah Jomeini (líder político-espiritual de la revolución de 1979 cuando derrocó al Sah de Irán, Mohammad Reza Pahlevi. Jomeini gobernó Irán hasta que falleció en 1989.)

·  Imelda Marcos (Filipino politician and wife of 10th Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986.)

·  Step (Step Aerobics is distinguished from other forms of aerobic exercise by its use of an elevated platform (the step). Step aerobics was innovated by Gin Miller around 1989.)

·  1st mobile phones (The first commercially automated cellular network (the 1G generation) was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979. Several other countries also launched 1G networks in the early 1980s including the UK, Mexico and Canada)

·  Stock Market crash (The crash on October 19, 1987, a date that is also known as Black Monday, was the climactic culmination of a market decline.)

·  George H. W. Bush (George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st President of the United States, 1989–1993).

·  Exxon Valdez (The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 to 119,000 m3) of crude oil.[1][2] It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters.)

·  Tian'anmen Square demonstrations (The square was the center of the 4 June 1989 protests, where soldiers opened fire on protesters, killing 400–800, and perhaps many more.)

·  Berlin Wall coming down (After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, a euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990.)

·  Nelson Mandela (An anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994. As president from 1994 to 1999, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation. Mandela has received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.)

·  Anti-poll tax demonstrations (The UK Poll Tax Riots were a series of mass disturbances, or riots, in British cities during protests against the Community Charge (commonly known as the Poll Tax), introduced by the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. By far the largest occurred in central London on Saturday March 31, 1990, shortly before the poll tax was due to come into force in England and Wales.)

·  The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. In the Muslim community, however, the novel caused great controversy for what many Muslims believed were blasphemous references. As the controversy spread, the book was banned in India and burned in demonstrations in the United Kingdom. In mid-February 1989, following a violent riot against the book in Pakistan, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran and a Shi'a Muslim scholar, issued a fatwa calling on all good Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers, or to point him out to those who can kill him if they cannot themselves)

·  Ninja Turtles (The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or simply Ninja Turtles) are a fictional team of four anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists. The characters initially appeared in comic books before being licensed for toys, cartoons, video games, films, and other merchandise.[2] During the peak of its popularity in the late 1980s through early 1990s, the franchise gained considerable worldwide success and fame.)

·  Saddam Hussein (1st Gulf War) (President of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. As president, Saddam maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War of 1980 through 1988, and throughout the Persian Gulf War of 1991.)

·  Eurodisney (Disneyland Paris, Operating since 12 April 1992, it was the second Disney resort to open outside the United States.)

·  John Major (a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997.)


WHILE-WATCHING ACTIVITIES

1. Comprehension questions:

1.  What year is it when the film begins? 1982

2.  At the beginning of the film, Where are Peter and his friends and what are they doing? Performing a cabaret/revue in Peter’s father house.

3.  What celebration is it at the time they are performing? New Year’s Eve

4.  Match the following characters and say what type of relation links them:

CAROL ANDREW ………………..

MAGGIE BRIAN ………………..

MARY PAUL ………………..

SARAH PETER ………………..

VERA ROGER ………………..

Key:

CAROL ------ANDREW WIFE AND HUSBAND

MAGGIE ----- PETER FRIENDS

----- PAUL LOVERS

MARY ------ROGER WIFE AND HUSBAND

SARAH ------BRIAN LOVERS / GIRLFRIEND & BOYFRIEND

VERA ------PAUL MOTHER AND SON

Now make sentences with the possessive case:

i.e. Carol is Andrew’s wife.

………………………………….

…………………………………

………………………………….

…………………………………

………………………………….

8.  Where do Carol & Andrew live?

In Hollywood, Los Angeles, California (USA).

9.  Who is Maggie in love with?

With Peter.

10.  Who phones Brian after dinner, while they are opening their presents?

His wife.

11.  What does Carol want, when she goes into the sitting-room where everyone is sitting down?

A television (set). And, as there isn’t one in the house, then a book.

12.  Why does Mary want to leave the house on the first night?

Because her child, Ben, has a temperature.

13.  Peter says he’s not “in the vagina business”. What does he mean?

He’s bisexual.

14.  Who’s making a lot of noise while everybody’s having breakfast in the kitchen?

Roger and Mary.

15.  What’s the final announcement Peter makes?

That he is HIV positive.

------

2. The soundtrack of the film is filled with many hits of the 70s-80s-90s. Try to identify as many songs/singers you can listen to in the soundtrack.

"What's Love Got To Do With It" (Written by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten), Performed by Tina Turner

"You're My Best Friend" (Written by John Deacon),

Performed by Queen

"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Written by Richard Hazard)

Performed by Cyndi Lauper

"Hungry Heart" (Written and Performed by Bruce Springsteen)

"Give Me Strength" (Written and Performed by Eric Clapton)

"Don't Get Me Wrong" (Written by Chrissie Hynde)

Performed by The Pretenders

"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" (Written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes)

Performed by Tears for Fears

"My Baby Just Cares For Me" (Written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn), Performed by Nina Simone

"Rio" (Written and Performed by Michael Nesmith)