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Guide > Core: The Modules > INTRODUCTION TO THE FILM MODULE

INTRODUCTION TO THE FILM MODULE

RATIONALE
This module constitutes yet another field of investigation for the students. It allows students to work with another medium - the film medium - and to try and see how films, when transposed, might carry along with them implicit cultural values and messages. Analyzing films also allows students to deal with issues unreachable through text only, such as the different ways in which humor, suspense, oral discourse or body language can be interpreted in very different ways.

This Module deals specifically with the comparison of the French film "Trois Hommes et un Couffin" and its American remake, "Three Men and a Baby". We have chosen to focus here on Trois Hommes et un Couffin and Three Men and a Baby because the American version follows extremely closely the French one (the characters have the same name; the scenes are almost all parallel, etc...). This has the advantage of making the differences stand out even more. It also makes it easier for the viewer to assume that the changes have been made deliberately. This in turn will allow students to try and understand the reasons for those changes, and how they might reflect some distinctive cultural traits.

HOW TO PROCEED
We suggest the analysis take place in two steps and that you devote two weeks to the study of those films.

• first (the first week): a global analysis of the differences between both films.
• second (the second week): a scene-by-scene comparison which will allow a more in-depth comparison.

You certainly do not have to study all scenes or even the scenes suggested below. It is up to you decide how many and which to use.
Here is a suggested list of the scenes which, in our minds, yield the most interesting results:

• The first scene (= the party scene)
• The discovery of the baby at the door
• Jacques/Jack's return (=the discovery of Marie's existence)
• Jacques/Jack and his mother
• Sylvie/Sylvia's first return
• The final scene

Important: This will require that you copy each of these individual scenes onto a separate videocassette. When you copy the scenes, make sure you tape both versions right after the other, and always with the French version coming first, since - again - the remake will be studied against the original. You will then give each cassette to each group of students.

What you need to do ahead of time:
You will need to:

• purchase both versions, either on laserdisc, DVD, or videocassette.
• plan a projection of both films ahead of time (this does not have to be done in one sitting but on two consecutive evenings, for example). Show the French film first, then the American version.
  Tell students that:
  • even they have seen both films, they must see them both again (they can't rely on memory)
  • that must see the French version first since the American version was based on the French one.
  If students cannot attend the projection(s) you have scheduled, they can rent both films on videocassettes (again, in the order mentioned above). Tell them that the French version is named "Three Men and a Cradle". That version is, unfortunately, always subtitled.
  
• copy each of the scene you have selected

When you are ready to embark upon the study of these films, ask students to:

• read the basic description of the films on the Web (under the Module FILMS)
• read the introduction to the study of the films (see 3.4.2.). This will provide some context and help them understand the process.