Download Film Analysis: Pursuit of Happyness, Devil Wears Prada, Wall Street, Social Network and more Lecture notes Business in PDF only on Docsity!
The Pursuit of HappyNess
Directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith.
Inspired by a true story, the film is set in San Francisco in 1981. Chris
Gardner (played by Smith) is a salesman trying to sell portable bone
density scanners to doctors. He is in serious financial difficulties and his
wife leaves him and their young son Christopher. Chris does everything
he can to get an internship at Dean Witter, a stock brokerage firm, but
it means six months without pay. When the tax authorities take the last
money he has, Chris and his son are evicted from their home and forced to
spend the night in a subway bathroom before finding a room in a shelter
for homeless people. Every day is a struggle for Chris as he has to work and
study hard, be a good father and find food and a bed every night for them
both. There is only one job available at the end of the internship and Chris
is determined to get it in his pursuit of a better life for him and his son.
1 Read the plot summary and answer these questions.
1 What is Chris Gardnerās job at the beginning of the film? 2 What is the disadvantage of the internship at the brokerage company? 3 Why does Chris lose his home? 4 Where do he and his son have to stay? 5 Why does Chris want the job at Dean Witter?
internship: tirocinio stock brokerage: intermediazioni
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- Will Smithās real-life son ā Jaden Smith ā played his son in the film.
- The real Chris Gardner appears very briefly at the end of the film. He set up his own brokerage company in 1987 and in 2006 he sold a share of it for millions of dollars.
- The misspelling of the word āhappinessā in the title of the film comes from a sign the real Chris Gardner saw while he was homeless. In the film, it is written incorrectly outside the childcare centre which Gardnerās son attends.
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3 Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.
1 What impression do you think Chrisās appearance makes on the interviewers? 2 What about his school record? 3 In what ways does Chris attempt to show his strength of character and abilities? 4 How important are appearance, qualifications and verbal communication in an interview? 5 Do you think Chris is right to fight so strongly for his dream of a better life?
4 Write an essay about the process of applying for a job following these guidelines:
- presentation, content and style of a CV;
- importance of a covering letter;
- preparation before an interview;
- performance during an interview.
This scene is taken from Chrisās interview for the internship with Jay Twistle and Martin Frohm from the company Dean Witter. The day before Chris was arrested for not paying his parking fines and had to spend the night in jail. In the morning he rushes to the interview without having had time to shower or change his clothes.
Frohm Jay says youāre pretty ( 1 ) _________. Twistle Heās been waiting outside the front of the building with some 40 lb gizmo for over a month. Frohm He said youāre ( 2 ) _________. Chris I like to think so. Frohm And you want to learn this ( 3 ) _________. Chris Yes sir. I want to learn this business. Frohm Have you already started learning on your own? Chris Absolutely. Frohm Jay? Twistle Yes sir. Frohm How many times have you seen Chris? Twistle I donāt know. One too many apparently. Frohm Has he ever dressed like this? Twistle No. No. ( 4 ) _________ and tie. Frohm First in your class in school. High School. Chris Yes sir. Frohm How many in the class? Chris ( 5 ) _________. It was a small town. Frohm Iāll say. Chris But I was also first in my radar class in the navy and that was a class of twenty. Can I say something? Iām the type of person, if you ask me a ( 6 ) _________ and I donāt know the answer, Iām going to ( 7 ) _________ you that I donāt know. But I bet you what, I know how to find the answer and I will find the answer. Is that fair enough? Frohm Chris, what would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a ( 8 ) _________ on, and I hired him, what would you say? Chris He must have had on some really nice pants.
gizmo: attrezzo pants: pantaloni (AE)
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2 Watch this scene and fill in the gaps.
business ā¢ determined ā¢ jacket ā¢ question ā¢ shirt ā¢ smart ā¢ tell ā¢ twelve
2 Watch this scene and fill in the gaps.
Miranda But I was very, very ( 1 ) ___________ by how intently you tried to warn me. I never thought I would say this, Andrea, but I reallyā¦ I see a great deal of myself in you. You can see ( 2 ) ___________ what people want and what they need and you can choose for yourself. Andrea I donāt think Iām ( 3 ) ___________ that. Iā¦ I couldnāt do what you did to Nigel, Miranda. I couldnāt do something like that. Miranda You ( 4 ) ___________ did. To Emily. Andrea Thatās not what Iā¦ That was different. I didnāt have a ( 5 ) ___________. Miranda Oh no, you chose. You chose to get ( 6 ) ___________. You want this life, those choices are necessary. Andrea But what if this isnāt what I want? I mean, what if I donāt want to live the way you live? Miranda Oh donāt be ( 7 ) ___________, Andrea. Everybody wants this. Everybody wants to be ( 8 ) ___________.
like ā¢ already ā¢ us ā¢ impressed ā¢ ridiculous ā¢ ahead ā¢ choice ā¢ beyond
This scene is from towards the end of the film, when Andrea and Miranda are in Paris. Andrea has just tried to warn her boss about a plot to fire her, but Miranda, as cruel and powerful as ever, already had everything under control even though it meant destroying Nigelās career. Talking with Miranda in the car, Andrea must face what she has already, or soon will, become.
3 Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups. 1 How do you think Andrea feels during this scene when forced to face reality? 2 Do you think the world of fashion magazines is so fast paced and ruthless in real life? 3 Do you agree with Mirandaās last line? Why/Why not? 4 What will Andrea decide at the end? Make predictions.
4 Write an essay about advertising. Use these questions to help you.
- What kind of advertising, and how much, is there in fashion magazines?
- Why do you think advertisers choose this kind of magazine?
- Are there any negative aspects to advertising in fashion magazines?
- What is important when choosing which magazine to advertise in?
- Where else could fashion advertising be effective?
- What is necessary for an effective advertising campaign?
Wall Street:
Money Never Sleeps
1 Read the plot summary and answer these questions. 1 When is most of the 4 Who is Bretton film set? James? 2 Who is Gordon Gekko? 5 Why does Jacob 3 Who is Jacob Moore? want revenge?
leverage: rapporto di indebitamento bailout: piano di salvataggio
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Directed by Oliver Stone and starring Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf and
Carey Mulligan.
A sequel to the 1987 Wall Street , the film starts in 2001 with Gordon Gekko
(played by Douglas) getting out of prison after serving 8 years for insider
trading and securities fraud. A quick jump forward seven years and Gordon
is promoting his book Is Greed Good? where he claims the USA is on the
edge of collapse thanks to excessive leverage and speculation. His estranged
daughter Winnie (played by Mulligan) runs a political news website and her
boyfriend, Jacob Moore (played by LaBeouf), is a Wall Street trader who works
for his mentor Lou Zabel at Keller Zabel Investments. Rumours about KZIās
enormous debt cause its share prices to crash and Zabel tries to arrange a
bailout from other Wall Street banks. His plans are blocked by Bretton James,
head of rival firm Churchill Schwartz, and Zabel commits suicide. Jacob secretly
contacts Gordon to try to reconcile daughter and father and Gordon tells him
about Brettonās involvement in the collapse of ZBI. Jacob wants revenge for his
mentorās death, so can Gordon become an ally or will his true colours prevail?
- Oliver Stone rang the NASDAQ opening bell to celebrate the filmās debut.
- Oliver Stone is known as a very demanding director. Michael Douglas said of him: āHeās mellowed, but itās still always a workout with him.ā
- In preparation for his role, Shia LaBeouf worked with traders and investment firms. He even studied for a brokerās licence.
- Michael Douglas won an Oscar for Best Actor in the 1987 film Wall Street.
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The Social Network
A drama starring Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake.
The film is told through flashbacks to the formation and early days of
Facebook, together with scenes from depositions for two lawsuits against
its founder Mark Zuckerberg (played by Eisenberg). One drunken night
Mark, a Harvard undergraduate and computer programming genius, starts
an on-campus website called Facemash. The intense traffic to the site, where
users rate the attractiveness of female students, causes parts of the Harvard
network to crash and attracts the attention of students Cameron and Tyler
Winklevoss and Divya Narendra. They ask Mark to create a social network
exclusively for Harvard students. Mark accepts this challenge, but he actually
starts his own Harvard social networking website ā TheFacebook as it is first
known ā with financial help from his best friend Eduardo Saverin (played
by Garfield). It is an immediate success with Harvard students and the two
friends start to expand the site. Then, as the founder of Napster, Sean Parker
(played by Timberlake), becomes more and more involved, Mark begins to
change and Eduardo is gradually excluded from his life and the company.
1 Read the plot summary and answer these questions. 1 Is the story told in a chronological way? 2 Where does Mark study? 3 What was his first website? 4 What is Eduardoās role in the foundation of the social network? 5 What happens between Mark and Eduardo?
lawsuits: azioni legali undergraduate: studente universitario rate: classificare
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- The film is adapted from Ben Mezrichās 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires. It received eight Oscar nominations and won three.
- Eduardo Saverin has said about the film: āIt was clearly intended to be entertainment and not a fact-based documentary.ā
- The lawsuit by Eduardo against Mark and Facebook was settled out of court for a non-disclosed sum of money. In their lawsuit, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra received a number of shares in the company and a cash sum.
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3 Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.
1 What is Eduardoās plan for the website? 2 Why doesnāt Mark agree? 3 Do you think this difference in opinion will be fundamental for their future personal and business relationship? 4 In your opinion, is Facebook completed or will it continue to develop?
4 Write an essay about the role of social media in todayās society. Use these questions to help you.
- Which are the main social media websites?
- What are their advantages? (e.g. broadcasting news and events, networking for jobs)
- What are their disadvantages? (e.g. concerns over privacy)
- What is the future outlook?
At this point of the film, TheFacebook has become a huge success at Harvard and the extent of its popularity can be seen by two girls who use the expression āfacebook meā when talking to Eduardo and Mark. The pair begin to realise the potential of what they have created but do not agree about its future.
2 Watch the scene and fill in the gaps.
advertising ā¢ asset ā¢ cool ā¢
monetise ā¢ money ā¢ point ā¢
pop-ups ā¢ revenue
Eduardo Itās time to monetise the thing. Mark What were their names? Eduardo Hear what I just said? Mark When? Eduardo I said itās time to ( 1 ) _________ the site. Mark What does that mean? Eduardo It means itās time for the website to start generating ( 2 ) _________. Mark No, I know what the word means. Iām asking how you wanna do it. Eduardo ( 3 ) _________. Mark No. Eduardo Well, weāve got 4,000 members. Mark āCause TheFacebook is ( 4 ) _________ and if we start installing ( 5 ) _________ for Mountain Dew itās not gonna be cool. Eduardo Well, I wasnāt thinking Mountain Dew but at some point, and Iām talking as the business end of the company, the siteā¦ Mark We donāt even know what it is yet. We donāt know what it is. We donāt know what it can be. We donāt know what it will be. We know that it is cool. That is a priceless ( 6 ) _________ Iām not giving up. Eduardo So when will it be finished? Mark It wonāt be finished. Thatās the ( 7 ) _________. The way fashion is never finished. Eduardo What? Mark Fashion. Fashion is never finished. Eduardo Youāre talking about fashion? Really? You? Mark Iām talking about the idea of it and Iām saying that itās never finished. Eduardo OK, but they manage to make ( 8 ) _________ selling pants.
Mountain Dew is a citrus-flavoured fizzy drink.
