Project: Film Analysis
Due Date: August December10, 2020
Some films provide a great way to gain different multicultural perspectives. For this assignment, choose from the following list of titles and write a 4 to 5-page analysis of the film’s treatment of culture and language.
Select a film in that depicts the struggles of English language learners (ELLs) and/or immigrants in learning a new language and/or adjusting to or functioning in a culture different from their own. Choose from the following films: Spanglish, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Terminal, Green Card Fever, Moscow on the Hudson, The Mambo Kings, The Perez Family, The Joy Luck Club, Tortilla Soup, Real Women Have Curves, and Scarface. If you have another movie in mind, please ask the instructor before you begin the assignment.
Watch the film with your “multicultural eyes and ears”, taking notes and jotting down language and cultural examples. The analysis must have specific details about how the central characters develop an understanding of themselves and their world.
Include the following information in your report:
· Title of film and year of release
· Setting (time and place) of the film
· General premise of the film (do not rehash the whole movie).
· Give some background on the ELLs/immigrants in the film. What do we need to understand before you continue with your analysis?
· What types of struggles do they face related to cultural differences with others in the mainstream or dominant culture? Stereotypes? Discrimination? Loss of status?
· What struggles do the ELLs/immigrants have related to language (acquisition, use, and miscommunication)?
· How do/did the immigrants contribute to the setting in which they lived?
· What parts of the film did you most strongly empathize with, or conversely, what parts did you react against?
· Do you think the film presented a well-informed perspective of the culture in focus? What was the tone of the film?
· Give concrete examples from the film to support the points you are trying to make.