Jay Doubleyou

Sunday, 30 March 2014

"i think this is one of the few movies that might actually be able to inspire someone to lead their life a little differently."

There are lists of 'favourite films':
Jay Doubleyou: what's your favourite film?

But what about lists of 'most inspiring films'?

Regularly, movies such as Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life' are at the top:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Top 10 Inspirational Movies of all Time - List Dose

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It's A Wonderful Life Trailer - YouTube

On the other hand, it's been described as 'maudlin' or 'excessively sentimental':
maudlin: definition of maudlin in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)
But then, we seem to like a 'tear-jerker' or 'weepie'...
It's a Wonderful Life | Film Review | Slant Magazine

Then there's the movie 'Bucket List' where two guys have months to live and produce a list of things to do before they die (or 'kick the bucket' as we say)...
Bucket List - Get some great bucket list ideas, they may change your life forever
Jay Doubleyou: using authentic material in the classroom

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The Bucket List Official Trailer #1 - (2007) HD - YouTube

And it makes a good basis for a language lesson:
Lessonstream.org by Jamie Keddie » Things 2 do b4 u die
Jay Doubleyou: some video links

But, again, isn't it rather sentimental? Or even rather 'self-indulgent'?
BBC News - A list for living, not a bucket list

And isn't 'Bucket List' actually a really bad film?!?

"The Bucket List" is a movie about two old codgers who are nothing like people, both suffering from cancer that is nothing like cancer, and setting off on adventures that are nothing like possible. I urgently advise hospitals: Do not make the DVD available to your patients...
The Bucket List Movie Review & Film Summary (2008) | Roger Ebert

If you are looking for a real piece of 'Caring and Sharing in the Language Classroom'...
Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class: A Sourcebook on Humanistic Techniques: Gertrude Moskowitz: 9780838427712: Amazon.com: Books

An alternative would be the beautiful film by Japanese director Akira Kurasawa:

The story in Ikiru is universal. A person finds out they are dying, and spends the remainder of their time left on earth trying to do all of the things they have always wanted in order to die a happy person. Movies like this are pretty much a dime a dozen, particularly in Western Cinema. Most of these films either become sappy tales of Carpe Diem (The Bucket List) divulge into family melodrama (One True Thing, Stepmom) or are simply atrocious excuses to attempt to gain awards recognition (Sweet November). Few movies actually look objectively at the meaning of life. All of the above films need to take a class on Ikiru.
A Movie A Week | Week 4: Ikiru

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Ikiru (To Live) (1952) - YouTube

In fact, it has inspired many who have watched it:

I think this is one of the few movies that might actually be able to inspire someone to lead their life a little differently.
I saw "Ikiru" first in 1960 or 1961. I went to the movie because it was playing in a campus film series and only cost a quarter. I sat enveloped in the story of Watanabe for 2 1/2 hours, and wrote about it in a class where the essay topic was Socrates' statement, "the unexamined life is not worth living."' Over the years I have seen "Ikiru" every five years or so, and each time it has moved me, and made me think. And the older I get, the less Watanabe seems like a pathetic old man, and the more he seems like every one of us.
Ikiru Movie Review & Film Summary (1952) | Roger Ebert

The question, is, however:
Could we as teachers and students in a classroom ask each other what we would do if we knew we had only six months to live?

And can a film in Japanese be useful for learners of English?
Well - watching a Chinese film with French subtitles certainly taught me a couple of words of French - just seeing them on the screen. And why should the English-language learning environment be full of only English-language culture? There's a whole world out there to bring into the classroom - and something a little less 'maudlin' than so much of the stuff which comes out of Hollywood...
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