A Knight's Tale
Apr. 24th, 2006 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
happybatI'm currently teaching this film for the second time. The first time was - oh help - four years ago, to a third year General/Foundation class in my old school in Ayrshire. This year I'm teaching it to my lovely Second years. The contrast is marked - my current class can pick up on, and comment on, so much more. It's a joy to discuss it with them - I do hope the essays they write live up to it.
There are so many reasons why this film works with a class. Everyone likes Will, although this year I have been amused to see that it's his ambition that they have picked up on. They have 'written' him as rather a manipulative figure who uses his friends as pawns in his ruthless pursuit of fame and glory, and seem to respect him for it. To my surprise, they are also quite fond of Jocelyn. Last time round, she got fairly short shrift. None of them ever love Chaucer with the depth of devotion he deserves, though - I suspect because they can't understand what he is on about. Too, the collision between old and new never fails to amuse - although unlike my Ayrshire lot, my current class do NOT like the music (insufficiently technobeeb for Coatbridge, I think). 2B have picked up on the interweaving of old fashioned and modern language - the "foxy lady" line gets a laugh - and seem keen to write about it (who'd have thunk it?)
One of the best things about this film as a text to study is how it lends itself to a discussion of technique. I'm not going to get a chance to talk about the music this time, but discussing the use of language helps us to see the text as a made thing - constructed to provoke a series of responses from the viewer. We also got a chance to talk about heroes and villains - although they were not, in my opinion, nearly enthusiastic enough about the wicked Ahdemar. It's a shame we won't get the chance to do more media this year. I'd have loved to run this lot through Deep Blue Sea... Big CGI sharks and subversion of standard action movie roles - who could ask for more from a film?
There are so many reasons why this film works with a class. Everyone likes Will, although this year I have been amused to see that it's his ambition that they have picked up on. They have 'written' him as rather a manipulative figure who uses his friends as pawns in his ruthless pursuit of fame and glory, and seem to respect him for it. To my surprise, they are also quite fond of Jocelyn. Last time round, she got fairly short shrift. None of them ever love Chaucer with the depth of devotion he deserves, though - I suspect because they can't understand what he is on about. Too, the collision between old and new never fails to amuse - although unlike my Ayrshire lot, my current class do NOT like the music (insufficiently technobeeb for Coatbridge, I think). 2B have picked up on the interweaving of old fashioned and modern language - the "foxy lady" line gets a laugh - and seem keen to write about it (who'd have thunk it?)
One of the best things about this film as a text to study is how it lends itself to a discussion of technique. I'm not going to get a chance to talk about the music this time, but discussing the use of language helps us to see the text as a made thing - constructed to provoke a series of responses from the viewer. We also got a chance to talk about heroes and villains - although they were not, in my opinion, nearly enthusiastic enough about the wicked Ahdemar. It's a shame we won't get the chance to do more media this year. I'd have loved to run this lot through Deep Blue Sea... Big CGI sharks and subversion of standard action movie roles - who could ask for more from a film?
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Date: 2006-04-26 01:31 pm (UTC)Welcome to Lj btw, glad to see you've succumbed:-)