For this advanced French course, you will watch a film at home (available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Canal Plus, Orange, YouTube and other platforms) before a lively and engaging discussion in class. Each week a new film provides a basis for an immersive lesson with authentic spoken language and cultural reference points.
Watching films is entertaining and enjoyable which breaks psychological barriers that can arise in traditional language learning. Movie dialogue exposes you to a rich range of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions anchored in a meaningful context, which aids understanding and retention. If you love movies, there’s no more enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, improve conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of French culture. You can expect to view a wide range of films from the classic to the contemporary in many different genres.
This course will be online. Details on joining the course via Zoom will be emailed to you before the start of the class. If you would like to test out your internet connection from a computer device before the start of the class you can click on the computer icon above or here.
About the Instructor: : Valérie Brosbrann grew up in Paris and moved to the US in 1981. She lived in the US for 38 years in New York City, Washington, D.C and Boston. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University. She has been teaching French since 1986. She taught adults with the US State Department, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Afterwards, she taught at private high schools in Manhattan. She has taught all levels of French including Advanced and AP classes. She returned to Paris for retirement in 2018 and has been volunteering with WICE for three years.
Students will be watching:
1. Tu seras mon fils (2011). Drame. Un film de Gilles Legrand avec Niels Arestrup, Lorant Deutsch, Patrick Chesnais.
2. Sur mes lèvres (2001). Drame, judiciaire, romance. Un film de Jacques Audiard, avec Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet.
3. La mariée était en noir (1968). Drame, policier. Un film de François Truffaut, avec Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy.
4. Le Cercle rouge (1970). Policier. Un film de Jean-Pierre Melville, avec Alain Delon, Bourvil.
5. Le Corbeau (1943). Drame, thriller. Un film de Henri-Georges Clouzot, avec Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc, Méléna Manson.
6. Les Chatouilles (2018). Drame. Un film de Andréa Bescond & Éric Métayer, avec Andréa Bescond, Karin Viard, Clovis Cornillac.
7. Milou en Mai (1990). Comédie dramatique, romance. Un film de Louis Malle, avec Miou-Miou, Michel Piccoli, Michel Duchaussoy.
8. Garde à vue (1981). Thriller psychologique. Un film de Claude Miller, avec Lino Ventura, Michel Serrault, Romy Schneider.
9. La Belle époque (2019). Romance, drame, comédie. Un film de Nicolas Bedos, avec Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, Doria Tillier.
10. Le juge et l’assassin (1976). Drame. Un film de Bertrand Tavernier, avec Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, Jean-Claude Brialy.
11.120 battements par minute (2017). Un film de Robin Campillo, avec Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel.
12. La Grande Illusion (1937). Drame, guerre. Un film de Jean Renoir (le fils du peintre), avec Jean Gabin, Dit Parlo, Erich Von Stroheim.
Photo credit: Nancy Cooper
