Project: Critical Viewing of British Films in a Variety of Cultural Contexts.

Project: Critical Viewing of British Films in a Variety of Cultural Contexts. STUDY GUIDE FOR ‘THE FULL MONTY’ (1997) Directed by Peter Cattaneo

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY GUIDE First of all, we hope you will enjoy the film. We also imagine you will get some useful listening practice and maybe learn some useful English expressions. But perhaps the most important thing is that you should notice the issues this film is dealing with, reflect on how they affect British society, and then consider whether there are parallels in your own society, and be prepared to discuss these matters either face-to-face with your classmates or with students elsewhere via a discussion group that we have set up for the purpose.

CONTENTS OF THE STUDY GUIDE • LIST OF MAIN CHARACTERS • SUMMARY OF THE PLOT • PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES • WHILE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES • POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES • FOLLOW-UP IDEAS

THE MAIN CHARACTERS • Gaz – Robert Carlyle • Dave – Mark Addy • Gerald – Tom Wilkinson • Lomper – Steve Huison • Horse – Paul Barber • Guy – Hugo Speer • Nathan – William Snape

SUMMARY OF THE PLOT The film is set in the northern English city of Sheffield, once prosperous, now no longer so, among a group of unemployed ex-steelworkers whose lives have been ruined by the loss of their jobs and the identity this gave them. The hero, Gaz, is divorced and faces the prospect of losing all contact with his son, Nathan, unless he can raise the money he owes his ex-wife. With his friend Dave he happens to see a poster for the famous male striptease group, the Chippendales, and they are inspired to follow their example in order to get some money. They put together a group of men and start practising. The film follows their struggles as they try to make their dream of success come true and ends with them performing in front of a packed house at the Working Men’s Club where they first got their inspiration.

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (1) According to the DVD cover, the film is an “enchantingly funny…crowd-pleasing comedy”, and, on one level, it is just that. However, as the screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy, said in an interview, “the film is a comedy but has a serious message about the state of unemployed men in Britain”. Before you watch the film, think about the questions on the next slide or discuss them with others who are going to watch the film with you.

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (2) • What do you think causes unemployment? • What do you know about traditional industries in Britain? • What do you know about unemployment in your country or region? • What negative effects do you think long-term unemployment has on those who experience it?

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (3) A reviewer in the online movie guide crazy4cinema wrote that “As a female movie-goer I will pretty much go to see any movie that promises a little male nakedness. It doesn't happen very often and I feel as women we need to support those films that go the extra mile just to please us. Then maybe, just maybe, male nudity will be as commonplace as female and we'll get a little equality in the film world. It’s just a dream, but here’s hoping.” There are some more thinking and discussion questions on the next slide.

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (4) • To what extent do you agree with the reviewer? • What’s your opinion of nudity in films? • What’s your opinion of jobs such as being a stripper? • Do you think there are certain jobs that are more appropriate for one sex than the other? Which? Why?

WHILE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (1) We don’t have any specific tasks of the traditional type (e.g. gap-filling or answering comprehension questions) for you to do while watching the film. We would prefer you just to watch it and keep your eyes and ears open for what you find interesting and to make notes to help you recollect things later. However, you might find the topics mentioned on the next slide helpful in focusing your attention.

WHILE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (2) • What does the physical environment of Sheffield look like? • How do the characters spend their days? • What sort of relationship do the six men have with each other? • What sort of relationship do they have with other people? • What do you notice about their English? • What do you think of the music?

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (1) We hope you enjoyed the film and have plenty of food for thought. In addition to your own observations and reactions, you might find the following questions helpful in shaping your discussions. Which of the characters did you like most/least? Why? Was there anything you noticed that you particularly liked or disliked? Which parts of the film did you find funny? In what ways did you find the film ‘typically British’? Was there anything you found particularly alien or strange? Could something similar happen in your own society?

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES (2) If you haven’t already done so, go to http://groups.yahoo.com and register. Then join the group named ‘film-viewing’ and send a message. You will then be able to participate in online discussion of the film with others who have seen it.

FOLLOW-UP IDEAS You can find out more at the following websites: about the film - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119164/ about Sheffield - www.sheffield-fm.co.uk/ about the social and economic background to the film - http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/apr1998/shef-a8.shtml about the origin of the term ‘the Full Monty’ - http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/monty.htm about relationships within broken families in the UK - http://www.fathers-4-justice.org about the Chippendales – http://www.chippendales.com/

Project: Critical Viewing of British Films in a Variety of Cultural Contexts.