ESCOLA SECUNDÁRIA CARLOS AMARANTE

English -11th Grade

Extensive viewing

A Wonderful World – Home

“Life, a miracle in the Universe, appeared around 4 billion years ago and we
humans only 200,000 years ago.”
“Today, life, our life, is just a link in a chain of innumerable living beings that
have succeeded one another on Earth over nearly 4 billion years.”
“We have created phenomena we cannot control. Since our origins, water, air
and forms of life are intimately linked. But, recently, we have broken those
links.”
“It’s up to us to write what happens next.” (quotes from the film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

WATCHING AND LISTENING

A. Before-viewing
1. HOME – a) What does this word mean to you?
b) What do you associate it to?

B. While-viewing (watch the film HOME)

1. Note-taking – write down everything you think relevant – words that reflect your feelings, the most impressive
images, environmental problems, solutions present in the film...
C. After-viewing
“We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the
depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and
our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of
mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group,
made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit
film. HOME has been made for you: share it! And act for the planet.” (Yann Arthus-Bertrand HOME official
website http://www.home-2009.com PPR is proud to support HOME http://www.ppr.com. HOME is a carbon
offset movie http://www.actioncarbone.org. More information about the Planet http://www.goodplanet.info)

1. The director - Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a photographer as well as the director of the film:

a) What is the director’s position? Why?

b) Imagine the narrator’s profession.
(Is he a professor of biology, geology or environment sciences, a politician, an ecological militant?)
c) Who is the narrator addressing?
(All people on Earth or a certain category of human being? Children, adults, politicians? People in rich or
poor countries?)

2. The viewer’s position:

a) How can one describe the feelings the film gives rise to? [Finish this sentence: At the end of the film I
wanted to ….]
b) Can you describe the film’s first and last images?
c) What could be said about the film’s title?
d) If Man is “at home” on Earth, how does he look after his home? (Is this home unique, shared, irreplaceable
or reparable?)
e) Who is the film’s central character? (Earth? Man? Time?)
f) What is the film’s subject? (Man on Earth? The relationship between Man and Nature? Living things?)
g) What adjectives describe the author’s feelings about his subject?
h) If the central character were a person, what would that person be like? (Man or woman? Young or old? The
extended metaphor of the Earth’s body, its life, ageing, its rebirths, etc.)

2. Think of another title for the film.

3. How does the film end?

4. List the alternative solutions. Provide, if appropriate, other information.

5. Why does Yann Arthus-Bertrand finish his film in this way?

6. What is the place of nature in the pace of human life?

7. What consequences has the discovery of oil had on the life of humankind?

8. What is the inevitable consequence of this frenzied use of oil?

3. The film’s music

1- List the instruments in the musical passages

2- What types of music can we spot?
3- What is the role of music in the film?
4- What is the role of sounds?
5- What is the role of silence?
 4- “It’s too late to be a pessimist.”

“We have very little time to change. How can this century carry the burden of 9 billion human beings if we refuse to be
called to account for everything we alone have done?

“The cost of our actions is high. Others pay the price without having been actively involved. I have seen refugee camps as
big as cities sprawling in the desert. How many men, women and children will be left by the wayside tomorrow?”

“Must we always build walls to break the chain of human solidarity, separate peoples and protect the happiness of some
from the misery of others? It’s too late to be a pessimist. I know that a single human can knock down any wall.”

“It’s time to come together. What’s important is not what’s gone but what remains. We still have half the world’s forests,
thousands of rivers, lakes and glaciers and thousands of thriving species. We know that the solutions are there today. We all
have the power to change. So what are we waiting for?”

“It’s up to us to write what happens next.”

1- - What do these sentences make you think of?

2- - Pick out the use of the words “you”, “I”, “us”.

3- - What is the use of the leitmotif “I have seen…” mean and what is its effect?

4- - What slogans do these sentences make you think of?

5- - What is the last image of the film? (the same as the first?) Why this choice?
6- - How can we describe the position in which the film puts us?

D. Be curious and visit the film’s locations at

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://www.home-mapplet.com/home/

E. Some interesting figures to think about:

6.5 billion human beings
200 million migrants the world over (3% of the global population)
10% are inhabitants of the EU (13% of the US)
70% of money transfers sent by immigrants go to developing countries
13,000 UFM (Unaccompanied Foreign Minors) in the EU in 2000
25% or more are inhabitants of cities in rapid urban expansion