A few weeks ago I brought Belleville Rendez-vous to show to the kids and use as a starting point to practice story-writing. Belleville Rendez-vous is an absolutely brilliant animation film set in France and in New-York in the 50's. I asked the kids to focus on one character, to then write a description of him/her, paying particular attention to the character's relationship with objects. Most characters in the film use objects in really inventive ways: hoover and lawn mower become massaging instruments in the hands of the grandma Ms Souza, the triplettes owe their survival to their makeshift instruments - fridge, hoover and newspaper - and pans, hats and shoes turn into arms in the final battle against the French mafia.
I was worried the students might not get the story or might find the whole thing too weird and too 'foreign'. But I was wrong, most classes liked it. They understood everything, caught most details and found it funny.
I explained to them that the French are called 'frogs' by the British and Americans because they eat frogs, like the triplettes, and that I too have eaten frog thighs before... They absolutely loved the story...
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