Modern Language Films on Free-to-View Platforms Internship

Posted on: 1 February 2021 in 2021 posts

For this blog post, we have created a mini ‘Student Picks’ Film Festival. We have each chosen a film that appealed to us during our research and have written a small review to show you more about the great films that are available on these platforms.


The use of cinema in the learning of modern languages has proven to be one of the most effective, as well as entertaining platforms. However, as I’m sure many language students would agree, the task of finding a good quality film in your target language, with or without subtitles, is a herculean task in itself. So, in this internship we aimed to help students and staff to locate modern language films on free-to-view platforms. We decided to focus our research on French films as we are all studying French and on 3 different free-to-view platforms: Box of Broadcasts, Kanopy and YouTube. These resources are currently under-used as there is little information about them and they can be difficult to navigate. In completing this internship, we aimed to create simple and supportive guides to navigating these platforms and a database of films for staff and student to use, thus making it easier to locate and use French films in our studies and everyday life.

Tell No One (2006) – Annie Turner

As a language student, French cinema is extremely important to me. Watching French films is my favourite way to improve my language skills and cultural knowledge of France, as well as something I love to do in general. Alongside numerous films that can be used for academic studies, there are plenty of great films on these platforms to be watched for fun in your free time. Out of the long list of films I added to my watchlist during this internship, I chose to review the film Tell No One as the thrilling storyline greatly intrigued me and it starred well-known actor François Cluzet.

Tell No One is a 2006 mystery thriller that I found on Box of Broadcasts, directed by Guillaume Canet. The film follows Dr. Alexandre Beck, who was the prime suspect when his wife Margot Beck was brutally murdered. 8 years later, when two bodies are discovered near where Margot’s body was found, the case is re-opened with Alex as prime suspect again. The mystery increases when Alex receives an email showing Margot older and alive.

If you enjoy films such as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, you will really enjoy this intelligent mystery with twists and turns until the very end. I was fascinated throughout and would definitely recommend this film to French language students and anyone who enjoys this genre of films – English subtitles are available for this film if required.

There is a great range of other genres available on these free-to-view platforms if mystery thrillers are not your thing and our easy-to-use database makes it really easy to find a variety of films in the perfect genre for you!

The Devil (1955) (Remake in 1996) – Penda Mbaye Ka

While scrolling through YouTube during my research, I have found this movie that I really enjoyed. The Devil is about a very abusive and domineering man who manages a boarding school owned by his wife who has a heart condition. The wife works together with the mistress and murders her husband because they could not stand a man that humiliates them and makes their lives a living hell. After murdering and burying the guy, the body disappears and strange things start happening to the two women in the boarding school.

It is a marvellous movie that has suspense, and is a thriller, mystery, psychological drama and horror film. As a masterpiece it is very old but interesting. It always surprises you and keeps you guessing. If you are interested in movies like Elle and series such as Columbo and want to have a scary movie night then you can watch this move on YouTube. It will be a movie that you will never forget!

Reflection

During this internship, we developed numerous valuable skills. Firstly, we have acquired incredibly useful research skills that we will continue to use throughout our studies and beyond. It was extremely interesting and insightful to research like lecturers to find valuable resources. When researching, we often encountered issues and complications, thus we established a great level of resilience and strong problem-solving skills too. As well as this, we worked incredibly well as a team and communicated regularly and effectively with each other on line and with Pollie in weekly meetings, demonstrating a great improvement in our team working and communication skills. We thoroughly enjoyed completing this internship and are really proud of the resources that we have produced. The end result is a fantastic, and extensively researched filmography and guides to facilitate the use of the free-to-view platforms – every language student’s dream. We really hope you find these resources useful and hope you enjoy watching these incredible French films!

 

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Study in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Liverpool.