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1、Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more.-author-date牛津M8U4-Films-and-film-events课文电子文档ReadingReading Important film events around the world Host: Welcome to our weekly programme, Movie Magic. Our guests today are representatives from six
2、 of the major international film festivals. These spokeswomen and spokesmen will tell us about the festivals they represent. Joining us in the studio are Isabel Rose from the Cannes Film Festival, Hanz Muller from the Berlin International Film Festival, Kathy Barnes from the Sundance Film Festival,M
3、aria Bella from the Venice Film Festival, Mike Taylor from the Toronto International Film Festival and Xu Li from the Shanghai International Film Festival. Welcome, everyone! Maria, do tell us a little about the Venice Film Festival. Maria: Well, I think it is rather appropriate for me to begin our
4、discussion. The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. It is an annual festival that began in 1932. Our festival is part of a larger festival which applauds contemporary art. We view film as a particular type of contemporary art. Host: Kathy, please tell us about the Sundance
5、 Film Festival.Kathy:Unlike the Venice Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival only includes small, independent films. That is, the main criterion for being included is that the film must not be financed by Hollywood studios. Maria: Kathy, I dont like to argue, but in defence of the Venice Film Fe
6、stival, I have to point out that we dont just have Hollywood films. Our policy is to include high-quality films, regardless of who makes them. We make no restrictions on the kinds of films we showas long as a films quality meets our standards, we include it. Kathy:The Sundance Film Festival delibera
7、tely boycotts all Hollywood films, and we dont foresee ever including them. The initial idea for our festival was hatched back in 1978, when it was known as the Utah/US Film Festival. However, it was not well known until 1981. It was then that Robert Redford became its sponsor and changed the focus
8、to independent films, often made on very modest budgets. It was given its new namethe Sundance Film Festivalin 1991. Redford has acted in and directed many big Hollywood films, but wanted to expose the public to films made outside of the Hollywood system that ordinary people might have no access to
9、otherwise. Nowadays, if a film wins an award at Sundance, there is a good chance it will become famous! Kathy:Cannes is another festival that can make films famous. Many films are first shown to the public at the Cannes Film Festival, and if a film wins, everyone will hear about it. I think it is fa
10、ir to say that Cannes is the most famous and exciting festival.Hanz:I hate to contradict you, but in recent years, the Cannes Film Festival has shown special favour to American films. Some people remark that it has taken a step backwards, and is beginning to resemble the Academy Awards in Hollywood
11、too much. Isabel: Well, yes, films shown at Cannes are often made with large budgets, and have well-known actors and directors. Many of them are American, but we reject the idea that we have lost our edge as the best international film festival in the world. We always show a broad range of films fro
12、m many different countries. In fact, the Cannes Film Festival was started in 1939 because many people felt the Venice Film Festival was giving awards to only German and Italian films. Hanz:Well, in my opinion, the Berlin International Film Festival is one of the most international of all the film fe
13、stivals. Since it began in 1951, we have given awards to films from all around the globe. At our festival, Hollywood films are in the minority, while films that are likely to be overlooked at other festivals, for example at Cannes, have a real chance of becoming champions. Mike:Im the spokesman for
14、the Toronto International Film Festival, which began in 1976 and soon became one of the major film festivals around the world. Each year, famous actors, actresses and directors come to Toronto, and the entire film world pays attention to who wins. It is the second largest festival in the worldonly C
15、annes is bigger. We show films from many countries, though we do give some special awards to Canadian films. Xu Li: I represent the Shanghai International Film Festival. Our festival was founded in 1993, so we are perhaps the youngest festival. Even though we have only existed a short time, our fest
16、ival has a good reputation worldwide. We have entries from many different countries and give the Jinjue Award, or Golden Cup Award, to the film that we think is the best.Project Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (2001)What an amazing film! Who has not dreamt of finding out that he or she is re
17、ally someone special and famous? That fantasy is reality for Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe). Harry, a sensitive young boy who has a scar on his forehead, has been living with his relatives, the Dursleys. His uncle abuses him, his aunt ignores him, and his cousin hates him. At first, Harry
18、 thinks that his parents were killed in a car crash when he was a baby. However, he later finds out that his father was a wizard and that his mother was a witch, both of whom were murdered by an evil wizardthe same wizard who gave Harry the scar. Harry discovers that he possesses a wizards powers to
19、o, and that he already has a reputation in the world of witches and wizards because of his parents. Hagrid (played by Robbie Coltrane) is a very large person who works at Hogwarts, a special institution for young witches and wizards. He comes to rescue Harry from the Dursleys and take him to the sch
20、ool. They have a few adventures along the way, and Harry is introduced to a whole new world he never knew aboutthe world of magic. The world of ordinary people exists parallel to the world of magic, but the ordinary people are not aware of it.On the train to school, Harry makes two new friends, Ron
21、Weasley (played by Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (played by Emma Watson). Together, they learn about their new school and the special curriculum there. Harry has contradictory feelings about his new life. At first, he enjoys it, but later he learns that the evil wizard, Voldemort, is the one wh
22、o killed his parents. Harry and his partners have a fierce battle with Voldemort to save themselves and their magic world.The film is full of special effects. Watching Harry zoom around on a flying broom could make you feel dizzy, and the school sport of Quidditch is fantastic. The effects are all m
23、ade with the computer, and are really exciting to watch.All of this is wonderful, but the best part of the film is the acting. This is surprising as the three young actors playing the characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione did not have much experience as actors before making this film. The skill with
24、 which these three become their characters is one of the films main attractions. They do very well even compared with the adult actors, such as Alan Rickman (Professor Snape), Richard Harris (Headmaster Dumbledore) and Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall).J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter
25、 books, approved the final script of the film. However, many people have complained that the film is too long. At 142 minutes, it is almost a half hour longer than an average film. While the sport of Quidditch is a vital part of the book and of Harrys school experience, I feel that too much time is
26、devoted in the film to showing it. I think this is more to show off the special effects than to help the films plot. Also, it disappoints me that several interesting scenes are not shown in the film.Many people also complain that the film has a tendency to spend too much time showing Harrys life wit
27、h the Dursleys. This shows that the film-makers did not give enough thought to who the audience of the film would be. Most people who went to see the film had read the book before going to the cinema. They would already know that Harry is not happy with the Dursleys. The important and interesting parts of the film occur in the world of magic. Much of this early part of the film could have been skipped, and more time could have been spent at Hogwarts.Even with these slight drawbacks, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is still a great film, and I certainly recommend it!-
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