Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel “Before I Die” by Jenny Downham.
Cinematography. Javier Aguirresarobe. Editing. Nancy Richardson, Art Jones.
Music.
BRIT FILMS #8 – Accompanying material for media education
NOW IS GOOD Great Britain 2012, 103 min. German certification: minimum age 12 recommended for 14 years and older Language: English with English subtitles Director
Ol Parker
Script
Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel “Before I Die” by Jenny Downham
Cinematography
Javier Aguirresarobe
Editing
Nancy Richardson, Art Jones
Music
Dustin O’Halloran
Cast
Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine, Olivia Williams, Edgar Canham and others
About NOW IS GOOD Seventeen-year-old Tessa wants to experience as much as possible – and the sooner the better. Tessa doesn’t have much time left. She already has four years of chemotherapy behind her and it didn’t help. She decides to end the treatment and live her last few months as carefree as possible. She has her bucket list hanging on her bedroom wall: for example, do drugs, break the law, have sex. When she meets Adam, she falls in love immediately. Although Tessa and Adam know that they don’t have much time together, they start a serious relationship. NOW IS GOOD is far less about the progression of a disease as it is about the story of a teenager’s desires and wishes. Tessa does her best to not let the cancer take control over her life. The film’s cinematography focuses on details and in this way captures the emotionally charged images as it tells a story that is as much about life as it is about death. The worksheets address the following Tessa’s attitude to life and how it changes during the storyline The significance of wishes and desires, and what defines living life to the fullest How Tessa’s family and friends deal with her impending death
Publishing information Publisher: AG Kino – Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater Rankestraße 31 10789 Berlin
Author: Stefan Stiletto
[email protected]
Photo credits: Universum Film (All the stills are from the DVD NOW IS GOOD, released in Germany by Universum Film. They serve as image quotations, to enable study of the film’s content, and not as illustrations.)
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Tessa’s bucket list A list with all the things one would like to experience before one dies is called a ‘bucket list.’ The term comes from the figure of speech “to kick the bucket.” Translate ‘bucket list’ into German. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Tessa hides her bucket list behind a picture in her room. Her wishes are: drink have a party buy a flat go on a date have sex dance all night fame hit a racist ride a wave in Hawaii or an elephant in India
take drugs with Zoey drive Glastonbury get a standing ovation tattoo leave without paying break the law sunset + sunrise ski down a mountain
Why are these wishes so meaningful? What does the list tell you about her attitude to life? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ During the course of the film Tessa’s wish list changes. In a conversation with Adam she lists the following points: spring: daffodils and tulips a long train journey a peacock bed and breakfast a joint bank account
listening to you snore for years and years to got to a parent’s evening and our child’s a genius being with you
Compare the two lists. What has changed? What kind of attitude to life does the second list reveal? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________
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Ten wishes What do you absolutely need to experience? Name ten points – and in a few words explain why each point is important to you. Goals and wishes
Reason
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Name two wishes that were at some point in the past important to you – explain in a few words why these wishes lost their meaning. Old goals and wishes
No meaning anymore because .
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Living life to the fullest In your opinion, what does it mean to live life to the fullest? How does it differ from normal everyday life? Collect associations on both sides and compare and contrast. Living life to the fullest
Normal everyday life
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Showing happiness
1 ___________________________________
2 ___________________________________
3 ___________________________________
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6 ___________________________________
Note the length of the camera shot under each still. Explain how the camera shot used contributes to the viewer’s understanding of the emotions displayed. __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Pay attention to what the characters are wearing. Does the colour of the clothes play a role? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 5
Dealing with death Describe how Tessa’s family, her friend Zoey and her boyfriend deal with her Adam impending death. Name one scene for each person that best shows this. _____________________________________________________________________ Tessa’s father
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_____________________________________________________________________ Tessa’s mother
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_____________________________________________________________________ Tessa’s brother
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_____________________________________________________________________ Adam
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_____________________________________________________________________ Zoey
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Discuss how you would like to be treated. Describe from Tessa’s perspective how she would like to be treated by her family and friends. __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 6
