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I. About the film

Summary

Hattie, a speech-impaired girl, is deeply in love with Emmet Ray who claims that his feelings are not reciprocal. Emmet, the genius jazz guitarist, wants to give free rein to his career and intends to travel with his band to Hollywood, California, to make a short film in which his song All of Me will be played. His true intention is to walk out on Hattie, but as he is explaining that to her, an unexpected turn of events occurs. Hattie is eventually allowed to follow the band to Los Angeles on the condition she works for him.

The extract starts from the moment Emmet is leaning against the railing facing Hattie and ends with Hattie dreamily leaning her head against the hub cap.

Interest of the extract

Just before the extract, Emmet leaves Hattie behind after an evening concert and leaves town for four days, on a drinking binge with another woman. When he wakes up, he has no idea where he is. He has missed several concerts and is consequently fired from work. In this extract, Emmet Ray is the only speaking character. He puts questions and gives answers while speaking to his girlfriend Hattie who is eating her sandwich. In fact, his speech amounts to an introspection of his inner self and actually Hattie’s dumbness allows him to analyse his character and his defects more obviously.

Woody Allen here depicts a comic, but also dramatic situation in which the two characters are disabled people: Emmet is psychologically unbalanced and Hattie, who is speech-impaired, means psychological stability for him. Emmet is the unstable artist who rarely questions his acts whereas Hattie embodies the devoted childlike girlfriend who truly understands his music. They both seem to need each other.
Woody Allen plays on Hattie’s face expressions to depict her feelings and make the audience sensitive to emotions and feelings that are not necessarily conveyed by words.

Technical and artistic interest

In this extract the camera is rather neutral. The shot starts with a first close up on Hattie, then another close up on both Hattie and Emmet. Then, the director uses a medium close up at a normal angle. Hence Emmet and Hattie are framed by the camera in the same way as they are stuck in their relationship, so they cannot break free. When they eventually find a way out and drive away to Hollywood, California, the camera moves back and forth mimicking their aimless trip to the West as well as their carefree attitude during a period of time which seems to be one of the happiest in Emmet’s life.

Point of view adopted by the director

To shoot the scene, Woody Allen chose a typical setting.The setting sun bathes the sea in pastel colours. The romantic atmosphere strongly contrasts with Emmet’s monologue which shows how rude and selfish he can be in his relationship with Hattie. The same technique is applied at the end of the extract when they stop in a beautiful clearing; we can hear Emmet playing some music. The two men are lying lazily on the grass while Hattie is changing the tyre! The comic effect is relevant, but the drama lies in the way Hattie keeps dreaming about a true love relationship with Emmet even if the latter treats her like a nobody.

II. Scene cuts

The passage could be divided into 4 parts:

1. From the beginning to time code 00:19, after Emmet declares “I woke up out of town”.

Here Emmet explains why he left Hattie alone for four days and did not go home with her. He pretends that he had a few drinks with a couple of friends and that he woke up out of town. Hattie is fully aware that he is lying. Although she cannot say a word and the audience does not see her face we can read on Emmet’s face expression that he understands she does not believe his excuses.

2. From time code 00:19 when Emmet says “I don’t have to account to you” to the moment they both look at each other, Emmet says: “ok, …ok?” (Time code 01:26).

Here Emmet fully realises that Hattie does not buy his explanations. He truly admits he is a “lady-killer” unable to get involved in a long and stable relationship with a woman. He explains why he has to leave: he is a true artist who needs to give free rein to his career. Such a dramatic way of presenting the separation to Hattie is counter-balanced by the comically ostensible reasons he gives her for not coming with him to Hollywood: she has responsibilities (“a job”,“underwear, … socks to wash”). He also seems to regard Hattie as a simplistic character who is unable to understand him. He mixes up her handicap with naivety.

3. From time code 01:26 to the moment when Emmet declares: “… if you come, you work!” (Time code 01:59).

This is a paradoxical and comic scene if we consider that he wanted to break off his relationship with Hattie. Seeing that he cannot persuade her to stay, he plays a silly childish joke on her. In that scene, we have a comic reversal of events since Emmet came to Hattie in order to say goodbye, but eventually ends up with deciding to take her along with him anyway. This truly shows two important aspects: Emmet loves Hattie, he needs her because she embodies the person he cannot lie to, and she stands for the stability he needs and is unconsciously looking for.

4. From time code 01:59 to the end of the extract.

In this comic scene we see Hattie changing a tyre and performing a man’s job while Emmet and his friend lie on the grass playing music. Hattie does not seem to mind, she is mesmerized by Emmet’s music and seems to be in heaven. Her smile at the end of the extract is meaningful.

 

III. Class file

For the teacher

The following suggested class file covers the full extract, the study of which should of course be split into several sessions, according to the profile of the class.

 

Culture and context: Learning about music (Charleston)
Grammar and vocabulary in context: Body language and face expressions, sadness, traits of characters (selfishness and devotion), present continuous, causatives, if-clauses
CEFR Skill development: Listening and understanding American English, B2, decoding meaning through body language and face expressions. Speaking: Using appropriate intonation to express surprise / anger / sadness / disappointment, B1 to B2

Material

- Worksheet for pupils
- Wordbank: body language

Activity 1. Anticipating the extract

Play the extract from the beginning and pause when Hattie bends forward looking at Emmet who is smiling at her (Time code 00:19). Have pupils do Task 1. Play this part a second time to enable pupils to complete their answers. It is necessary to ask pupils to imagine what happened just before that scene. They will eventually mention that Emmet Ray left Hattie behind after a concert four days ago. Hattie is upset about that. You can get pupils to compare the way both characters are dressed (plain dress and cloche for Hattie versus fancy evening suit for Emmet, which shows that they are two very different characters).

While collecting the information, make sure to use the vocabulary on body language and face expressions. Pupils should have noticed that both characters are sitting on a bench, near the water, at a pier, in New Jersey, at a seaside resort, on the sea shore. They should have circled alcohol / friends / waking up out of town in Task 1. With the last question, have pupils gradually understand that Hattie is sad and upset.

Misery

Unhappy, wretched, miserable, sad, heart-broken, broken-hearted, heavy-hearted, sorrowful, grief-stricken, sunk in misery
Tears: Weeping, tearful, in tears
Face expressions: to pout, to pull a face.

If pupils have not guessed yet that Hattie is dumb, do not tell them. You may ask pupils what they think is going to happen next before playing the next part.

Activity 2. Understanding the extract: listening and watching

A. Play the next part from time code 00:19 to 01:26 to the moment they both look at each other when Emmet says: “… ok, …ok?”. Play that part twice while pupils perform Task 2. When you collect the information, make sure they have understood that Hattie did not believe his explanations. Emmet cannot lie to her, he speaks about the fact that he is unable to settle for marriage, which is an indirect confession that he was unfaithful to Hattie the previous days.

To answer question 3, focus on Hattie’s face expressions which are particularly meaningful here- pupils can use the vocabulary sheet on face expressions provided- and ask pupils to match each of her face expressions to an emotion.

Make sure pupils understand that Emmet looks and feels superior to Hattie, as he describes himself as a “truly great artist” whereas her sole responsibilities are to “wash underwear and socks”; he depreciates her so as to show her (or prove to himself) that he needs to come first.
The following list of vocabulary may be useful to describe Emmet.

Selfishness
Adjectives: Selfish, egocentric, self-centred, wrapped up in himself, egoistic, self-interested, vain, mean, proud of himself
Verbs: to think only of oneself, to take care of number one, to have only oneself to please, to be a dog in the manger.

When pupils give their opinions, they should contrast Hattie’s and Emmet’s characters using some of the following expressions:

Contrary to / Unlike / as opposed to him, she is still devoted and in love.
Although / despite the fact that she is crying, he goes on depreciating her.
In spite of his being very selfish, she still wants to stay with him.

To answer question 4, elicit hypotheses about the possible reasons why Hattie never speaks - if pupils have not yet realized that Hattie is dumb.

To answer question 5, a suitable title could be: “Saying Goodbye” or “Goodbye, Hattie”, “The End of a Relationship”, “Breaking Up”. Draw pupils’ attention to the different ways of writing titles in English and other languages (capital letters...).

To answer question 6, pupils will have to make a few suppositions: “Emmet is going to stand up and leave”, “Hattie is going to burst into tears”, “Hattie is finally going to speak!” “Perhaps, we can figure out that..., she might beg him not to leave her, she may forgive him, I think she will try to convince him to stay or to take her with him...”

B. Play the next part from time code 01:26 to the moment when Emmet declares: “… if you come, you work!” (Time code 01:59).

Here it is important to have pupils notice that confronted with Hattie’s silence, Emmet thinks she is mentally deficient or silly and does not understand that their relationship is over. He steps into a silly mathematical joke in which he ridicules himself. Remind the pupils that this joke is very commonly played on young children, which once again shows how much Emmet infantilizes Hattie. It also shows that he tries to cheer her up a little. Because of her dumbness he has to answer his own questions in her place and he falls into his own trap suggesting she eventually follow him to Hollywood. What is amazing is that Emmet is really honest towards himself, maybe for the first time in his life. This unexpected turn of events shows that roles are reversed, and without saying a single word Hattie is the dominant figure of the scene, not Emmet. She gets what she wants, i.e. to stay with the man she admires although she knows him to be an unfaithful partner.

Play that part twice and have pupils perform Task 3. Teachers will have to pause first when Emmet says: “… is eleven, you see” and replay the first part, because this is pure comedy. We do not get his point and the way he works up: “10... 9… 8… 7… 6 … is eleven, you see?”. Pupils will have to comment on that in question 1.

Lead them to understand that Emmet is the idiot in the couple. Have them notice Hattie’s reaction (question 2) when she first looks surprised, tries to understand and then turns in on herself. His attempt at making her laugh has failed, he is ridiculous, not she. During the moment of silence when Hattie looks away, pause again, and ask pupils to imagine what is going to happen next.

You may here want to work on the postpositions used with the verb “to look” here:

Literal: To look at, to look away, to look about, to look round, to look down, to look up, to look back,
Figurative: To look down at, to look up to, to look after someone, to look like (a child), to look for him, to look forward to following Emmet, she looks desperate / devastated she looks as if she were...

Then, pupils will be able to give their opinions on Emmet (question 3).
This is when the unexpected turn of events occurs.

With question 4, pupils will have to come up with the sentence: “… if you come, you work!”

Before moving on to the last part of the extract, have pupils imagine what kind of work Hattie will have to do (Housework? cooking? washing the dishes? ironing? etc).
At this point you may introduce infinitive forms.
Example: “He does not want her to come, he expects her to work, to cook, to clean the dishes. He does not want her to remain idle…”

C. From time code 01:59 to the end of the extract On the way to Hollywood.

Here again, the scene is funny since the work Hattie is doing is not at all anything one would expect from a woman. She is the strong character in the scene. They obviously had a flat tyre and Hattie changes the tyre of the car (a man’s job), while Emmet and his friend adopt a very strong chauvinistic attitude.

Lead pupils to be sensitive to the music, a Charleston, typical of the time. The Charleston is a fast and lively dance, and the music matches the movement of the video camera as it follows the car along the country road to California.

Then have pupils perform Task 4. Pause when you see Hattie fixing the tyre. Ask pupils what she is doing and have them react to that (question 2).

They will answer question 3 about the source of the music. If necessary remind them that Emmet is a guitar-player. A second pause on the two men playing the guitar on the grass should lead pupils to notice their chauvinistic attitude towards Hattie. While collecting the information from pupils, make sure they hear the silly excuse Emmet comes up with to justify the fact that he is too lazy to change the tyre himself: “ …you know I can’t risk my hands.”

In order to do that, replay the part once or twice, and ask pupils to write down (question 4) what Emmet says in the extract. Then, let them react.

Correction: “What’s the matter? Nobody said it was gonna be a picnic, you know I can’t risk my hands”. Then freeze the scene when the two men are lying on the grass. Pupils will guess what Hattie’s feelings are. To do so you can have them describe the behaviour of the two men.

Anger and resentment
Anger: (nouns) Indignation, rage, fury, a burst of anger, hate
(adjective) vehement
(phrases) she is out of herself, she can’t stand, she can’t bear
Disgust: Distaste, aversion, disappointment.
(Verbs): To loathe, to hate, to despise.
Misery: See vocabulary above

Show the rest of the scene and Hattie’s true reaction. And ask them to perform Task 5 on “if-clauses”.

When you correct the exercise you can also introduce the structure: “Had I been her, I would not have forgiven Emmet.”

Activity 3. Speaking

Pupils imagine that Hattie is so astounded that a miracle happens: she suddenly recovers her voice during the scene on the bench: They prepare the dialogue with a classmate then they play it in front of the class.

Homework
Each pupil is Woody Allen, the film director. They will have to write down the directions they want to give the actors (Sean Penn, Samantha Morton) before the latter play the scene (Task 6).
Advise them to use modals:

Hattie: You should look away when Emmet plays the joke.
Remember you can’t speak.
Emmet: You must look down at her to make her feel submitted.
Emmet+ Hattie: You will imagine the tension between the two characters.
You want to make her cry.

Make sure pupils use all the prepositions linked to the verb to look (up, down ...), as well as the infinitive forms (see above).

Corrections

See the corrections

Worksheet For Pupils

Print

Task 1
Watch the beginning of the extract very carefully and try to answer the following questions.
1. Place:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Topic: Circle what Emmet Ray is telling Hattie about:
Music / love / lunch / holidays out of town / alcohol / concert / women / friends waking up out of town / walking out of town / waiting for someone in town

3. Hattie’s reaction:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Do you think Hattie believes Emmet’s explanation about why he left her behind four days ago?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Why doesn’t Hattie speak? (Make suppositions)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Task 2
1. Circle the sentences you hear:
“I don’t have to account to you”
“I can’t count on you”
“We are not married”
“I won’t get married”
“I’m not marrying Kay”
“I’m not the marrying kind”
“I can settle”
“I can’t settle”
“I’d buy you some lunch and say goodbye”
“I love you so much and say goodbye”
“I won’t be coming here again, I’m sure at any time”
“I’ll be coming here again, I’m sure, sometime”
“I gotta go”
“I’ve got a go”
“There’s no way you can come with me”
“There’s nowhere you can come with me”
“You’ve got responsibilities”
“I’ve got responsibilities”
“And I’ll be free”
“And you’ll be free”

2. His arguments
Reasons why Hattie cannot come:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………

Reasons why Emmet has to leave:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Compare the way Emmet describes Hattie’s life to his own:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Your reaction:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Why does Hattie never answer Emmet? Circle what you think is the correct answer.
She is astounded / she does not want to speak while eating
She hates him / she is dumb / she is sick

4. Find a title to this part.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. What do you think is going to happen next?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Task 3
Describe Emmet Ray’s gestures and comment upon his abilities to calculate:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Describe Hattie’s reaction during the joke:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Your impression / feelings:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What is the turn of event here?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Task 4
Characters:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What is happening?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Source of the music:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Write down what Emmet Ray says:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Guess Hattie’s feelings:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Task 5
If you were in Hattie’s situation, what would you answer Emmet when he told you he was going to leave you? Write three sentences:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………
………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

If you had been Hattie, what would your reaction to Emmet’s behaviour have been? Write three sentences:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

IV. Additional Activities

For the teacher

Written work and spoken interaction:
Directing and acting out. Tell pupils to work in threes. One is Woody Allen, the other two are the actors. “Woody Allen” will have to write the stage directions for the scene, then he will direct the scene “live”. The two actors ask him questions on what to do, how to move, how to look at each other etc.

Vocabulary exercise:
- Writing entries for words as in a dictionary. This activity is aimed both at lexicon acquisition and syntax practice. Writing a definition for a word will enable pupils to become aware of the necessity to know if a word is countable or not, and will also train them to use relative clauses in definitions.
The activity can be performed by pupils at home or in class, in pair work or group work in order to create their own word bank to anticipate class files or assess the vocabulary of the 3 extracts from Sweet and Lowdown.

- Words about the car.

For pupils

Print

Grammar exercises: If-clauses and Infinitive clauses.

A.

1. Writing and speaking
- You are Woody Allen, the film director, write down the directions you will give the actors (Sean Penn, Samantha Morton) before they play the scene. (Task 6)
Use modals. Describe emotions, looks (the way the characters look and the way they look at each other), gestures, face expressions, movements and intentions.

- Now work with two school-mates: direct the actors in order for them to play the scene. The two actors ask you questions on how to act out the scene (looks, movements, gestures, etc.).

2. Vocabulary: working on definitions
Write your own definitions of the following words or expressions as they would appear in a dictionary. Then write a sentence for each of them.
Dumb / proud / unfaithful / drunk / cloche / settle / underwear / true / spoilt / dope
Example:

Car: (countable noun), cars (pl.). A car is a road vehicle that usually has four wheels and is powered by an engine.

Example: He parked the car about a hundred yards from the gates…

Source: Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary,

Collins Birmingham University International Language Database, 1991

Music: (uncountable noun) The art of putting sounds together so that they produce a pleasant pattern.

Example: One of her granddaughters was having her music lesson.

B. Grammar
1. Connect the two sentences with one or several “if-clauses”.
Example:

Emmet was unfaithful to Hattie. Hattie forgave him.
 If Emmet was / were not unfaithful to Hattie she would forgive him
Or If Emmet had not been unfaithful to Hattie, she would have forgiven him.

1. Emmet left town for four days. He lost his job.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Emmet needs to spare his hands. He cannot change a tyre.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Emmet thinks that Hattie is stupid. He plays a silly mathematical joke on her.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Emmet did not love Hattie. He left her behind.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Hattie cannot speak. She shouts at Emmet.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Infinitive clauses. Rephrase the following sentences.
“I will not stay here.”
Hattie does not want …………………………………………………………………………………………………….....
“I cannot take her with me.”
Emmet does not want …………………………………………………………………………….…………………….....
“She cannot go on crying like that.”
He does not want ……………………………………… …………………………………………………………..........
“You will have to work.”
He wants ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“I’m coming with you.”
She persuades ..............................................................…………………………………………
(let her come)

 

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