In desert and wilderness Activities

IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS

Poland, 1973

MAIN SUBJECTS OF THE FILM:

SECONDARY SUBJECTS OF THE FILM:

Friendship, trust, devotion — various aspects of relationships between the film characters
Portrait of the Arabic world: people, religion and customs
African flora and fauna as a participant and witnesses of the film events
Patriotism and fight for freedom, i.e. pancontinental values
The influence of history and wars on the fate of nations, peoples and countries

00:00 – 06:25

New life after the escape

01:08:30 – 01:20:45

Hunting slaves

QUESTIONS FOR GENERAL DISCUSSION:

What genre conventions are used in the film? Which of them is the most important?
What means of expression are used by the director to highlight and describe the African nature? What is its function?
How do the relationships between the white people (Tarkowski, Rowlinson, their children, the female guardian) and the local population develop?
Are the Muslims and the black people presented as likeable characters?
How do the children manage to survive in such extreme conditions?
What traits of character distinguish Staś from Nel? How do the relationship between the children develop?
What rituals of the black people of Africa do we witness? How are they different from our traditions?
Why does Staś help the elephant, the traveller and one of the African tribes? What traits of character can you notice in Staś?
Is the children’s behaviour different from the behaviour of other characters? Are Staś and Nel children or “little big heroes”?

QUESTIONS CONCERNING INDIVIDUAL SCENES:

Scene 1

Scene 2

What differences do you notice between the black tribes and the Muslims? Why are the former an easy prey?
How does the film depict and emphasize their defeat? What cinematographic means of expression are used?
What traits of character does Staś demonstrate when he saves the Nasibu tribe?
Why does he decide to help them?

1st part of the classes: GEOGRAPHY

Students are divided into three groups and asked to note down the following while watching the film:
a) animals appearing in the film,
b) plants appearing in the film,
c) describing the land topography in connection with the changing climatic zones.
The lesson is started with working in the previously-created subgroups. Using a geographical atlas, e.g. an atlas of plants and animals, dictionaries and encyclopaedic compendia of geographical knowledge, the students try to identify and name African animals, plants or regions.
The three groups work together. Using their newly-acquired knowledge, e.g. about the natural habitats of elephants or lions, or names of cities and other places they learnt from the film (e.g. Port Said, Khartoum), they draw the route of Staś and Nel’s journey on a physical map.
Then they try to connect the geographical locations with the events.

PART II Literature

The group, with the teacher’s support, discuss the symbolic character of road and journey. The students’ associations are written down in the form of a diagram. It can be a tree diagram or two sets of items (depending on the course of the associative process).
The teacher provides a definition and characteristics of a road movie.
The students are divided into two groups and, using the map created during the previous lesson, they:
a) divide Staś and Nel’s adventures into positive (meeting the elephant and the traveller) and negative ones (fire, kidnapping, destruction of the African village) [GROUP I]
b) point out those events in the film that make the young characters more mature and grown-up.
The students are assigned a homework: writing a short essay on the following subject: The meaning of the title In Desert and Wilderness