On Wednesday, April 9, the English Language Centre (ELC) hosted a Spring Movie Night event in the American Corner of the UM library
(http://library.umac.mo/ac/index.html).  

The movie shown was Black Swan (2010), an award-winning psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Survey data from previous “movie nights” hosted by the ELC indicated a strong interest in the horror film genre, so this film was chosen partially in response to that data (i.e., in response to students’ preferences).

The film was quite intense, and indeed very psychologically thrilling, making it an exciting experience for the attendees (including the host – ELC Teaching Fellow Kerry Pusey). It was also no doubt a challenging experience for some attendees who had never watched a full movie in English with only English subtitles. As the host pointed out, watching movies in English is an excellent way to improve one’s listening fluency, and can serve as a “lens” into various aspects of culture as well. It is hoped that those in attendance appreciated these language and culture-learning aspects of viewing the film, and has encouraged students to watch more films in English.