Reflecting on a Movie

We would like to offer this conversation for people to use with colleagues, friends and family to reflect on significant movies.

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The Situation
A goes out to see a movie, and plans to talk about it over drinks afterwards.

Rational Objective
To pool individuals' experience of the film

Experiential Aim
To have fun probing the meaning of the movie

The Beginning Point
The concrete beginning point for this conversation is a movie that a group has seen together.  The focus of the conversation is on the story itself, because it is not a review of the acting and production. For example, it is important to use the names of the characters in the story rather than the names of the actors.

The Conversation

Opening

You and I know what the standard movie conversations go like:

• "I liked it. Did you?"
• "No, I didn't like it at all. I hate that actress."

Those are significant statements about the movie, but a good movie conversation can go a long way past likes and dislikes. So, for this conversation, let's just sit back, munch some popcorn and let our minds wander back over the whole movie.

Objective Questions

• What scenes in the movie do we remember?
• Outdoor scenes? Indoor scenes?
• What objects do you remember?
• What noises or sounds do you remember in the movie?
• Who were the main characters?
• What were some of the lines of dialogue?
• What things in the movie did you see as symbols?

Reflective Questions

• Who did you like?
• Who did you hate?
• Where did you see emotion on the screen?
• Where did you experience emotion in yourself?
• What was your mood at the end of the movie?
• Which character did you identify with?
• Who did you really identify with that you didn't want to identify with?

Interpretive Questions

• What was the main character’s struggle?
• How did that character deal with that struggle?
• What was the movie all about really?

Decisional Questions

• Where do you see the dynamics in this movie going on in your life?
• What do you take with you from this experience?
• What would be your title for this movie?

Closing

Well that was some movie. Isn't it interesting how a movie can get us talking about our lives?

Hints
You might context the "who did you really identify with" question by saying something like, "Sometimes our first answer to this question is not our real answer."

The question, "Where do you see this movie going on in your life?" is the key to the whole conversation. If you get only flippant answers to this question, you will probably have to go around the room on it, but do this very nonchalantly, otherwise it will seem you are punishing people for flippancy.

Other Applications
After a group has been to a play, ballet, or symphony orchestra performance, a similar conversation can be used. Questions would need to reflect the specific experience - words, movements or sounds.

This conversation is adapted from a conversation in "The Art of Focused Conversation" by Brian Stanfield. It has over 100 sample conversations and is available in the ICA Bookstore.