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American Friendsdirected by Tristram Powell, United Kingdom, 1991 genre: Drama / Comedy This film features Michael Palin, Alfred Molina, Trini Alvarado and Connie Booth. It involves North American (USA) and British cultures. The film is set in 1861, and the story is based on the travel diaries of an Oxford professor who was the great-grandfather of the film's author (and one of its principal actors) Michael Palin. The main character is Francis Ashby, a 46-year-old senior Oxford don who is on holiday in the Alps. There he meets two holidaying American women, Caroline and her companion Elinor. Elinor is an 18-year-old Irish- American orphan who Caroline adopted when she was 5. Both women are attracted to Ashby, who enjoys their company but particularly Elinor's. Back at Oxford the sudden appearance of the two women causes a lot of trouble and rumours since women were forbidden to enter the colleges and professors were required to stay unmarried. Moreover, Ashby is about to become the president of his college, and as Caroline and Elinor don't respect the university customs his reputation and candidature are both endangered. Ashby's well-ordered life is turned upside down. When Caroline asks Ashby to become her husband, he rejects her. Meanwhile, Elinor feels neglected and gets pregnant by Ashby's rival, Oliver Syme. As a consequence, Ashby abandons his candidature for the presidency. He opens his heart to love and decides to start a new life with Elinor in Switzerland. Oliver Syme becomes the president of the college and Caroline returns to America. The following scenes showing aspects of intercultural matters have been analysed:
select another entry analysed by Adriana Opitz (U. of Hildesheim, Germany), Magdalena Grabowski (U. of Hildesheim, Germany) and Ariane Moser (U. of Hildesheim, Germany) |