Az emberek nem tudnak humor nélkül élni, valami fel kell, hogy dobja a szürke hétköznapokat. S a humor egyik legismertebb nagykövete a mozivásznon egy alacsony, nem éppen szívtipró külsejű, szemüveges fazon, akit sokan csak Mesternek hívnak. A legtöbben persze Woody Allen néven ismerjük. Legyen szó szerelemről, művészetről vagy az élet legegyszerűbb dolgairól, a fantasztikus humorral megáldott színész-rendező legendának mindenre van néhány humoros mondata. Ebben a leckében ő osztja meg velünk a legnagyobb bölcsességeit.
People cannot live without humour, it is essential for life. There is no culture, no language, there is nothing without humour. Of course there are several types of humour: there is black, absurd, sarcastic, ironic, and there is a special type of humour – personally, my favourite –, the one that is represented by Woody Allen. He is a character difficult to categorize and describe. He is a born New Yorker, a 100% American, a Jew, a screenwriter, an actor, a jazz-musician, an author, a director, and above all: he is a comedian. His world-famous quotes are known by nearly everyone; let’s explore his wits and most famous sentences together.
1. This is the opening scene of Annie Hall, one of Woody Allen’s most famous comedies. Let’s watch it together. Try to fill in the missing words.
There's an old joke - um... two 1.______ women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small 2,______." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and 3.______, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. The... the other important joke, for me, is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I think it 4.______ originally in Freud's "Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious," and it goes like this - I'm 5.______ - um, "I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member." That's the key joke of my 6.______ life, in terms of my 7.______ with women.
Key
- 1. elderly
- 2. portions
- 3. suffering
- 4. appears
- 5. paraphrasing
- 6. adult
- 7. relationships
2. Here comes a collection of Woody Allen’s most famous or humorous quotes. Give each of them a score from 1 (least funny or thoughtful) to 5 (very funny or thoughtful). Add up your points and find out whether you are a Woody Allen fan, or he is not your type when it comes to humour.
In my house I'm the boss, my wife is just the decision maker.
Some guy hit my fender, and I told him, 'Be fruitful and multiply,' but not in those words.
What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
When I was kidnapped, my parents snapped into action. They rented out my room.
Basically my wife was immature. I'd be at home in the bath and she'd come in and sink my boats.
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.
Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night.
I'm not afraid to die; I just don't want to be there when it happens.
If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.
My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.
Vocabulary
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| essential | szükséges |
| represent | képvisel |
| describe | leír, körülír |
| Jew | zsidó |
| author | író |
| screenwriter | forgatókönyvíró |
| quote | idézet |
| world-famous | világhírű |
| wit | tréfa, szellemesség |
| autobiography | önéletrajz |
| misery | szerencsétlenség |
| suffering | szenvedés |
| decision maker | döntéshozó |
| fender | sárhányó |
| be fruitful | légy termékeny |
| multiply | sokasodik |
| overpay | túlfizet |
| kidnap | elrabol |
| snap into action | akcióba lép |
| rent out | kiadni |
| achieve | elér vmit (pl. az életben) |
| immortality | halhatatlanság |
| my one regret is... | egy dolgot sajnálok... |
0 – 15: You are not fond of Woody Allen’s humour. Try something else, maybe a little Monty Python, Mr. Bean, or The Pink Panther will suit you better.
16 – 35: You have to give a chance to Woody. You liked most of his quotes, so you had better watch more of his comedies or other works and deepen your knowledge of him.
36 – 50: I don’t have to say anything: You are a real Woody Allen fan; you will have no problem with the following exercise.
3. Here comes the last challenge: a quiz about Woody Allen. Are you a big fan of him? You don’t know a single fact about him? It is time to find out!
1. At age 17, he legally changed his name to Heywood Allen (Woody Allen). What is his original name?
- a. Allen Stewart Konigsberg
- b. Heywood Smith
- c. Allen Woodlander
2. Woody Allen is a born talent. Not only he has directed and written huge number of movies, he also plays on an instrument on a professional level. Which one is that?
- a. guitar
- b. drums
- c. clarinet
3. In the last scene of his world-famous comedy ’Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex’ Woody wears a funny costume. What is it?
- a. It is a spermium costume
- b. It is a sheep costume
- c. It is in a brain costume
4. Which of the following Woody Allen movies hasn’t won the BAFTA Best Film award?
- a. Manhattan
- b. Cassandra’s dream
- c. Annie Hall
5. Woody Allen’s mother died when she was 96 years old. How old was Woody’s father when he died?
- a. 45
- b. 28
- c. 101
Key
1. a
2. c
3. a
4. b
5. c
