Studying The Charge of the Light Brigade at A2 level

If at all possible, you should provide an opportunity for the class to watch the whole film. As it is over two hours long this may be most easily done in sections - with a little time for talking about what happens in each section between showings. You should also allow some time for students to make their own responses to the film. The following lessons refer to particular sequences in the film, based on using the DVD.

Lesson 1: Empire

Show the opening credits 00.00-02.54, without the sound. Discuss with students:

• What image of Britain does this sequence portray?
• List the images shown in the sequence. What industries are shown and what products are being brought to Britain, from where?
• Why do you think the filmmaker has selected the images he has? Can you think of suitable images he has not shown?
• How is Britain shown as 'the world's policeman'?
• How is the origin of the Crimean War portrayed? Who is at fault?
• None of the main protagonists - France, Turkey, Russia - are part of the British Empire, so why is Britain going to war in the Crimea?

Show the opening credits again, this time with the sound. Then discuss:

• What image of Britain do you get now?
• What impact does the soundtrack have? How has it altered your impression of Britain in 1854?
• What does the opening sequence lead you to expect in the film? Will it support or criticise the British establishment in Victorian times?

• Why do you think the producer decided to use animation in the opening credits? Are they better than images? Are they effective at portraying the nature of Victorian Britain?

Lesson 2: 'Two Nations'

The first 24 minutes of the film is set in London, and focuses on recruits - troopers and officers - and the life of officers. Watch this part of the film and ask students to identify

• How the life of 'ordinary' people is portrayed
• What the army officers think of them
• How the life of officers is portrayed, both in their private life and in their army life.

Then discuss:

• How does the film represent Britain as 'two nations'?
• Is the film more sympathetic to troopers or officers? How does the director reveal his point of view?
• The filmmaker focuses on the upper classes. What is the significance of this? Are they more interesting as history?
• With only this information to go on, would you agree with Disraeli that Victorian Britain was two nations?
• Does the film support what you already know about Victorian Britain? What other evidence would you need to come to a definite conclusion?

Lesson 3: The army

Show the short sequence: 10.20 - 10.54 (34 seconds). Here the recruiting sergeant is describing the 11 th Hussars and the way the company of soldiers is run: 'our officers is (sic) whisperers….' He makes out that life in the army is ideal. Does the film support this?

• Are the officers 'whisperers'? What does he mean by 'whisperers'? What is the recruiting sergeant like - does his appearance/character/ personality in anyway contradict his assertion about army life - or lead us to suspect that all is not as he portrays it?

Ask students to recall how the army is represented in the rest of the film:

• How does someone become an officer? How does someone become a commanding officer? Is promotion on merit? Are the officers competent?
• How does the film represent the army? To what extent do you think this is an accurate portrayal? To what extent do you think it represents a particular point of view?
• Why is Captain Nolan despised so much? Is it because he has written a book of cavalry tactics? Do the other officers feel threatened because he knows too much? How is this represented in the film?

• The film represents a number of different incidents between Lord Cardigan and his officers, all of whom are portrayed as Captain Nolan. Why do you think the film places Captain Nolan in all these situations? Is there a symbolic significance to this? Does it undermine the validity of the film?

• Why is discipline so harsh? For example, Cardigan has the soldier found asleep on picket duty flogged. Why does he then give him a guinea?
• 'Lions led by donkeys' is a phrase often used to describe the British army in World War I. From what you have seen on the film, do you think it applies here in the Crimea?

Lesson 4: The Charge of the Light Brigade

Read students the description of the Charge from Tennyson's famous poem [www.rickard.karoo.net/articles/battles_lightbrigade.html], including the line, in verse 2, 'someone had blunder'd'. The poem was written in December 1854, shortly after reports of the Charge appeared in the Times newspaper. Discuss comparisons between the poem and the film:

• Does the film suggest 'someone had blunder'd'? How does it suggest this?
• How similar is the film to Tennyson's poem in its representation of the battle? How different?
• Tennyson only discovered what happened at second hand, via the newspaper. Does this mean his poem is of no use to us as evidence?
• William Russell, the war correspondent of the Times, watched the charge from the heights above the valley. He also interviewed some of the survivors straight after the charge. Students could use the web references below to research Russell's account of the battle. Do the interviews by Russell make his account reliable evidence? How does the film compare to his account of the battle?
• What further information do you need to know to come to a conclusion?

Lesson 5: Film interpretations of the Charge of the Light Brigade - How do views of an event change over time?

Show the silent version of The Charge of the Light Brigade, made in 1912. Discuss with students:

• Does the 1912 version tell the same story of events as the version made in 1968?
• The silent version uses lines from Tennyson's poem as captions for the action. Does this make the film more reliable as an interpretation of events, or less than the 1968 version?

Ask students to make a list of the similarities and the main differences between the two film versions. Then discuss:

• Which film do you prefer? Why?
• To what extent does the use of colour film, rather than black and white, alter our perspective on events?
• How has filmmaking changed between 1912 and 1968? Do the better techniques make a better film historically?

Students have now seen at least three different versions of the story - and probably more if they have searched the internet. Discuss:

• Does knowing that there are various interpretations of an event make it easier or harder to decide what actually happened?
• How do you decide what happened at Balaklava?

Lesson 6: Conclusion -The significance of the charge of the Light Brigade today

Point out to students that it is 150 years since the charge of the Light Brigade. Yet it is still widely remembered today. There are books, exhibitions, newspaper articles and commemorations. Discuss:

• Why is this? Especially if it was a blunder?
• Did the events in the Crimea lead to wider reforms in the British Army?
• Were there changes in the way troops were looked after?
• Did officers become more competent?
• Why do we seem to commemorate 'glorious defeats'? (Dunkirk is an obvious example, but you should be able to think of others too.)