I. The film begins with William’s description of his neighbourhood.
Some of the locations are real.
Of course, I've seen her films and
always thought she was, well,
fabulous -- but, you know,
million miles from the world I live
in. Which is here -- Notting Hill
-- not a bad place to be...
There's the market on weekdays,
selling every fruit and vegetable
known to man...
The tattoo parlour -- with a guy
outside who got drunk and now can't
remember why he chose 'I Love Ken'...
Notting Hill location: the guy who got the ‘I love Ken’ tattoo: Saints Tattoo Parlour, 201 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11
The racial hair-dressers where
everyone comes out looking like the
Cookie Monster, whether they like
it or not...
Then suddenly it's the weekend, and
from break of day, hundreds of stalls
appears out of nowhere, filling
Portobello Road right up to Notting
Hill Gate...
... and thousands of people buy
millions of antiques, some genuine...
... and some not so genuine.
And what's great is that lots of
friends have ended up in this part of
London -- that's Tony, architect
turned chef, who recently invested
all the money he ever earned in a new
restaurant...
Notting Hill location: the failed restaurant of William’s friend, Tony: Portfolio, on the corner of Golborne Road and Bevington Road, London W10
So this is where I spend my days
and years -- in this small village in
the middle of a city -- in a house
with a blue door that my wife and I
bought together... before she left
me for a man who looked like Harrison
Ford, only even handsomer..
Notting Hill location: the ‘blue door’ – William Thacker’s flat, blue again: 280 Westbourne Park Road, Notting Hill, London W11
Notting Hill location: William Thacker bumps into Anna Scott on the corner: Westbourne Park Road at Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11
And so it was just another hopeless
Wednesday, as I set off through the
market to work, little suspecting
that this was the day which would
change my life forever. This is
work, by the way, my little travel
book shop...
A small unpretentious store... named 'The Travel Book Co.'
... which, well, sells travel books
-- and, to be frank with you, doesn't
always sell many of those.
Notting Hill location: Hugh Grant’s ‘travel bookshop’: Notting Hill, 142 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11
Notting Hill location: the birthday party: 91 Lansdowne Road, Notting Hill, London W11
Notting Hill location: Anna Scott stays at the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly, London
Notting Hill location: William proposes at the press conference: Savoy Hotel, 1 Savoy Hill, the Strand, London WC2
ANNA
What's in there?
WILLIAM
Gardens. All these streets round
here have these mysterious communal
gardens in the middle of them.
They're like little villages.
ANNA
Let's go in.
WILLIAM
Ah no -- that's the point -- they're
private villages -- only the people
who live round the edges are allowed
in.
ANNA
You abide by rules like that?
Notting Hill location: sneaking into the communal gardens: Rosmead Gardens, Rosmead Road, London W11
'For June, who loved this garden --
from Joseph who always sat beside
her.'
Did you know before about memorial benches?
II. What is the film genre?
III. Conversaion topics:
- Have you ever had a brief meeting with a stranger that you couldn’t forget? What was the exchange? Where did it happen?
- If you could meet a famous person, who would it be? Why? Who is your favourite star?
- If you could meet a famous person, what would you say to him or her?
- Would you like to be famous? Why or why not? Does fame bring happiness? Is there a downside to being famous? If so, what is it?
- Why do you think people today are so interested in famous people?
- Did you like the film? Why (not)?
- Do you like the way the movie ends? Why (not)?
IV. There are some colloquial and slang words in the movie (script). Let’s comment on them!
V. And finally, a link to the Horse & Hound magazine.