IELTS Cue Cards – Favorite movie

Describe your favorite movie..
You should say:

What is the name of the movie/ film?
What is the theme of the movie/ film?
Why do you like it?

And describe the story of the movie in brief.

Follow-up Questions

  • Describe a war movie you like.
  • What’s the difference between the movies or your country and Hollywood movies?
  • What do you think of the violent films?
  • Why movies need computer techniques? Any example of movies using computer techniques?
  • Which parts of a movie are the most important and how to improve it?

Possible answer the above speaking cue cards

The name of my favorite movie is ‘Casablanca’ which was directed by Michael Curtiz. It was released in 1943 and the story was adopted from a stage-play named ‘Everybody comes to Ricks’. The movie starred Humphery Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and was made in the USA. It was a romantic drama film and the storyline was set during the World War II.

It focuses on a man torn between love and virtue. In 1941 American expatriate Rick who professed to be neutral by all means met his former lover Ilsa in his nightclub and gambling den. She was accompanied by her husband, Laszlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance Leader. They needed a letter to escape to America, where he can continue his work against Nazis. German Major came to Casablanca to see that Laszlo does not succeed. One night Ilsa confronted Rich in the deserted cafe and asked for the letter. She threatened him with a gun for the letter and later on confessed that she still loves him. Rick’s bitterness dissolved learning that IIsa was married to Laszlo before even their relationship began. When Rick and IIsa planned to fly together, she could not do so because all of a sudden she found that her husband was still alive and needed her badly to recover. Hearing the story Rick calmed down and agreed to give the letter to Laszlo so that he can fly to America safely. They would take a different path to fly away together. But finally, Rick let IIsa and Laszlo fly to America which surprised IIsa very much.

In 1989, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry a being deemed ‘Culturally’, ‘Historically’ and ‘Aesthetically’ significant. It is the 2nd best movie of all time based on AFI’s 100 best movies of all time.

I’ve seen the movie more than 2-3 times. The story is excellent, the casting, plot, acting, dialogues and all other aspects of the movie are superb. The movie deeply touched me and became the most favourite movie I have ever seen.

Preparation Tips for this cue card topic:

As part of your preparation for this cue card chose a movie that was based on real war and has historic value and was adopted from a book. Doing so you would be able to answer the following cue cards as well:

  1. Describe a movie that was made based on a real event.
  2. Describe a movie that created based on a historic event.
  3. Describe a war movie you have watched.
  4. Talk about a film which was adapted from a book.
  5. Talk about a critically acclaimed film you that you watched.
  6. Describe the best film you saw this year.

Following are some of such Hollywood movies/ films that you can describe. To pick such movie names and their details those were made in your own country, Google it.

Movies based on real events:

Empire State
Act of Valor
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Devil’s Double
The Social Network
Fair Game
Public Enemies
The Killing of John Lennon
A Beautiful Mind

Movies based on real event and War:

Emperor
Everyman’s War
Valkyrie
Hurt Locker
The Pianist
Behind Enemy Lines

Movies based on Books:

The Motorcycle Diaries
Twilight
Stardust
Pride and prejudice
The Godfather
Schindler’s List
The bridge on the river Kwai
Scarface

How to answer this cue card topic?

  1. Talk about a movie that you have watched as this would help you describing the story of the movie.
  2. You should know the names of the main actor, actress, genre, producer and director of the movie.
  3. Describe the story in brief. Do not start describing the details of the story from the beginning as you will run out of time before finishing the whole story.
  4. Mention some of the following reasons for the question ‘Why you liked it”
  • This is a critically acclaimed movie.
  • The story line is touchy and has good morality.
  • The movie was based on a real story.
  • The story depicts a historic events/ national events/ real life issue.
  • I enjoyed the acting and story of the movie.
  • The outstanding performance by an actor/ actress.
  • The movie has lots of special effect/ actions that you enjoyed.
  • It is one of the best movies based on some reliable ratings.
  • It was recommended by a friend/ family member/ teacher
  • The story reveals a fact that touched you.

Note that a movie and a film indicate the same thing. ‘Film’ is used in British English whereas both words are used in American English. So do not get confused if the cue card asks you to talk about a film while you consider it as ‘Movie’.

Related IELTS Resources

Take a practice test to find out what is your current weakness in terms of IELTS scale and allow more time to improve your weak spots. The following IELTS resources will help you to develop your skills faster:

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