Oscar et la Dame Rose

A complete French lesson plan for Oscar et la Dame Rose — ready to open and teach.

Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt's 2009 adaptation follows Oscar, a ten-year-old boy dying of cancer who starts writing letters to God at the urging of a no-nonsense former wrestling champion who visits sick children. Each letter covers one imaginary day of his life — ten days each lasting ten years. It is a film about what we do with the time we have, and it manages to be both devastating and funny, which is a harder thing to pull off than most filmmakers attempt.

Good films have natural moments — a powerful scene, a cultural encounter, a shift in the story — where the language and meaning come together. This plan identifies those moments in Oscar et la Dame Rose and builds a lesson around each one. For every scene, you get vocabulary and cultural notes, comprehension activities, and communicative tasks your students can work through in class or independently. A pre-film warm-up gets them ready before the first screening.

Everything is included: the teacher's guide, student worksheets in French, and an answer key.

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📅 Teach it when it counts

• All Saints / Toussaint (November 1): Death, meaning, and memory — French cultural attitudes toward mortality surface throughout the film.
• Epistolary forms unit: Oscar's letters to God make this ideal for teaching formal and informal written French registers.
• Compassion / empathy discussions: The film builds the vocabulary for talking about care, dignity, and presence.

Language: French | Director: Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt | Year: 2009
Level: Intermediate | Format: Downloadable PDF — instant delivery

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