TESLA’2020

Tesla is a 2020 American biographical drama film written and directed by Michael Almereyda. It

stars Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla. Eve Hewson, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jim Gaffigan, and Kyle
MacLachlan also star. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January
27, 2020, and was released in selected theaters and via Premium VOD on August 21, 2020,
by IFC Films.
Tesla filed more than 300 patents during his 86 years of life, and his inventions helped pave the
way for alternating current (AC), electric motors, radios, fluorescent lights, lasers, and remote
controls, among many other things.
In 1895, he designed the first hydroelectric power plant in the Falls, a major victory for alternating
current. A statue was later erected on Goat Island in Tesla's honor.

№ Word Definition Translation Example

1.
Drawer
2.
Subdued
3.
Lantern
4.
Human flesh
5.
To measure up
6.
Incapable
7.
To comb hair
8.
Alternating
current
9.
Precocious
10.
Withdrawn
11.
Congestion of the
brain
12.
Workshop
13.
To swindle
14.
To fall into the
abyss of poverty
15.
Ditch digger
16.
lawnmower
17.
Morse code
18.
To know sb’s
sideways
19.
Shoe polish
20.
Voltage
21.
Endorsement
22.
Patent office
23.
Omnibus patent
24.
Creature of habit
25.
To linger
26.
Guts
27.
To commence
28.
Imbecilic
adventure
29.
To electrocute
30.
Capital
punishment
31.
Carbonized
32.
Mummified
33.
To evaporate
34.
Malignant force
 35.
To be in one’s
care
36.
Gruesome
37.
Rigid
38.
Stopwatch
39.
To indulge
40.
Numbers&Object
s
41.
To take the
liberty
42.
Sewing machine
43.
L’ets reset the
clocks
44.
Jeopardy
45.
Sole topic
46.
Unattainability
47.
Iron ore
48.
Mining concern
49.
Martian
50.
Alien life
51.

52.

53.

Part 1. Written Discussion

1. Do you remember, what was the name of a cat mentioned in the film?
_______________________________________________
 2. To what animal, the nature was compared in the beginning of the film?
________________________________________________
3. What is the surname of Tesla’s assistant? __________________
4. What is the full name of Edison’s company? ________________
____________________________________________________
5. What two colours are common for American surnames?
_____________________________________________________
6. What other surname, which is not really common, can be used among
Americans? _____________________________________
7. Was Tesla a member of AIEE? ____________________________
8. What modern gadget was used by Edison in the film?
______________________________________________________
9. In what countries did Edison have the power stations? __________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Part 2. Characters
Give the description of each character. It’s preferable if you use active
vocabulary from unit and film.
Nikola Tesla

Thomas Edison
Anne Morgan

George
Westinghouse

Szigeti

William
Kemmler
J.P. Morgan

Part 3. Opinions
Give your opinion on the following quotes or explain them according to the film
plot. Decide to which state, person, situation does the quote refer?:
1. ‘Edison talks to everyone, but is incapable of listening. Nothing grows in
the shadow of an Oak.’ _________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
______________________________
2. ‘Edison spends money faster than he makes it.’______________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________
3. ‘I now have the pleasure of introducing you to a novel system of electrical
transformation and distribution of energy by means of alternate currents.
 My notice was rather brief, so I would be very much gratified if the little
work I’ve done meets with your approval.’ _________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
4. ‘Never eat anything bigger than your head.’_________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
5. ‘All the moisture in his body would evaporate.’ _____________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

6. ‘You remind me my cat.’______________________________________

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
7. ‘The universe is the machine’:___________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
8. ‘Noone knows what electricity is. Every human being is an engine geared
to the wheel work of the universe.’: _______________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
9. ‘I believe that I may be the first person who has ever heard the sound of
one planet greeting another.’:____________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
10.‘Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than
lucking.’: __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________

Part 4. Multiple Choice

1.  Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smijlan, Croatia, but what year did he go to
America?
a. 1885
b. 1884
c. 1886
2. Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in what is now which country?
a. Croatia
b. Hungary
c. Serbia
3.  Tesla emigrated to the United States in 1884. There he found work with what
famous American individual?
a. Brown
b. Westinghouse
c. Edison
4.  What natural wonder did Tesla harness to power New York City?
a. Niagara
b. Pyramids
c. Eiffel Tower
5. When was Nikola Tesla born?
a. 10 June, 1865
b. 10 July, 1856
c. 10 May, 1857
6. Where was Nikola Tesla born?
a. In the village Smiljan, Lika county, in the Austrian Empire (present day
Croatia)
 b. In the village Avalan, Lika county, in the Austrian Empire (present day
Croatia)
c. In the village Darhaw, Lika county, in the Austrian Empire (present day
Croatia)
7. He had to work as a what?
a. Cook
b. Ditch digger
c. Electrician

Part 5. Make a description

Describe the pictures according to the scenes from film: