Multilingualism and Movies: Delving Deep

In my previous post, I discussed how multilingualism in a highly-acclaimed movie can improve immersion. There is also another angle I would like to explore, which is the narrative of the film itself. Clearly, director Tarantino had his intention in writing this script. I will attempt to examine the rationale behind his intent and how it has affected the narrative of the film.

The first thing to address, is the cast. Each actor was hand-picked by Tarantino for this movie for a reason; their ability to speak the native languages employed in his script, notably German. But why was this so important to the extend that Tarantino himself insisted on interviewing the potential cast members? The answer lies in the use of the language itself. Tones, accents, softness, harshness, the elements of speech and mood itself is sometimes a necessity in the use of a language. An excellent example is the film's leading antagonist, played by Christopher Waltz in the role of Colonel Hans Landa. His use of 4 different languages throughout the duration of the film had many such elements whereby the tone of the language and how he directs it creates the core character for Colonel Landa.
For example, in the opening sequence we see him speaking in English and French. I observed how articulate he was, slow and steady. Almost like how one would recite a poem or verse. This gives a feeling of formality, an almost gentleman-like demeanor. In sharp contrast to his later use of German when he directs the merciless order to exterminate a Jewish family, we can observe the change in tone, the harshness of his words, the aggression he directs with his words into action. This greatly affects the very outlook of his character and brings about the sense of contempt that compels the audience to immediately recognize him as the villain and convey feelings of anger and amazement.

Not only does this push the narrative, it also allows the user to relate on a very personal level, to allow audiences to FEEL the mood of the film. The grimness and grittiness of it all will leave a mark on the mentality of audiences, further driving home the whole point of the plot. The use of language in dialogue to move a narrative uses what Chion describes as Vococentrism; “The privilege of the voice over all the other sonic elements in audiovisual media” ^{[6 p.5]}. And this clearly does the trick. Within the opening sequence which roughly spans about 15 minutes of movie run-time, the film has already successfully brought forth its antagonist and fully-painted his canvas as a malicious, cold-hearted and manipulative character. The impact this brings on the film itself is massive, as the audience now knows what to expect, every action of said character would prove himself, again and again, a mesmerizing dance between the dialogue and the action behind it.

I plan to do further research on the cast film and their performance with the use of language being key to the film's success. 

Harvard References:

Chion, M. (2003) Film, a Sound Art. USA, Columbia University Press

IMDB. (2009) Inglourious Basterds [Internet]. Internet Movie Database. Available from: <http://www.imdb.com> [Accessed: 15/06/16].