Multilingualism and Movies: Conclusion

To conclude my examination on how communicative technology and/or multilingualism was used in a highly-acclaimed film, namely the Inglourious Basterds film, I will attempt to summarize the discussion as a whole and use the content to support the importance of aforementioned methods. 

Director Tarantino and his audio crew clearly took the time to establish the importance of multilingualism and the use of communicative technology in this film in evoking the senses of it's viewers while effectively utilizing masterful sound directing in pushing the narrative of the film. In a book by Alec Nisbett entitled The Sound Studio, states “When combined with picture…film sound should always support, occasionally counterpoint and rarely dominate; its most effective role is to extend, strengthen and more closely define the information that comes first through vision” ^[29].   

In this film, it clearly shows through it's use of sound effects and language. It is safe to conclude that both were used extensively and masterfully in the film, either in the immersion of it, or in the narrative of the plot. The idea of conveying emotion and subtle but crucial plot points through the use of sound alongside the visuals of the film is both effective and evocative. While there are many other elements to this film that can be written and theorized about, our subject on it's use of sound and language is concluded. Both were used, and used well. Very well.

Harvard Referencing

Nisbett, A. (2003) The Sound Studio. Oxford, Focal Press p.339. 

Multilingualism and Movies: Delving Deeper

In this post, I will continue the examination on the movie; Inglourious Basterds. In this part, we will address the use of communication technology in the film. To start with, communication technology encompasses a great many things, and this case audio and sound effects (SFX). With this in mind, I would like to examine just how the audio and sound used in Inglourious Basterds helped enforce it's narrative alongside multilingualism, a topic I already covered in my previous post. Throughout the film, there has been numerous instances which has given us good examples of how Inglourious Basterds utilizes sound effects like gunshots, shells firing/exploding, whip-cracking and etc to either invoke realization of the plot or as connecting dots behind key scenes in the film to the audience.

 For instance, one of the most provocative scenes in the movie; the execution of the Jews in the beginning of the film. When the orders were given for the shooting, we can see or rather, hear instead the sounds of bullets fired and the tearing of the floorboards as the Dreyfus family was mercilessly wiped out. Even though there was no visual violence in that scene, the audience is able to experience a whole new sense of horror as the scene was made chillingly clear by the sounds of bullets delivering death to its victims. Not only does this provide the audience a different perspective of the same scenario, it was also a clever use of the SFX in the film.

Another scenario I would like to bring up concerns my second claim; that the SFX was used in connecting plot points within the film. For this, we will examine the scenario in Chapter 4 of the film, where Stiglitz faces Major Hellstrom and the film gives a flashback to Stiglitz's torture. The flashback shows Stiglitz being brutally whipped by an unseen individual. Later when the film resumes it's present course after the flashback ends, Hellstrom taps Stiglitz to provoke a response from Stiglitz on the game they were playing. The sounds used for the tap was the same sound heard during the whipping. This implied that Hellstrom himself was responsible for delivering the torture and this scene invokes clarity to the audience. Chion defines this technique; “synchresis consists in perceiving the concomitance of a discrete sound event and a discrete visual event as a single phenomenon” ^{[13 p.492]}. The action of tapping Stiglitz and the whipping sound that followed may not be related, but it will be recognized as the same event regardless. 

I will conclude my examination and discussion on this topic in my next post.

Harvard References:

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

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]. 

Multilingualism and Movies: Inglorious Basterds

After some advice for my choice of movies, I decided to turn-tail from Mission Impossible to make a throughout examination of another highly acclaimed movie; Inglourious Basterds. I chose this as the new subject of interest due to it's diversity of language and the impact it brings considering it's unusual approach; only 30% of the film contains spoken English, with the other languages including German, French and Italian, according to film review website IMDB. This intrigued me, and I had to find out more about this insanely popular Quentin Tarantino film.

 After watching some parts of the film, I can see why it was so well- received. Not only does the story reflect a certain sensitivity and intensity, it also helps capture the audience's attention(me, in this case) by appropriating the dialogue with the languages commonly used during the era in which the movies was set, giving a feeling of realism and giving the movie a whole new sense of immersion by grabbing the audience and throwing them into the film, as we watch the firsthand the masterful twisting of tongues as it plays an enormous role in the deception of language widely used throughout the whole film. According to Radheyan Simonpillai; a renown movie critique of Askmen.com, the movie's diversity in language and director Quentin Tarantino's genius use of this can alter the way history was actually written, and is able to manipulate the facts to his favor of the story. Not only does this help in making an engaging film, it also proves just how language can influence a movie.

Below is the link to the review from Radheyan, I found it profoundly interesting and hope you do so too. http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/movie/inglourious-basterds.html

Also, a bonus entry from acclaimed movie critique and film expert Roger Ebert. He describes the movie to considerably made and difficult to review, having to watch it repeatedly to find the proper description for it. After attending the Cannes festival, director Tarantino asked his opinion and Mr. Ebert could only describe it as being either the best or worst film of 2009. In the end however, his answer was still a resounding "Best film of 2009." He adds that a movie like this can not be put down and watching it once will not suffice to satisfy.

Even only watching a few parts. I can certainly agree with Mr. Ebert and I hope to do further research on this topic to prove the claims to glory that this movie holds and the languages that entail it to be.

Harvard Reference:

Inglourious Basterds. (2009) Quentin Tarantino. USA, Universal Pictures and The Weinstein Company [Video: DVD].

Simonpillai, Radheyan. "AM Review: <I>Inglourious Basterds</I>". AskMen. N.p., 2009. Web. 18 June 2016.

Ebert, Roger. "Inglourious Basterds Movie Review (2009) | Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 18 June 2016.

"Inglourious Basterds (2009)". IMDb. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 June 2016.

Multilingualism and Movies: Mission Impossible

A brief examination:

My chosen movie of interest is none other than the acclaimed movie series; Mission Impossible. Made popular by edge-of-your-seats action and it's main actor Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible tries it's best to include realistic struggles for it's characters. From machinery malfunctions to botched plans and traitors in the midst, Mission Impossible successfully integrated another important aspect to being a spy; language. It made sense that anyone involved in espionage had to learn multiple languages to fit into enemy territory and the M.I. series did just that. But how is this important to the subject?

In the narrative of the movie, we have seen Ethan Hunt and his fellow agents travel to numerous foreign countries and managed to blend in like chameleons each time. They can't do that if they couldn't communicate with the locals and that is an important point. Just like how language propels just how believable the movie can be, it also shows us how important the multiplicity of language truly is. According to Michal B. Paradowski of the Institute of Applied Linguistics, he had this to say;

          "The advantages that multilinguals exhibit over monolinguals are not restricted to linguistic knowledge only, but extend outside the area of language. The substantial long-lived cognitive, social, personal, academic, and professional benefits of enrichment bilingual contexts have been well documented."   

                         

                                                                                        Paradowski, Michal B.(2011)

He then goes on with a list of interesting benefits that applies to the people befitting his stated description. Multilingualism is also recognized to a positive factor to the general public, according to

International Writer Anne Meritt, she stated in an article on the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph that learning and practicing more than 2 languages usually grant the user numerous passive benefits like better decision-making skills, higher perception and other benefits that you can read about here;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-language-Benefits-of-bilingualism.html

You can also read on Michal's expert opinion on multilingualism here;

http://www.multilingualliving.com/2010/05/01/the-benefits-of-multilingualism/

I believe this has helped me find some clarity to the importance of multilingualism. Not only do they serve to promote good cultural behavior as well mixing of company, it also has other benefits I was not aware of until reading these articles. I hope to find more to strengthen my point.

Harvard Reference list:

"The Benefits Of Multilingualism | Multilingual Living". Multilingual Living. N.p., 2010. Web. 9 June 2016.
Merritt, Anne. "Why Learn A Foreign Language? Benefits Of Bilingualism". Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2013. Web. 9 June 2016.

Multilingualism: My chosen subject.

 The question I chose for cross-examination is Question 3. It is as follows;

"Examine and discuss how communication technology or multilingualism was used in the narrative of a highly acclaimed movie."

There are many subjects that can fill the examples that can fill the criteria. Lord of the Rings, featuring elf language as well as "black language" or the language of the orcs. We also fine examples for Inglorious Basterds as well as Master and Commander, Mission Impossible, Pink Panther and so many other movies that made good use of multiple languages that helped increase it's immersive experience as well as broaden it's range of audience. I am quite interested in doing one on The Mission Impossible series, since the spy-based genre with it's elements of espionage made good use of multiple languages as the characters go around in disguise whipping out multiple tongues to keep under cover. It has always been a very popular series of movies and is now my main subject of concern.

Either way, I hope to get more information on the effects of multilingualism and how it helps in the entertainment and art industry before I can conclude a solid case study.

Multilingualism in Movies: Samples and good examples.

Deciding to do question 3 regarding how Multilingualism affects highly acclaimed movies, I've determined that this question poses much relevance to our current society. Language has always been the core center of communication among people, animals and even technology. Different types of language dictate our level of understanding and ignorance often causes miscommunication. Hence the importance of multilingualism in our everyday lives. To begin with, let us start start with some fine samples of numerous authors and ho they applied multilingualism in translation. Below is a link to the page;

http://www.lisecapitan.com/2012/06/the-translation-and-reception-of-multilingualism-in-films/

Here we can see quite a few example of how multilingualism applies to both film, games and reading materials as well as the importance of translating the numerous languages used throughout movie history. In the link above you can find an amusing example shown via the movie The Pink Panther where Inspector Jacques is trying to learn English; a harsh turn from his native French. Though hilarious, it actually shows us the reality of our real life situation. From misunderstanding, to mispronunciation, a great many things can go wrong when attempting a different language and this may sometimes bring more trouble than it's worth. The same applies to the movie industry where most of our blockbusters and movies of great acclaim use a very common language; English. While English is considered an international language, it cannot be helped but to state that not all viewers of these movies are English-speakers. This is where the importance of translation comes in. To provide variety and to make sure that even the minority doesn't feel left out. So how does multilingualism apply itself in movies? It comes in several forms, mainly through language, subtitles, etc. Take for example the movie Inglorious Basterds, famous for it's use of multiple languages channeled through its characters and plot narrative that made the movie one of the most acclaimed pieces of film work with multilingualism. To sum up the greatness of that movie, French translator and journalist Samuel Brean states in his post on The Translation and Reception of Multilingual Films;

     "The film may not be to everybody’s taste. However, Inglorious Basterds is indeed fascinating for its use of      multilingualism as a major narrative device."

The following is the link to this journal: http://inmedia.revues.org/486

I will further my research on this subject with more evidence to support the importance of multilingualism in movies and other media in future.

     

Harvard Referencing and Bibliography:
Lise Capitan Traduction & Rédaction. (2012). The translation and reception of multilingualism in films. [online] Available at: http://www.lisecapitan.com/2012/06/the-translation-and-reception-of-multilingualism-in-films/ [Accessed 27 May 2016].

Bréan, S. and Cornu, J. (2012). The Translation and Reception of Multilingual Films . 15-16 June 2012, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3. InMedia. The French Journal of Media and Media Representations in the English-Speaking World, [online] (2). Available at: http://inmedia.revues.org/486 [Accessed 27 May 2016].