Good Moments in Shitty Movies, part 1
I saw The Thirteenth Warrior when I was twelve and wouldn't turn down any opportunity to see an R-rated movie. It served the purpose most summer movies served: there was a lot of violence and I felt entertained, but I really can't remember anything specific that happened in the film. Today, for some reason, I thought of one of the scenes from the movie that, assuming I am remembering it correctly.
The plot deals with a bunch of whitey Vikings who have to defend their village from a group of crazy perhap-monsters (either the enemies really are monster or they are given some Scooby-Doo reveal at the end . . . can't recall). But they aren't near their homeland, so they must make the long journey back. At some point they meet Antonio "he's-brown-so-nobody-will-notice-he's-not-Middle-Eastern" Banderas the Arab, who is either forced or agrees to help them. Actually, he probably doesn't agree, because he doesn't speak the language.
The cool scene occurs somewhere in the end of Act I. Antonio Banderas the Arab speaks English, while the Vikings speak some other language I don't feel like looking up. There is a campfire scene which somehow conveys the passage of time (the sun sets and rises a lot? it changes location? don't remember); the Vikings sit around and talk while Antonio Banderas the Arab sits and watches. As the Vikings continue their conversation, they occasionally speak an English word. The more they talk, the more English they use until they are completely 'fluent,' I guess, and Antonio Banderas says something to them. It strikes me now as a very effective way to portray learning a language. Maybe other films have used the same technique, but this is the only one I'm aware of.
The plot deals with a bunch of whitey Vikings who have to defend their village from a group of crazy perhap-monsters (either the enemies really are monster or they are given some Scooby-Doo reveal at the end . . . can't recall). But they aren't near their homeland, so they must make the long journey back. At some point they meet Antonio "he's-brown-so-nobody-will-notice-he's-not-Middle-Eastern" Banderas the Arab, who is either forced or agrees to help them. Actually, he probably doesn't agree, because he doesn't speak the language.
The cool scene occurs somewhere in the end of Act I. Antonio Banderas the Arab speaks English, while the Vikings speak some other language I don't feel like looking up. There is a campfire scene which somehow conveys the passage of time (the sun sets and rises a lot? it changes location? don't remember); the Vikings sit around and talk while Antonio Banderas the Arab sits and watches. As the Vikings continue their conversation, they occasionally speak an English word. The more they talk, the more English they use until they are completely 'fluent,' I guess, and Antonio Banderas says something to them. It strikes me now as a very effective way to portray learning a language. Maybe other films have used the same technique, but this is the only one I'm aware of.