Monsoon Wedding, Language, and Jen
May. 9th, 2002 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
semperfionaLast night I went to see Monsoon Wedding, for no particular reason other than that I'd never seen an Indian movie before and it sounded interesting. I had asked wombat opinions of seven movies altogether, and received recommendations for most of them. The other six remain on my movies-to-see list, but whether I get a chance to view them before they leave the theaters is questionable.
It explored the meshing of modern Indian, ancient Indian, and American cultures; the impact on a family of horrific revelations; and the meaning of the word "family" itself, all while containing not one but two shy romances. The characters seemed real, with real aspirations, feelings, and opinions.
And the dialogue amused me greatly. It switches from English to one or more Indian dialects (Punjabi, I believe, and maybe Hindi, according to another reviewer) often mid-utterance and even mid-sentence. That is only too accurate of groups of bilingual people: I've seen the same thing happen with my Hispanic ex-in-laws and their friends, or in the group of American students in Japan that I was part of.
And before I went...Oh, I've been floating all day on this one...Jen asked me if I'd like her to come over and stay Saturday night before we go to the RenFaire Sunday. Yes, yes, absolutely yes.
It explored the meshing of modern Indian, ancient Indian, and American cultures; the impact on a family of horrific revelations; and the meaning of the word "family" itself, all while containing not one but two shy romances. The characters seemed real, with real aspirations, feelings, and opinions.
And the dialogue amused me greatly. It switches from English to one or more Indian dialects (Punjabi, I believe, and maybe Hindi, according to another reviewer) often mid-utterance and even mid-sentence. That is only too accurate of groups of bilingual people: I've seen the same thing happen with my Hispanic ex-in-laws and their friends, or in the group of American students in Japan that I was part of.
And before I went...Oh, I've been floating all day on this one...Jen asked me if I'd like her to come over and stay Saturday night before we go to the RenFaire Sunday. Yes, yes, absolutely yes.
