Anyone who's seen the 2016 film Arrival, undoubtedly walked out of the theatre with a number of questions. Questions about life, death, time, and chiefly, about communication. This introspective science fiction film perfectly demonstrates how much we can learn by looking at a normal concept like language from a different angle, especially if that angle comes from extraterrestrials. The film grapples with a compelling scenario that leaves audience searching for a comprehensive Arrival movie explanation. Therefore, this article aims not only to explain the complexities of the film, but also delves deep into the role linguistics in Arrival and how the movie portrays communication with aliens.
Decoding Arrival: Scrutinizing Linguistics and Intergalactic Communication
The substantial chunk of Arrival's storyline revolves around linguistics, a relatively unexplored terrain for mainstream cinema. Here we will peel back the layers of linguistic theory embedded in the film and analyze how it adds depth and perspective to the plot.
Unraveling the Arrival Movie Explanation
The premise of Arrival is rather arresting. It starts with the sudden appearance of twelve alien spaceships, or 'shells' as they're called in the film, scattered around the globe. Faced with the sobering enormity of this event, governments worldwide scramble to make sense of it. U.S. military intelligence, under the stewardship of Colonel Weber (played by Forest Whitaker), then recruits Dr. Louise Banks (portrayed by Amy Adams), a renowned linguistics professor, to help decode the indecipherable alien language and decrypt their purpose on Earth.
The narrative follows a non-linear trajectory, a device that becomes central to understanding the movie's complex thematic substance. However, despite the temporal somersaults, the underlying themes of the film remain unswerving: the power of language, the process of communication, and the potential for understanding, even in the face of something as overwhelmingly unfamiliar as an extraterrestrial race.
Studying Linguistics in Arrival
The film offers a fascinating exploration of how language shapes our worldview. The 'Sapir-Whorf hypothesis', an actual principle of linguistic relativity, takes center stage in the plot. The hypothesis posits that the structure of a language affects its speakers' worldview or cognition, which in the film is beautifully represented through the interaction between humans and aliens.
Dr. Louise Banks' approach to deciphering the alien language provides integral insights into the methodical journey of understanding a completely new language. When faced with the extraterrestrial language, characterized by circular symbols emitted by the alien creatures (later known as Heptapods), Banks does not get deterred by its unfamiliarity. Instead, she embarks on a systematic process to dissect and understand the glyphs from scratch.
How Does Arrival Approach Communication with Aliens?
The process by which Arrival approaches alien communication is both realistic and symbolic. It fundamentally emphasizes that understanding the language is the key to unlocking effective communication, be it with another human or an alien. However, the fact that this understanding doesn't come instantly is what adds a layer of authenticity to the concept.
Most importantly, Arrival dispels the common notion that language is restricted to verbal communication, deftly exploring non-verbal communication modes. Notably, the entire Heptapod language relies on written and visual communication, entirely devoid of phonetics, straying away from conventional linguistic norms, and directly challenging human comfort zones.
Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve and released in 2016, poses an intriguing question to linguistics, communication, and our understanding of alien life. The film focuses on the complex task of Dr. Louise Banks, a linguistics professor, whom the U.S. government hires to communicate with alien life forms that have landed mysteriously on Earth. The narrative deftly integrates critical issues related to the study of linguistics and the challenges associated with decoding alien communication.
As we dive deeper into the movie's storytelling strategy, we come across a number of themes that explore the nature and significance of language. Specifically, how it is intertwined with human thinking, understanding, and perception of time.
At this point, it's worth discussing the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - crucial to the plot development of Arrival. Also known as linguistic relativity, this theory suggests that the structure of a language influences or determines the modes of thought and behavior characteristic of the culture in which it is spoken.
The hypothesis speaks directly to Dr. Banks’ main task in the film - deciphering the alien language and understanding their way of thinking and perceiving. When she has a breakthrough and begins comprehending the Heptapod's complex language, her own perception of time begins to change.
The Art of Deciphering Alien Communication
Dr. Banks demonstrates her linguistic prowess by breaking down the task of alien communication into a series of logical steps. She first attempts to establish a form of basic communication by teaching the aliens simple English words and their meanings. Known in linguistics as the 'bottom-up' approach, she painstakingly deconstructs entire sentences into individual words to understand their separate meanings.
Her use of signboards to depict words and concepts is a classic linguistic method of using visual aids for communication. However, the primary challenge lies in the fact that the Heptapods' language is far from similar to any human language.
Understanding The Difference
The fascinating part about the Heptapods' language, or 'Heptapod B', is that it's non-linear. Unlike human languages, which follow a certain order, cause, and effect semantic - Heptapods' communication is based on complex circular symbols which express ideas all at once, without any particular time sequence. This highlights the intriguing possibility that alien languages could be far removed from any grammatical or syntactical conventions understandable to humans.
Arrival presents this complex narrative with a delicate balance between linguistics, alien communication, and mind-bending plot twists. It challenges the audience to think about language not just as a means of communication but as a tool that shapes our understanding of time, life, and the universe itself. In conclusion, the film doesn't just tell a compelling story, but it also raises profound questions about language, perception, and our comparative insignificance in the vast universe.