Inglourious Basterds - Language Expert Breaks Down Pub Scene

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Written by Jack Howard and Hazel Hayes / hazel
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[@hery9496]

This language expert better break down Brad Pitt’s flawless Italian accent

[@JackHoward]

That would have been a great idea! Damn.

[@xoxogossipgoat21]

Bonejuurrnoe

[@diinalens]

Yes Brad Pitt speaking "italian" is hilarous, but can we PLEASE talk about Christoph Waltz's perfect acting in 4 (four!!!) different languages in this film??? the man is definitely not human!

[@stefanocontratto2101]

@@diinalens He was amazing, but of the four, the italian was definitely the weakest. The first long sentence he says it's so fast it becomes really hard to understand

[@diinalens]

@@stefanocontratto2101 agree, but it's still impressive how natural he sounds, he mushes the words in favour of feeling and tone. it's also great how he says "pronunzia" instead of "pronuncia", a small detail but it conveys how much the Landa is educated in the context of what would've been mitteleuropean bourgeoisie/aristocracy of the time. gives great depth to the character!

[@Iklelele]

The Pub Scene is probably one of the most suspenseful scenes ever crafted. No action at all, just pure intellectual dialogue. Tarantino is a mad man.

[@SancLunatic]

20 minutes of tension that explodes into a pub clearing shootout in less than 10 seconds lol

[@danielcoley6662]

Watch no country for old men. There is a really suspenseful scene in that movie

[@chrismaple7838]

The opening scene is far more tense IMO.

[@conornaughton4732]

@@chrismaple7838 gotta agree with you I think, Its a close call though

[@conornaughton4732]

@@danielcoley6662 yup that one trumps them all

[@wuhansam]

Nobody: Lt. Aldo: A river derchi

[@ThePapazero]

Gorlami

[@tedijevtic6756]

best accent in the movie

[@laragenter]

A river there, chief

[@aizenyt2141]

mhar gha reeeeeee ti. duminic decoco

[@TheGiuiba]

Bawn journal

[@danijobi]

Listen, as German speakers we are ecstatic whenever anyone even makes the effort. Sure, I was actually a bit disappointed by Fassbender's thick accent and it does kind of taint the scene when you constantly think that he would never realistically pass for a native speaker. But you know what? After 70 years and scores of World War 2 movies where Hollywood celebrities as well as American or British extras either phonetically cough through their rare German phrases as if they were Klingon; or even talk some made-up bullshit language that's supposed to sound vaguely Germanic because none of the American audience care anyway... after German was pretty much the second-most abused language in American film after the Native American languages (not saying we didn't deserve it, mind you) it was such a thrill to hear a film taking place in Germany and France actually using the German and French languages - that was nothing short of revolutionary. (And they knew full well it would hurt them at the US box office that most of the film has to have subtitles, but they did it anyway, bless them.) They had Tom Tykwer do the German translation of Tarantino's dialogue, too, so they actually sound colloquial and natural, which usually is another pitfall for movies and TV shows such as this. (Tykwer is a master filmmaker in his own right, with Run Lola Run and Cloud Atlas, among many more.) But I have to say: the biggest bonus of doing the dialogue in German was seeing all these German actors, who more often than not suck in German movies, flourish when they get a Tarantino script. These guys are transformed, virtually all of them give career-best performances. Man, you only have to look at the decades Christoph Waltz spent in really shitty German TV movies - nobody even discovered this genius gem. It really is all in the screenplay, and never let anyone tell you otherwise.

[@jameseverett6125]

Fassbender actually speaks perfect hoch deutsch from what I understand but put on the bad accent for the film

[@Luemm3l]

@@jameseverett6125 it is decent but most Germans will pick from hid accent he probably is no native I guess... It is not so much the accent itself, more about subtle variety in intonation and pauses that just somehow feels off.

[@jameseverett6125]

@@Luemm3l I believe he's half Irish half German so one of his parents are German so maybe he learnt German the same way expat or army kids do it's still perfect but yet a little bit different

[@VanezArt]

agreed! but dude let me tell ya something, u know nothing about language&culture being abused and fiercely molested and WWII facts ignored by them American film~ (sometimes turd~) makers compared to what people of my nationality have witnessed. Russian boi reporting in 💂😎

[@mizzymiao]

Oh boy I laughed so hard about the klingon comparison :'D it is painfully accurate! All of your comment is. Grüße aus München!

[@thegamingdevice]

Babbel: less threatening to your family than Dualingo

[@berrybread7215]

don't mention the duolingo owl, he can hear us even out here. there will be consequences.

[@lordoftuft1411]

Misspelling Duolingo? Look who hasn't been paying attention to their language classes....

[@zahaanhoosein6511]

Can somebody explain the reference???

[@Minififi94]

@@zahaanhoosein6511 It's another language app which sends notifications when you miss a day of practice and out of context these sound disturbingly threatening

[@robinbarayuga3011]

Would someone mind giving an example please? These threatening notifications have gotten me curious. 🙂

[@Trashplat]

I'm from Germany, Inglorious Basterds is my third favourite movie of all time, and YES I noticed the "wrong three" immediately, the first time I saw the movie. And I DID feel pretty smug about it. I was like, ooooh you blew your plan but you don't know it yet.

[@TheLittleRae]

I'm from Austria, also noticed it immediately, also pretty smug about it!

[@growlinghands4696]

I'm an American who grew up overseas (not in Europe) and I noticed it immediately, too. I think I gasped out loud and covered my eyes!

[@mtnd02.06]

Yeah, I do know a bit about foreign gestures and language so right after he made a 3 with his middle fingers I thought, "Ahh... you fucked up..." And yes, I was a bit smug as well. I looked around wondering if anybody else had caught that. My father was the only one who did, he spent time in Germany during the 70's and 80's so immediately he let out a grunt and a chuckle as it happened.

[@groushka]

lol we count same in Poland, starting with a thumb

[@gehteuchnixan69]

Picked up on it as well, but first expected this to be just directorial oversight, not Tarantino incorporating subtle cultural differences. Was about to start ranting, when the scene shifted. Well done.

[@KiskeyaLife]

Michael Fassbender actually does speak German, although not perfectly and he does have quite the accent in real life... he speaks better German in these scenes than in real life. So what Tarantino (or his German speakers present, maybe Tykwer) made sure was that his lines were as perfect as possible -- since that was impossible, he'd still have bit of an accent left, just enough to give the character away.

[@2Ipad2Freak]

I am a native german and you can easily hear that Fassbenders german has a lot of flaws even in this scene. You would immediately recognize that he is not a native speaker

[@sjs9698]

@@gen-xennial3826 doesn't seem like a correction of what EYK said to me; they said he wasn't a 'native speaker' which seems pretty solid based on MF being raised in ireland.

[@Ivanmaradonaaa]

@@sjs9698 but his father is German and he was born in Germany, how isn't he a native speaker?

[@aylabr3931]

@@Ivanmaradonaaa As in he prob Even talked english in his family instead of german. Perhaps only with the father/ grandparents, and now he is not at ease using it and has a noticeable accent. As a german myself, one notices it

[@abcdefg7679]

@@Ivanmaradonaaa he didn’t grow up in germany. If his mother didn’t speak german with him why would he have learned it

[@thewonarmedbandit5615]

The hateful eight is basically a 3-hour western version of this scene

[@calogerogriffin861]

True

[@Mr.chickensoup]

Love The hateful eight.

[@bastardasinglorias]

Exactly, just because of it, my least favorite Tarantino movie.

[@sudapuga8826]

@Maurice Haynes death proof always no.1

[@thequantaleaper]

In what ways?

[@jessica-mh3os]

I'm considering getting babbel, I heard they don't threaten your family

[@zahaanhoosein6511]

Can somebody explain the reference???

[@Alexandra-xk3gu]

Zahaan Hoosein Duolingo is the main language learning app, sometimes the notifications it sends you to remind you about your lessons are a little pushy or threatening.

[@ryleeroseborough7885]

I got an ad that said duolingo is like a game. I about died because of the duolingo owl meme

[@gwynlefleur]

You cant switch, when you switch off of duolingo, the bird commits an act of terror and blames you

[@zhouwu]

@@gwynlefleur Are you allowed to interrogate the owl where on earth it learnt such flawless human, and attempt to out intimidate it?

[@TenthSgtSnipes]

Gotta love accidentally going to a nazi bar

[@Sushigabby]

GOOD REFERENCE

[@Leo1239150]

TenthSgtSnipes if you're living in rural eastern Germany, that's a very real thing

[@theREDDEVILmufc100]

Hate when that happens

[@paulwalsh7134]

I actually accidentally went to a right wing Buddhist temple when I lived in Japan. So I can see it happening in occupied France during world war 2.

[@brucetucker4847]

Even worse when it's in a basement.

[@leonmayne797]

Arrival. The film is a completely different experience when you know alien.

[@skar17511]

You made my day!

[@leonmayne797]

@@skar17511 Thanks!

[@ginime_]

do you know a specific dialect or...?

[@xxonedarkheroxx]

Leon Mayne O

[@hobi_kenobi]

Agreed. Fluent in alien and I saw the ending before the film even came out.

[@AntonGudenus]

Watching the movie in Austria (the german dub; so the accent is not that telling) literally the whole cinema felt that they messed up as soon as the "wrong" fingers were shown. You could hear the gasps all over the room. It is an extremely obvious sign.

[@stevenhansen2824]

Are you saying that they redubbed the German parts into German again?

[@schmamsch5992]

Steven Hansen Yes it would sound wierd because in a dub they redo all the other sounds as well

[@enotsnavdier6867]

@@schmamsch5992 That sounds like a really dumb thing to do

[@schmamsch5992]

@@enotsnavdier6867 No. Michael Fassbender would have to Dub his entire role in german and his german isn’t good enough for that and it would alao sound wierd

[@origamikiddo2625]

So crazy. Reminds me of watching or reading something supposed to be American and they refer to a cell phone as a "mobile". We're all just like what is that? Obviously not American.

[@Quesnelle23]

This is honestly the coolest video. 10/10 would love more videos like this

[@gertpacu3926]

Hopefully someone can answer this for me, but why didn't he just say he was born and lived in England until he was a teenager or something and said his father is German and mother is English? It would have been a legit back story, and I know that they gave foreigners officer positions in the army. That part was not written well at all. He should have just said he was born in Germany to a German father and English mother, but moved to the UK from his first birthday until he was a teenager. MAJOR PLOT SCREWUP that would have saved them.

[@Guido_XL]

@@gertpacu3926 If his character in the movie really would have realised that his German accent would never live up to the required level to pretend to be a native German, he would have made up such a story indeed. I totally agree with you. This seems to be an unnecessary flaw in the script. A proper preparation for infiltrating into a foreign culture requires absolute perfection with regard to language. Perfection in the sense of absolute credibility, that is. Showing up with that English accent, it was bound to be detected. That weakens the movie's plot.

[@DarkRainb0wKnight]

I am a native German speaker (from Switzerland), but I have to admit, I wouldn't have picked up on the three finger thing, before the film explained it. Yes, I would probably do the German fingers (start counting with my thumb), but I wouldn't have picked up on it when Fassbender did it differently. It is probably very different during the war though, when you're expecting some people to be spies.

[@ghosthand9109]

Ich finde man merkt echt stark, das Fassbender aufjedenfall kein Deutscher ustz, dafür ist der Akzent der zu stark Englisch geprägt ist verantwortlich. Abgesehen von diesen Feinheiten hat man beim zuhören schon dieses Gefühl, das da etwas nicht stimmt. Vielleicht ist es dir nicht aufgefallen, weil du ja Schweizer bist. Ich bin zum Beispiel Deutscher und mir ist es aufgefallen.

[@DarkRainb0wKnight]

@@ghosthand9109 ich meinte jetzt spezifisch das mit den fingern. Sein Akzent ist mir schon aufgefallen.

[@JustMeNoName]

Ich komme auch aus der Schweiz. Und mir sind sowohl der Akzent als auch die Finger beim Schauen aufgefallen. Dazu muss ich sagen, dass ich auch eine Zeit in den USA gewohnt und die Unterschiede im Zählen schon selbst erlebt habe.

[@josharntt]

German fingers is starting counting with the thumb? I didn't know that. That's how I count when I use my fingers.

[@Haneix1]

He already had suspicion.

[@baxy219]

This video is a BINGO!

[@samuelperezgarcia]

You just say Bingo. 🙄

[@jabeesguerra4898]

Hahahaha. That's a good one. :D

[@consuelochavez3610]

Wrong! It's "that's a Bingo!"

[@Logan912]

@@samuelperezgarcia Bingo! How fun!

[@Reggie1408]

German here: The expert missed how germans usually don't pronounce vowels in ending syllables. Like for example "WashingtOn". Germans usually would say "Washingt'n". And Fassbender does not do this. He speaks every vowel very clearly which makes him sound odd. like: "nicht gesehEn" instead of "nicht geseh'n" "nicht weiter belästigEn" instead of "nicht weiter belästig'n" "OberfeldwebEl" instead of "Oberfeldweb'l"

[@zokker1349]

Ya, it sounded odd but I thought he wanted to assert dominance over the other soldiers so it was okay for me.

[@OrkarIsberEstar]

id also agree that this, while uncommon in every day language, might very well be encoutnered in formal language, if you are a snob, at court or just want to sound educated. its like most mistakrwes he made, not a dead giveaway in itself but raises suspiscion

[@Reggie1408]

@@OrkarIsberEstar Even on the german evening news "Tagesschau" all journalists say "Washingt'n"

[@OrkarIsberEstar]

@@Reggie1408 in the place name yes but the Speakers i hear try to clearly pronounce words with all vocals if they are german like trinkEn not trinkn or LaufEn not laufn etc.

[@Reggie1408]

@@OrkarIsberEstar I think journalists would say "stehen" while Fassbender pronounced it "steh-HEN" ;)

[@carlarosi8104]

This reminds me of the time when I, a native German speaker, watched this movie in my exchange year in Australia with my host sister, who was from Italy and whose mother was French, so combined, we basically got the full language aspect of the film covered. It was really interesting at times, I remember there being lines without subtitles and we would just take turns asking each other what they said. It was an incredibly funny, but also really intriguing way to watch the movie, even though I obviously can't compare it to watching it without knowing German. I remember that in that scene I was constantly spotting all the pronunciation mistakes he was making, which weren't actual mistakes, yet no native speaker would pronounce most words like he did, so I pretty much knew for sure he was about to be busted. And I was actually really surprised to see that in England you show three like that, so it immediately seemed wrong to me when he did that. Awesome video, I found the other filmmaking aspects really interesting as well!

[@MrLeiduowen]

That's a cool story!

[@a55tech]

is it really that uniform, for the whole country of Germany to make a 3 that way? In the US, people wouldn't have noticed because there is no standard way to do it lol.

[@rainerbloedsinn182]

@@a55tech As a German native I am 99 % sure that it is that uniform. Afaik most continental European countries count that way as well. Fassbender's accent sounds a bit weird in that scene and gives reason enough for suspicion, but there are so many German dialects and the accent is not that thick that after that explanation about his accent he might have gotten away with it. But the instance I saw his three fingers I knew with certainty he was blown. I have never seen any non-foreigner show a 3 like Fassbender did in the movie.

[@xy4158]

As a native speaker of German I did hear that his pronunciation was slightly off (but the thing is I also know that Michael Fassbender’s mother tongue isn’t German even though he has a German background so it didn’t give to much away). And generally in movies where people speak German, it doesn’t really give me any advantage whatsoever as it is pretty much never even close to what German actually sounds like. Fassbender really did a better job than anyone else Ive witnessed so far in my movie watching career. Great video!

[@levisnafu]

I'm English but learned German as a second language, like you I also knew Fassbender has a German background but also has a strange English/Irish sort accent in real life. His German is quite good and seems very natural to someone like me though I can tell he isn't native German. When people speak German is western films it's definitely very different from what German sounds like in Austria or Germany.

[@immoprimus2709]

as a native speaker of german i 100% Agree perfectly summed up

[@vattentaelt]

"pretty much never even close to what German actually sounds like"? usually they have native speakers play german speakers with the most notable exceptions being Scrubs and HIMYM

[@eragonshurtugal4239]

@@vattentaelt if so they dont ofeten speak a german you would actualy hear in germany i am a native german and if in a hollywood movie someone speaks german it is often harder for me to understand then the english

[@vattentaelt]

​@@eragonshurtugal4239 ...obwohl du offensichtlich schon mit dem Englischen ganz schön Mühe hast. Kannst du mir bitte ein paar dieser Filme nennen, worin das Deutsche schwerer verständlich ist als das Englische? Ist mir neu, muss ich mir mal anhören.

[@quelorepario]

Usually when actors speak foreign languages and even pretend to be natives when they aren't, it makes my ears bleed it just destroys the suspension of belief in other movies. In this case I thought that it was yet another one of those cases "oh well, let's pretend that Fassbender weird accent is passed as a native one"... until it isn't, it actually *is* a flaw that dooms them all. That is quite a twist and unexpected, it was delicious for being precise. The level of details on the subtleties of the language in this movie is superb.

[@Mad.E]

I (as a native german speaker) agree that it takes away some of the tension, cause while Fassbender is doing a really good job, his pronunciation mistakes are so obvious that he'd never pass as a German (even today, let alone in a highly tense time with everyone on the lookout for spies) _But_ the scene still works, at least if you don't watch it with German synchronization, because then it stops making sense altogether

[@mrjakobt]

Yet another reason to her watch dubbed movies.

[@x1n30Parente]

I’m from an English speaking country and was watching this film at home years ago and my (German) mum walked in during this scene Straight away she picked up on the accent, and when he did the non German 3 hand sign, she was like NO THAT’S WRONG It was crazy how obvious it was to her

[@BootlegFightVideo]

Your Mom is a Nazi confirmed.

[@thumbthumb5998]

I mean I think any native German would pick up on this. But as the viewer you already know he's taking his identity so you still have tension.

[@morbionicle]

right before she pulled out her gun and pointed it at fassbenders balls...

[@jam4355]

I lived in Germany as a child and adult but never learned to speak the language 🙁 I met a lady who I worked with and asked her where she was from. She said “here.” I said “no. Back in the USA.” She replied, I’m German.” She spoke with a flawless American (Californian) accent. No hesitation in her English and pronunciation of vowels was very concrete. I was impressed. She explained that her parents put her in an American school in Berlin since she was 5 years old.

[@GholamFareed]

@@thumbthumb5998 I'm not a native German speaker & even I picked up his foreign German accent.

[@MaiaSmithy]

I like the fact that your sponsored videos are still the type of video that you and your audience are interested in

[@jorge6207]

There is also an important element at play: the SS guy (a major, or sturmbahnfuher) outranks Fassebender's cover (captain).

[@naufrage0]

Honestly as a french speaker I appreciate the correct use of adieu vs au revoir in the opening scene. Quintin didnt just bs his way through the languages. Français and Deutsch were almost characters.

[@tbeller80]

And really you can thank Waltz for making Tarantino's efforts show so well. He switches from English/French, English/German, French/German, and German/Italian/English without missing a beat.

[@spocktiberiusmccoy9463]

@@tbeller80 he deserved that Oscar

[@boomxhakalaca3660]

I would have loved to see this video but on Brad Pitt speaking quote-unquote 'Italian' Gurahtzee

[@ruguoserliegise2716]

Arrverdrrchee

[@muskateer12345]

Why did you spell out 'quote-unquote' when you could've just used actual quotes lol??

[@OrkarIsberEstar]

to be fair though the role portrayed didnt speak any italian at all that was kinda the most stupid cover ever. I think the performance was very convincing as he didnt play a person who spoke perfect italian but a character that tried to sound italian without any knowledge of italian. Mama mia

[@stevenbridges]

Love this scene so was really interesting to see it broken down and analysed. Great video!

[@leaisstillhere]

As a native German this scene was super interesting to me. I obviously heard his accent and it didn’t take away that much tension because even though we still didn’t know if he was going to get caught. It was also fun being kind of an insider and knowing all the mistakes.

[@ctastrophe]

He also went several sentences without mentioning cabbage which is a dead giveaway

[@imkopfkino738]

I’m a native German speaker and I must say, Ted is really spot on with noticing the mistakes. Also the finger thing is a brilliant moment! I immediately noticed when he put up the middle three fingers, when I first watched the film. I knew it was off right away. I was still surprised they actually made that the key mistake, but it’s definitely true that a German person subconsciously notices that it feels off... I also love that every actor in this film is a native speaker, also the french characters. What a brilliant piece of cinema!!

[@jd.3493]

So how does a German count to four? It feels weird holding down my pinky and using my thumb and three fingers up.

[@alteye1]

Truth be told, I never would've noticed the way he counted. I didn't even know that there were regional differences. So yeah, he would've gotten away with it if it had been me sitting across the table. The accent however... I don't think any German in their right mind would've bought the Piz Palü story.

[@SancLunatic]

That's one of the things that's so brilliant about this movie - language, culture, culture clashes and culture shock matter so much in this movie. And pulling that off a depiction of that in WWII is difficult.

[@the_regular_dinosaurus_rex]

@@jd.3493 We dont do it holding just the pinky down. We use the thumb for one, two and three, then switch to "your way" for the four, using the four fingers and hold down the thumb...

[@jamillx]

​@@the_regular_dinosaurus_rex not true

[@lillibirnenbaum1990]

German hear, love you and Tarantino, so perfect entertainment :) So, another thing Fassbender does is that he over-enunciates. You can hear that he is trying very hard to make the language sound right but has a hard time doing so. Plus, native German speakers tend to muffle their word-endings, especially for verbs, while he pronounces all verbs as they are written down. You could say, he speaks it too well. As a film enthusiast, I personally think, that the fact I speak German and know about the "twist" with the counting order takes something away from the film. You go "oh shit, they are busted" when you see his error, something you were suspecting all along, as his German sounds as achieved as it does. I can imagine that the suspense and overall quality of the scene gain a lot, if you only see what is happening but can not fully understand why. As this is also the way, Tarantino intended the viewer to "understand" this situation I personally feel robbed of the true experience this scene should bring.

[@alisa4626]

I can fully agree !! Well said :)

[@eleo_b]

Lilli Birnenbaum | * German here.

[@robbe_y_6402]

Dein Englisch Wortschatz ist beeindruckend! Weiter so

[@Sshooter444]

I think it's cool that different people could have different reactions based on their knowledge of culture and language

[@Mad.E]

Very well put, especially the thing about the over-enunciation! He very clearly didn't sound like a native but I couldn't put my finger on why (apart from the individual mistakes he makes)

[@lnhart7157]

I'm a native German speaker. To me he definitely sounded a bit different. Definitely not speaking modern high German. A bit unnatural. But also could have been a local dialect, though a very clean and elegant dialect. So it was subtle enough that I didn't think "oh yeah this guy is obviously not German and everyone can hear that". But it also made total sense to me when the Nazi figured it out. Scene works just as well if you're native in German. edit: oh also funny thing is that while I'm German, I count using some sort of hybrid system. Start with the index finger, then middle finger and then thumb. So Fassbenders three was weird but I do start with my index finger. No idea why, maybe because I also lived in the US so I mixed the two systems...

[@thanuv4064]

The same for me what his German concerns. One should not forget:we are in 1944 when the dialect was a much stronger reality in Germany than today. An avridge German knows to distinguish aming Collonian, Saxonian, Bavaria, Suabian and perhaps Franconian because of high mobiluty of the population and different movies. This sord of expisure to diferrent dialects was no reality at that time. The SS major is an exception, as he confesses: I have a good year for accents.

[@sullivanpalmer1883]

RDJ: I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude Michael Fassbender: hold my scotch

[@ambrosaur3646]

Tim Roth: hold my orange juice

[@prmmin6894]

christoph waltz: hold my milk.

[@bergerman487]

I don't know man, in that movie RDJ was an Australian speaks American with ghetto dialect and speaks Chinese too.

[@jsphat81]

I'm an Irishman, playing an Englishman, playing a German man.

[@bellamyavery]

Hi there! I'm a native german speaker and a translator which has lead to me being kinda obsessed with this scene myself. While I definitely agree with there being less tension for a german speaker, it was also immensely satisfying to watch a movie with pretty decent german in it - more often than not characters in movies or shows that are portrayed as germans/austrians speak very bad german while everyone acts as if it's native level, which of course then makes the whole thing feel off for a german speaking audience. To have Fassbender speak german on that level but to have the movie still use it to give away his mother tongue was amazing to see, and the attention to detail with how we show three fingers was the cherry on top. So in conclusion, yes it took away from the tension, but I was so busy analyzing and appreciating how they used language in this scene, I didn't mind at all. :)

[@Xaac1609]

From the perspective of a Native German Speaker (with not the best englisch skills): The accent doesn't give away that much. As a German watcher I were more suprised of how good the German in the Film is, that I didn't realise the accent was there. Often when in Hollywood-made Films people speak German, they do it so poorly, that I have troubles understanding them. In Inglourious Basterds everybody speaks a very normal German, so I understand them easily, but I miss maybe a little bit of regional dialects mixed in it. (as far as I remember, there is nobody speaking a german dialect in the Film) otherwise very good video, you could make a series out of these!

[@artificialinsolence3182]

All I want so say about this scene as a native german speaker is, that the whole scene feels very natural. The dialogue - for example from the celebrating soldiers - is what you would actually hear, when you'd go to a german pub. It's relaxed and joyful chatter, devoid of any cliche words like "Jawoll", "Zu Befehl" or any kind of these... let's call them Nazi vocabulary. It almost feels as if Tarantino hired a german script writer for that scene in particular or maybe let the actors come up with their own lines, ad-libbed. Whatever the case, it's definitely my favorite scene of the movie and not only because it's 95% german and shows, what a fine director Tarantino is and how much attention he puts into detail.

[@Acid78]

Actually Tarantino hired two writers to get all foreign dialogue lines perfect. The German lines wrote Tom Tykwer, who is himself a highly talented movie and TV show director.

[@vanadiumoxid3902]

German/English bilingual speaker here, in my experience German is veeery difficult for English-speakers. Fassbender does pretty well actually, but you do hear that its slightly off. If it interests anyone, common mistakes/struggles are: The German "r". English "r"s are very soft and round, German "r"s are throaty and kinda rough, but not rolled like Spanish "r"s. The "ch" is another classic example. I swear to god, if I hear one more English-speaker pronounce "Ich liebe dich" (I love you) as "Ick liebe dick"... :D And Umlaute are also hard. Because there is just no equivalent in English. And you cant just pronounce ö as o, ä as a or ü as u. Otherwise, the sentence "das Wetter ist schwül" (the weather is humid) becomes "das Wetter ist schwul" (the weather is gay). Not the same :D

[@GholamFareed]

LMFAO Ich liebe dich Ick liebe dick.

[@RagingGoblin]

Not the case. There are three standard ways of pronouncing /r/: forward trill, backward trill, and (the overwhelmingly most common) a soft fricative. /r/ is *neither* throaty nor rough in most realisations. It actually is almost skipped -- a very vague, round, and subtle sound. It's not that far off from the English /r/ as many people think, the position of the tongue makes all the difference. It might surprise non-native speakers (and even Germans who never gave it a thought), but you don't pronounce 'Berg' as /bɛRk/ but as /bɛɐ̯k/ (or even bɛɐ̯ç in the Northern parts). The 'r' never even gets realised with a consonant at all, but rather with a diphtong (a double vowel instead of just 'e'; /ɛ/). The way many Nazis (and particularly Hitler) spoke, with strong, hard trills is and WAS extremely articifial to Germans now and back then. It was purely a stylistic and demagogic choice.

[@JMark-zk5pj]

Berlin is Ick sound, nicht war?

[@jamesfalconer269]

This is fantastic Jack, I would love your videos to go down this route in the future!

[@eyejay404]

Genuinely bloody interesting video, Jack. Made me miss my college course. More like this please :D

[@beautyqueen1020]

I’m studying German at my university and we talked about this scene in my first German class. I love this movie and learning German makes it even more enjoyable to watch!

[@rosianna]

This was terrific! Particularly enjoyed your focus on the visual language of the scene -- so much contained in it and, as you said, so so efficiently done.

[@happily_cj]

I distictly remember figuring out English speakers showing the number 3 differently and trying to match that. Several years later, I've realized I now actually automatically switch between the two depending on whether I'm speaking English or German. 'Language' details like that one are really interesting to me :D

[@leopfleger1]

so true. also I switch between British and American vocabulary depending on who I'm talking to(or I do my best to do so at least. :D )

[@miklosernoehazy8678]

@Fey Peels ...my dad was from Hungary, and he also counted on his fingers the same way, starting with the thumb...

[@toffonardi7037]

@@miklosernoehazy8678 in all europe is the same

[@miab3349]

This is such a cool video! To hear you break down film like this is so interesting and honestly would be super awesome to see more stuff like this in future 👌

[@OrkarIsberEstar]

im kinda curious when people will egt banne from youtube for using the ok sign XD

[@melododie]

Love the video, Jack! So interesting learning more and more about film from you.

[@ScarlettM]

I don't speak German, but my stomach dropped when he showed the English "3" with his fingers. It looks SO FOREIGN for someone from Germany or Russia (in my case), that I knew he just failed his mission.

[@purplesingingbanana2228]

ScarlettM russians show the english 3

[@ScarlettM]

@@purplesingingbanana2228 Actually, we don't. We show "3" similar to German. We start to count "1" from the thumb.

[@gerashar1205]

@@ScarlettM Wait, really? Russians show german "3", not english one? So I'm not actually a native russian, I'm an english spy? DAMN!

[@ScarlettM]

@@gerashar1205 Я всю жизнь видела только "3" с использование большого, указательного и среднего пальца. Иногда в фильмах использовали английское 3 потому что так виднее зрителю столько пальцев, может вас это спутало.

[@gerashar1205]

@@ScarlettM Ну, не знаю. У меня ровно наоборот: всю свою жизнь видел только "английскую" три, как в реальной жизни, так и в фильмах (англо-американские в расчёт не беру), а вариант с большим пальцем так редко встречал, что мне он кажется странным и неудобным. Может, это зависит от региона. Необъятная держава, всё-таки. Докладываю из Санкт-Петербурга.

[@izzypankhurst2335]

PLEASE do more film analysis! It’s so so interesting and you do it so well!

[@icy_hero]

Duolingo bird is coming for you.... You partnered with my mortal enemy Babble. >:(

[@axelraybaud9114]

As a French person, the very first scene of Inglourious Basterds is brilliant. When you here both the farmer and the Colonel SS Landa speaking in French before moving to english you think "oh that was a nice attention from Tarantino to make a reference to French language". Up until you understand that was an elaborate ruse meant to not be spotted by the hidden Jews... brilliant all along

[@austenpowers]

Cheers for posting one of my fav scenes ❤

[@404CarolineNotFound]

I'm German and I love languages, so I figured I'll have a go and try to explain some more. Ted is very right about the ch sound. It's quite specific, so even though Michael Fassbender/his character is doing a really good job, he muddles the sound a little too much. It's especially noticeable at the end of words when the next word starts with a consonant as well, since you have to distinguish the words without holding up the entire sentence for too long. He had a good shot at it, but it's still noticeable that he has to make an effort to speak clearly. That being said, everyone in this scene has quite clear pronounciation, so while in daily conversation this would be very noticeable it might be less so in the context of this scene. Another thing he seems to do is pronounce all s the same, while in German you have s at the beginning of words that are softer, much like an english z. I would also say that a lot of vowels in German are less pronounced in english, and (depending on the region) er kann become a at the end of sentences, which makes it sound less pronounced and more authentic. All in all I assume I would have noticed that he isn't a native but I can't say for sure that his Englishness would've been obvious to me I never knew about the different ways of counting, so probably wouldn't have picked up on it. I always enjoy hearing German in movies and being able to understand, especially since they are actual German-speakers for once.

[@MeganYipPandagirl]

Tbh I was just getting tense remembering that scene. This is a really cool video, I love breakdowns like this!

[@jaack]

Enjoyed this!

[@Cashout95]

WTF JACKMATE

[@anyawithay]

I'm currently attending to film school, and I always enjoy watching videos like these, which entertain me and help me in school, but to have the Jack Howard do them is a real treat, keep them coming!

[@beththingineverhad]

It's subtle but Hellstrom (the anatagonist) manipulates the situation so Hicox gives himself away: he orders Scotch for the table of 5 then straight away declines for himself, leaving a maximum of 4 drinkers, and Hicox has to order glasses from the French barmaid who doesn't speak German

[@OrkarIsberEstar]

indeed many people argue its the 3 that gave hi away and any other number would have worked. Nope, as you say, every number from 1-4 would have worked perfectly fine, Hellstrom just needed to make sure it wasnt 5

[@edlawn5481]

@@OrkarIsberEstar Hellstrom knew all along, in fact he was hoping that Hickox wouldn't give himself away in such an obvious manner that the others at the table would notice. But you can see Hammersmack's reaction to the "3", Hellstrom knew the others realized that Hickox gave himself away, and therefore there was no point in carrying out the interrogation even further.

[@daltonslayton6766]

The better part of this is Fassbender is German, born in Germany.

[@olanmcevoy8581]

He’s German/Irish - born in Germany, grew up in County Kerry

[@BootlegFightVideo]

His name basically means Cooper or Barrel Binder in German.

[@the_regular_dinosaurus_rex]

When i heard of him for the first time i thought he was a german actor because of his name

[@1stNumberOne]

This was actually a good video. First time seeing your channel. Keep up the good work!

[@fabiopalma4429]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks man!

[@siriusrehkind6485]

As a native German speaker I can confirm that this scene is extremely intense! I would even say this scene was made for us Germans! And I always thought that most English speaker wouldn’t understand this masterpiece to its fullest because of the small references and details. The thing with the fingers is true. If you want to see another comparison watch Chris Pratt in a german interview at the oscars there they exchange the gesture unintentionally. The video is called “Chris Pratt is speaking German in interview Oscar 2015”

[@trivia-love]

As a german native speaker, I remember how intense that scene was for me. I could clearly hear that Fassbender had an accent, which freaked me out, because I was so worried when and how the Nazis would notice! But I don't think I immediately noticed the 3 Finger thing until later. (But still why would you start counting with your index finger?)

[@callumcowan7047]

+Isabel Counting with the thumb is equally weird for us Brits, it comes down to your personal exerience and how you grew up

[@duartemad]

Dude when I get to 4 I cant put my finger extended all the way.

[@brucetucker4847]

@@duartemad Exactly! I don't know how you're supposed to extend 3 fingers and keep the 4th bent without holding it with the thumb. I guess it's lack of practice.

[@Surgicalsensei]

Because how do you hold up 4 fingers?? You cant lift your ring finger on its own with your pinky still down... food for thought

[@josephzepeda1330]

I think starting with the index finger makes the number one clearer. If I want to gesture that one I use my index finger. Do Germans use the thumb?

[@fmca96]

This was glorious. I knew I was in a for good video and was thrilled. I know this was sponsored but honestly this was done so well I'd love to see more of these from you Jack.

[@alicjagagaa5667]

When you explained what gave him away and then the scene with the antagonist figuring it out popped up I tensed so much. That is the definition of succesful storytelling and conveying emotions, amazing. Great video!

[@MarcinZdun]

Pole here. We also count from thumb and I remember sitting in the cinema through this intense sequence and suddenly going "what did he just do? do Germans do it like that, or is he toast?"

[@KyraJadeXoX]

This is really interesting, could you make more of these breakdowns of your favourite scenes of other films?

[@derbaertiger]

That was a great Video! this is one of the best scenes in the movie, on pair with the strudel scene.

[@red0silver0blue]

Very cool video! As a translator, I greatly welcome language-related content!:) You integrated the sponsored stuff very well, it didn‘t bother me at all because you showed how the product can be useful in an interesting, creative way and did not come across as fake while doing it. That‘s how it‘s done! Also, hi to the Babble guy! I too am a native speaker of German who counts the number 1 using her thumbs, but I never in a million years would have noticed the finger thing in that scene. It‘s not a very conspicuous gesture to me. Guess I‘m just not cut out to be a spy.

[@imaginefob]

I love Inglourious Basterds especially because I'm a German native studying English at university and I also learned French in school. Watching it always makes me feel like I know more than I should know about it and that's kinda cool.

[@TheJanaRina]

Same

[@darthsyphilis6008]

German guy here! I think, if i recall correctly, Fassbenders Charakter says he's from the south of Germany, from a mountain village. But he does not sound Bavarian at all. He should have said that he's from Friesland, that's the islands in the north of our country, people speak a sort of mix between German and English there. Also watching this scene knowing German makes it very tense, since you know that the SS guy is on to him from the very beginning and you know that Fassbender needs to make only one mistake to confirm those suspicions.

[@arcustangensus]

No, he claims to be from the area around Piz Palü (the village he mentions is made-up i think) which is between southeastern Switzerland (canton Graubünden) and Italy. In the swiss region they speak Rhaeto-Romanic, Italian and some Swiss German (Bündner dialect). In the italian region they speak a local Italian dialect and no german at all. I've never heard one of the people in this region of Switzerland speak High German but i imagine it would sound worse than Fassbenders High German. Btw in todays Switzerland we learn High German in School, but i don't know about 1900-1930's Graubünden.

[@OrkarIsberEstar]

@@arcustangensus second problem, what does a swiss guy do as pcatain of the german wehrmacht? that would also raise suscpision no?

[@alteye1]

@@OrkarIsberEstar Right?? At that point, if he's already admitting that he's a foreigner, he might as well just have said that he grew up in Britain as son to a German dad for example. No problems left. Accent explained, counting explained.

[@100Creed]

was laberst du. was für mix zwischen deutsch und englisch? stimmt doch überhaupt nicht

[@heinervogt4484]

Hallo , hier eine späte Erklärung: Als er mit dem Auftrag (Szene mit Rod Taylor als Winston Churchill) betraut wurde , zeigte er sich als Experte für deutsche Filme. Und in der Szene in der Bar musste er sich schnell eine Legende einfallen lassen und griff auf einen Film zurück , von dem er Details wusste und gab sich eben als jemand aus , der in einem Dorf aufgewachsen ist , wo angeblich alle so sprechen !

[@DJSbros]

I didn't know it but I've been waiting a long time for this exact video.

[@AnthonyLeighDunstan]

Nice video fellas. Perfect blend of being informative and entertaining. 😁👍🏻

[@tatianareyes7584]

Can we have more videos like this? This was wonderful

[@dozzzor]

interesting fact: the 3 fingers (thumb + 2 fingers) are also a nazi salute, the Kühnengruß. the fingers form a "W" for "Widerstand" (german for resistance)

[@jaykaufman9782]

Great information! But I also think the Kuehnengruss derives from the fascist three-finger symbol symbol popular under Mussolini in Italy (where it symbolized Sicily which provided many Fascist recruits) and rightists in Yugoslavia. I'd never heard it represented "Widerstand"; this likely was Goebbels' giving a German meaning to a pre-existing fascist symbol.

[@johnsmall5901]

Of course, counting 3 with any group of consecutive fingers will always reveal a "W."

[@gambinogambinos2439]

It's still Serbian salute. We don't care much because similarities with nazis. Some sayed that Hitler was artist, before he visited Vienna, than he meet Serbs and other Balkan people, and he start to learn how to hate others. hahahahah

[@LoekStreams]

I really enjoyed the way you deconstructed Tarantino's framing of shots and sound design. Would love to see more scene deconstructions like this! Really interesting stuff.

[@ShannonBreatheFire]

This was super interesting! Please do more videos like this!

[@johnjim6793]

I am a native German speaker, and I found the scene highly fascinating. Everything in it is top notch. The three-finger giveaway is totally on spot, and Michael Fassbinder, being half German, is the perfect choice for playing a British spy who would try to impersonate a German. Though the accent he speaks is immediately noticable, it could be believable that he is from some distant location, although he doesn't sound like he is from the Alps, but maybe from some spot in the Eastern part of the Reich. Always keep in mind that any neutral observer would take him as a German officer among other German officers, so he could get away with it - like the one drunken soldier notices his slightly strange way of speaking but then shuts up when the Til Schweiger character barks at him. So it takes a Gestapo officer to uncover the truth. The twist worked for me, but in a different way: I was highly surprised that an American director would put that much effort and intelligence into creating a scene like this where German language, culture and habits are used as very refined dramatic tools - instead of doing it the normal Hollywood way and have Gestapo officers running around barking the usual "Achtung Achtung", "Raus Raus Raus" and "Gott im Himmel".

[@catsrambling]

I'm a language nerd (I'm studying translation atm) and now I really want a series of video breaking down Inglorious Basterds from a linguistic perspective. PS: in Italy too we count from the thumb, so something felt wrong when he went "3" like that

[@badouplus1304]

I know it is only a cultural thing, but everytime I see someone showing a "one" count with the thumb, my brain does not compute it right away. I am from Canada and we start couting with the index.

[@holwhitjones]

Perfect timing that you released this just as I’m studying Tarantino in my a level film studies class 😂 thanks Jack 👌🏻👌🏻

[@egyptiancaramel]

YEESSS!!! I’ve missed the film analysis videos!

[@jamiedoesthings]

"Hate when that happens." What a line. Even your informative videos are hilarious So as someone who studied German at university and has shamefully only seen parts of this film, I now really want to watch it (more than I already did). I love linguistics, so thank you for making this video - I'd honestly be interested in more like this in the future too! I'm not sure if you watch Archer, but one of the later seasons was an absolute masterpiece, partly because they cast so many native German speakers and really took the time to teach one of the major cast members to the best of his ability. It's something that's often overlooked but a lot of people really appreciate it when it's done right. I'd love more analysis of the times it goes right in media. Although if your language expert is around and reading this...would certain sounds in German in qualify as, if not a dark L, a sort of middling gloomy L? I'm thinking e.g. "alles" in a southern accent but there could be more. I'm not an expert myself, just curious! (I'll definitely go away and think of different experiences I've had where the bilingual bonus has changed the film, and maybe return to this comment with thoughts after FINALLY watching Inglourious Basterds too)

[@melle117]

As a native german speaker I don't think it takes away the suspense it just kind of shifts it in a way. Like you clearly notice that he has a weird accent so the suspense evolves around the way they try to justify his accent and if the other guy buys it or not. And what you said about the whole gesture thing in the end is 100% accurate. Great scene. Great movie.

[@ElectraJade74]

I loved how you broke down the scene!

[@amyhowex]

Love love love this type of video from you Jack! Any chance to hear you talking about films I am there! Excellent content, thanks for sharing 😍x

[@bastiwen]

As someone who speaks English, French and German (and can understand a bit of Italian) I found this whole movie's use of language so good ! In Switzerland we also use the German three, or at least that's how I do it haha, so when I first saw the movie the three Michael Fassbender did seemed really odd

[@MoonSafariFilms]

As someone that took German in high school, I learned about the finger counting thing, so I really enjoyed that moment in the film.

[@aertonnolan7801]

Fave tense scene of all time (just behind that one in Boogie Nights, oh dayum) broken down by the legend that is JH, nice work 🙌🏼

[@gabrielmorley8203]

MORE OF THESE FANTASTIC THINGS JACK PLEASE DO IT DO IT

[@TheRealBeatMaster]

As a native german speaker, hearing the fragments of english pronunciation in Fassbender's dialogue (even though he is at a very impressive level) does take away some of the tension for me, because it feels too obvious for him to get away with it for as long as he does in the scene. It's still a perfectly enjoyable scene, because you don't know if he'll get away with it, but I never lose that "He's so much more suspicious than the movie wants him to be" feeling. The reveal with the finger sign is still genius though, and it really does stick out that much to the german eye.

[@NC7491]

The pub scene is indeed one of the greatest scenes made on film. It's interesting how Tarrantino makes movies with the most outlandish and unrealistic plots and yet at the micro level, he notices and explores details that make scenes extremely realistic. Like in 99% of the movies, no one would dwell on how a spy fakes such a convincing accent. Tarrantino noticed though and he created magic.

[@peach5764]

This was such a fascinating video- I love these sort of movie analysis’!

[@reeddressler9042]

Holy cow this is incredibly good!

[@hampusbengtsson4580]

One of my favorite scenes in film! I can watch it all day, and still sit and hope that he never makes the same mistake - But guess what? He does 😥

[@vsevolodzaydin6039]

The main problem is that Michael Fassbender didn’t screw up when he signed a three fingered sign, the point is that the antagonist realized that Michael Fassbender is the wrong guy and agent much earlier. He understands it at the beginning of the scene, when he came at their table and then he just trying to blow the lid of him. Ditter (antagonist) heard a really freaky accent, and then just wanted to hear his excuses. Michael Fassbender, told him, that he was a native “Pitz Palu” inhabitant and filmed in a cognominal movie of G.Pabst. Ditter was amazed at the accuracy with which Michael describes the action from the film. But Michael didn’t even suspect that Ditter had seen this film quite recently (when he took Shoshana to the restaurant, we all remember the poster above the entrance of her cinema). And Ditter realized that Michael was the very same film critic who had been published previously in Germany. But since he didn’t see a picture of German cinema over the past few years due to military operations, Ditter wrote on the Michael’s card the name of a German actress who was widely known in Germany only for the latest “Menhausen” film, that came out last year. Naturally, Michael did not see him. And if in this card game, the line would have reached Michael, he would have called a dozen of unknown films with her participation, but not the most famous (“Menhausen”). So Ditter wanted to call a bluff of him. And when Michael showed that gesture, Ditter was very upset that he could give himself away so easily. ☺️

[@edlawn5481]

In fact, I wonder if Dieter was reading Hickox's book in the restaurant, before he joined them at the table. I didn't get a clear glimpse of it.

[@Wesker3107]

I remember when I saw it in German theatres and when Fassbender showed the three everyone went quiet and some went „Oooh...“.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

That scene is incredibly tense, an emotion that builds slowly to an excruciating climax

[@derterraah1275]

Hey im german and i watched the movie very often because it is just amazing and i watched it in german and in englisch. The funny part is, as you could imagine, the german voice of michael fasbender is also german and the whole start of the scene doesnt really make sence in german because the major says he sounds different when he actually doesnt. Just thought it would be interresting to know for you

[@derwurm9863]

yes, it looked strange that they synchronized his voice.

[@timon6706]

yup, was looking for that comment. they actually synchronized Fassbenders voice with an almost perfect sounding German voice so it almost made no sense.

[@B---tw3kh]

The most impressive part of this scene is that Michael Fassbender is capable of speaking fluent German and he's Irish, yet he speaks German with an English accent with noticable errors

[@codythedoggo7671]

Bless you for this video

[@yesmaybeso1022]

LOOOOVED this video!!

[@deadbutterfly6163]

I’m German and this scene had me sweating so much. Like, I knew what was coming but I wanted it not to happen and when I saw the “non-German” three I was like: k bye

[@edlawn5481]

Hellstrom knew all along. He was just trying to figure out what they were doing there. He knew the other Germans at the table recognized Hickox' mistake and that it was pointless to carry on with the charade.

[@Freaki1705]

As an austrian linguistic student who also really loves movies this video is a 14/10

[@BoundInChains]

Mr. Fassbender's forced laughter makes me tense. 😁

[@mariaprincess2008]

Really enjoyed this! If they were to offer you money to do a series of these it would definitely be worth watching!