A Mosquito in the Ear is a film based on true events. A couple from California travels to Goa, India to adopt a 4-year-old girl named Sarvari who has lived her life in India with her friends and teachers, to then travel to another country with two strangers who don’t speak the same language as her. During the course of this film the audience gets a feel for what it truly means to take someone from everything they once knew. This film goes in depth on how hard language barriers are, yet how by loving someone it goes beyond language, showing the audience the deeper meaning behind the power of dialect in films.
I spent seven days in Santa Barbara with my brother, Xavier — who also shares a love for films — getting to experience the beach, palm trees, the beautiful weather, and the action of filmmaking. During our time, we went to see this film called A Mosquito in the Ear at The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). What I loved most about this film was being able to feel both sides. Sarvari, someone who is super young and naive going into this unknown journey with her parents who see and love their daughter, yet don’t fully understand her or what she truly needs to the extent they want to. Everything in this film was very detailed and educational, making it a great fit for teachers when choosing a film for their classroom. The next day, my brother got to visit the actual family and hear an answer to a lingering question he had when we finished watching the film: “how did this family get chosen to be in this film?” The director of this film, Nicola Rinciari, answered by saying he noticed the father’s graphic novel, Una Zanzara nell’Orecchio, by Andrea Ferraris and wanted this story to be seen and heard on film.Â
A fundamental part in this film is where Sarvari is talking in Hindi — the only language she knows — and there are no subtitles. When watching this occur, my first thought was, are there supposed to be subtitles here? The reason this thought occurred is because in films there are typically subtitles when there is a language the expected audience won’t understand, in order to make it easier on the audience. This part challenged me to see beyond the words and dive into the moment at hand. I thought to myself, sitting with this barrier must be very present to how Sarvari and the parents both feel. I went to a panel of the people who produced the sound for A Mosquito in the Ear and at this panel it was brought up that this was done on purpose. I find it so beautiful that they were able to put the audience in the room with Sarvari and the parents during this scene without us actually having to be there. Showing us the power behind the dialect in film and where a film can take you without it.Â
The reason why one can love film can be for a plethora of reasons, but yet one undeniable thing is how behind every film, what is keen is its dialect. You can’t truly know what is going on in a film without its dialect. Just like in real life, we need a sense of dialect to know what someone truly wants. As an actor, your job is to be able to find our character’s motive and to be able to communicate that dialect efficiently. We bring those words from paper to life. That moment in the film where I couldn’t understand what Sarvari was saying was challenging because I was scared I was missing an important part in the telling of this story. When sitting with this uncomfortability, it shows you how much words carry meaning. The power behind a film is the dialect and the power those words hold and having an actor who can effectively portray what is being said with the emotion and power in the dialect being said creates these films where you then feel what another person is feeling. When a film does that, that’s when you have been transported into the reality of someone else, truly giving the saying, “to be in someone’s shoes,” a whole new meaning.
The words in a film create a new world for everyone a part of the film. I do believe that silence in a film is very powerful, but you need to feel the dialect first to understand the silence. If you get a chance to watch this film, I would, because it taught me more than I could have imagined. Whether you are home or even traveling as I was when I watched this film, sit, grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and enjoy. I hope this film teaches you something new as it has for me. Â