From the Mists of History to the High Resolution Screen: Barbarians

Written by Elizabeth Coulter

Netflix’s 2020 series Barbarians brings to life the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, transporting the viewer back 2000 years to the 1st century AD, Roman-occupied Germania. Despite the pivotal nature of the battle as a triumph for the early Germanic tribes against the Romans, our written sources exclusively tell the Roman perspective of the event, since the Germanic tribes of the time did not write anything down. And yet, it is the seemingly overwhelming task of providing the perspective of the Germanic peoples that the creators of Barbarians have taken on with their series. While it may be easy enough to use archaeological evidence to visually reconstruct the world of ancient tribes such as the Cherusci (their buildings and clothing and so on), it is ultimately through the screenwriting techniques employed that we the audience are immersed in the perspective of the Cherusci. The attempt to construct the outlook of the ancient Germanic tribes is vital in drawing the viewer into their world. It is achieved through such intangible, yet culturally defining elements of society: the language we use, the way we think, and the interactions we have with the people around us.

“Verstehst du, was er sagt? ("Wolf and Eagle”, 4:46-7)

A framework for who the audience is to identify with is created in something as basic as the choice of language for the Germanic peoples and the Romans respectively. Reflecting the immense Roman literary output of the period, the Romans speak in meticulously reconstructed Classical Latin, creating a sense of realism by bringing to life the language of our dusty grammar books. The Latin is set in contrast to the modern German spoken by the Germanic peoples. As one may expect, the Proto-Germanic language of tribes such as the Cherusci is not fully known, but even if a masterful reconstruction were to be constructed to aid our time-travel, it would likely sound even more foreign to the audience than the Latin. By having the Germanic peoples speak Modern German, it associates the audience with the Germanic tribes in opposition to the Romans whose language “others” them. The film being German-made and covering a significant event in German history, the chosen language for the audience is naturally German, however even in the foreign language dubs the Romans’ lines are left in Latin. As common as Latin may be in written form today, it is not often heard spoken. Therefore, the choice of the ancient Roman language as opposed to a modern Romance language serves not only to give a sense of realism in the time period, but also to provide the Romans with a language that sounds particularly unfamiliar and therefore signals a very different culture.

“Der Wolf kommt!” (“Wolf and Eagle”, 1:22-3)

When Arminius is reflecting on the battle to Varus’ severed head in its aftermath, he says “You never understood…that some want to live differently than you. To worship and to feel differently than you do” (“The Battle”, 36:08-18). Working from the language used, we naturally arrive at the way in which it is used; the imagery and turns of phrase that work to get the audience into the head of the Cherusci – how they thought and perceived the world. From the very first line of the series: “Der Wolf kommt!” (“Wolf and Eagle”, 1:22-3), which can be translated as “The wolf comes” or perhaps more menacingly in the continuous: “The wolf is coming”, to the very end of the series when Arminius sees a wolf after the victorious battle, we are asked to think like a Cheruscan. The motif of the wolf pulls from later written Germanic mythology and works it into the idea of the wolf as a symbol of the fact that nothing lasts forever, everything in nature is cyclical; the wolf is ever-present, always waiting, and will one day consume everything. The Roman symbol of the maternal and nurturing wolf by contrast is only given a very brief mention and never explored, thereby remaining a foreign concept; and Varus’ statement that only the Roman army can destroy the world in the same scene strikes a naïve note.

The Germanic motif of the wolf is not one present in our modern consciousness, but it is introduced through the modern language, particularly in Chief Segimer’s lines. However, the concept is introduced to us smoothly through concepts we do understand, so that it feels natural to us. For example, Segimer begins his final speech by stating that “Nothing lasts forever. Stars…trees…animals…people. Even the gods. Everything perishes eventually.” (“A New Reik”, 12:37-57), which is a universally understandable statement that then flows straight into the metaphorical version of it: “The wolf will come…and the world will burn. The wolf…will devour the moon. He’ll devour the sun. He’ll devour everything. Everything that ever existed. But that is not anything you need to fear. Everything that begins…must also end” (13:00-42). The effect is such, that when we are shown a wolf visually on screen, we know how to interpret it without the need of dialogue. At the very end of the series, when Arminius has become the great battle leader who has united and led the Germanic tribes to victory over the might of Rome, we know that the wolf is there as a reminder that this will not last forever.

“Bring me the head...of Folkwin Wolfspeer.” (“Vengeance”, 36:27-34)

Perhaps the screenwriting choice that has attracted the most criticism is the central narrative itself. The dramatic elaboration of the sparse historical record appears to some clichéd, while others might see it as a natural storytelling choice. The historical events of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest are but the backdrop to the dramatic story of three friends, including Arminius, the key figure in instigating battle, and his wife Thusnelda; a stereotypically feisty female lead. The third main character, Folkwin, is pure fiction, created to add the tension of a love-triangle to the story. The choice to create small-scale conflict between the Germanic tribespeople specifically allows the audience to get to know them individually, making us more personally invested in the tribes, while the Romans are largely presented as a uniform, antagonistic force. Furthermore, many of the interactions among the Germanic tribes and individuals revolve around themes of trust and betrayal. For example, when Arminius is put in a position where he has to choose between his Roman allegiance and his friendship with Folkwin, he chooses to spare his friend’s life and kill his Roman comrades. Such scenes thematically tie themselves to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, which resulted from Arminius’ choice to betray the Romans and side with his native Cherusci tribe.

However, the question of to what extent a screenwriter should or should not rely on tropes and stereotypical characters when telling a story remains a difficult one. There will always be critics who argue that any period drama simply isn’t “historically accurate enough”, but as writer for the show Arne Nolting states, “It’s not a history lesson…We’re making entertainment” (as quoted by Langmann). The screenwriter’s dilemma is perhaps sharpened by the lack of relevant source material from the Germanic perspective. Much longer TV series such as The Last Kingdom or Vikings, which pull from the history of much later Germanic peoples, have a wealth of Germanic literature at their disposal in order to spin stories that arguably do not lean so heavily on modern storytelling clichés since they have fewer gaps to fill. However, it is clearly much more difficult to avoid tropes when dealing with such murky history as that of the early 1st century Cheruscans.

Conclusion

It is ultimately the screenwriting techniques of Barbarians which really work to transport the audience into the Germanic perspective of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. These techniques can be drawn out to create a framework for bringing to life a foreign perspective and momentarily placing the viewer comfortably in that otherwise unfamiliar mindset. Details the viewer may not even think about such as language choice colour the way in which we perceive and connect to various characters. It is then the use of the language which we are most immersed in that a way of thinking can be built through the way various concepts are phrased, giving us an idea of the mindset of peoples such as the Cherusci. Finally, the story itself ultimately relies on smaller-scale conflict between the characters whose perspective we want to understand, not only to provide entertainment, but also to make the audience invest in and identify with them.

Works Cited

“A New Reik.” Barbarians, written by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting, and Jan Martin Scharf, directed by Barbara Eder, Gaumont International Television and Netflix, 2020.

Langmann, Brady. “Barbarians Season Two Can Continue an Ancient Conflict to its Bloody Conclusion.” Esquire, October 28th 2020.

“The Battle.” Barbarians, written by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting, and Jan Martin Scharf, directed by Steve Saint Leger, Gaumont International Television and Netflix, 2020.

“Vengeance.” Barbarians, written by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting, and Jan Martin Scharf, directed by Barbara Eder, Gaumont International Television and Netflix, 2020.

“Wolf and Eagle.” Barbarians, written by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting, and Jan Martin Scharf, directed by Barbara Eder, Gaumont International Television and Netflix, 2020.