Heroic Trio’s dub is awful, but I love that movie.
Michael Mann has dubbed a few lines in his films when he conceived alternative dialogue, but didn’t want to reshoot. The film I have in mind is Heat. I don’t particularly like it myself, as it breaks the illusion of the film. But, though he does it in Heat and a very small occasion in Collateral, I appreciate the strength of the entire picture for both of them.
i agreee JRV. dubbing does throw off the pace of a film for me. However, a great story, etc. can make up for the dubbing.
sometimes, though, you just have no choice. take my guilty pleasure of Jess Franco films. it is hard to find a film of his that is not dubbed. it must be hard when everyone in the cast are from different countries and speak different languages. i believe that he often dubbed his films in the language of the country that put up most of the money for the film he was working on. with jess franco though, it is not really about the acting or the dialogue. it’s everything.
I am not as opposed to dubbing as others appear to be – after all, it DID work effectively for Serge Leone and his spaghetti westerns. In his films, too, he was using actors who spoke several different languages and dubbing into English seemed to work OK. I have seen so many atrocious translations into subtitles, that I can see why Criterion does their own. As I get older and blinder, I would much prefer a dubbed film than one I can’t read the subtitles to anyway, as they are white against a black and white background, and almost unreadable. So many classic black and white foreign language films are still like this. I would rather they were dubbed than done this way. Just another perspective on the subject from someone with low vision and who loves foreign films.
How about The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ?
I remember watching this film YEARS ago in world history class and was so engrossed in it that I never noticed any faults suggesting dubbing.
I’m with Filmy Andy. The Spaghetti Westerns do it quite a bit, and to much greater effect than if they were subtitled. Rare cases though.
The Leopard was released in an edited and English-dubbed version, but I’d advise avoidance.
Well, Spaghetti Westerns are a bit different though. In the case of The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Eastwood, Van Cleef, and Wallach were the only ones who actually spoke english. And even then, not all the other actors spoke Italian. People from all over Europe were cast in that film, which was kind of necessary to have it dubbed into a single language. How ridiculous would it be to hear three people speak english, a hundred others speaking italian, french and german
I agree with Tom on The Leopard
Also isnt Aguirre The Wrath Of God dubbed badly too?
Dubbing the film makes it no longer the film. Take away the actors voices and you have a seriously flawed film. It does not always mean that the film will not “work”, at some level, but the original film is gone. I refuse to see dubbed films at the cinema, for me they are TV fodder, when you are exhaused from work, and are not all that particular about what you watch.
Re TV, some strange things do happen though. X-Files was better in French than it was in English, and Desperate Housewives is excellent dubbed.
The Brotherhood Of the wolf~ om dvd its in french with an english version….. kinda odd seeing most of the actors in the film speak english! i like it when some film will do one take in there language and another take in english!
I have to piggyback on Consuelo’s comment. My girlfriend likes to watch The Hours in French with English subtitles. She says it makes the movie a richer experience for her. I usually avoid dubbed versions of films because I don’t usually like the voice actors used for dubbing. I’d rather hear the languages spoken, anyway. I know I take my chances with the translators, but it makes me feel as if I’m getting a feel for the film’s country of origin when I hear the language(s). Bring back yellow subtitles!
Dubbing, like much else in life, can be good or bad. The Italians have a long history of dubbing films. The Leopard, Visconti’s masterpiece, used Italian, French, and English actors each speaking their own language. I believe I am correct in saying that their is no true original language version. The Italian, French, and English versions are all (partially) dubbed. I might add that the English-language version released in the States was bad, mostly because Hollywood butchered the film, not because of the dubbing. Here in Quebec almost all foreign language films are dubbed into French, and mostly with good results. I recently saw Milk in both an English and French-dubbed version. It was equally good dubbed into French. Much the same for Doubt and Benjamin Button. I spent a great deal of my life vowing never to see a dubbed film, but five years in a country that dubs its films has convinced me that it isn’t all that bad.
JRV
I’ve always felt somewhat hostile to movies that have been dubbed into English or other languages(I’ve seen too many badly dubbed films, I guess). If you look at a film like “Danton”, you could see that some of the actors are not speaking French. However, a great film like “Danton” can surpass any objections to dubbing. I look forward to seeing this film…again.