Watching the dubbed version on PBS for the first time. Saw the original in the 1980s for a French class. I don't understand why they dub these movies but it really takes away from the original. See the original if possible. Surprised that PBS would air this version.
shareHeh, I just saw it on PBS too (I'm on the west coast). I'm guessing they used the dubbed version so it could relate to the English speaking audience. It also seems to pull some viewers into the story better so they won't have to read the subtitles every second.
shareWas it just me, or did they add a scene at the very end?
shareI just saw the dubbed version - as I recall, the original version ended with Plumpick standing nude outside the gate, with his bird cage. This version ends with him talking to the other inmates, and the duke makes a comment about how the best journeys are taken through a window. Definitely prefer the original ending.
shareI just saw the dubbed version on PBS, too. I'm not sure what I think about the dubbing, I'm sure it takes away from the original and could have been done better, but at least on a medium-sized TV screen it makes it easier not to have to read subtitles. I'm sure you're right about the ending, I also recall seeing the original version ending with Plumpick standing nude outside the gate with his bird cage, leaving the rest to the viewer's imagination. I agree with you, I like the original ending much better, I was quite surprised to see that extra scene at the end.
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I just saw the PBS version, and I was like "wow that would have been even crazier, if The Scotts only speak, English, French French, German-German. I take it, the non- dubber version has that, adding to the plot a bit.
Aside from the original language aspect, which I prefer, the comment about going out through a window is actually is a complete wrap.
When the girl first joins him she comes through the window and when he saves the town he goes out of a window.
Gerhard
I also had first exposure to the film via PBS and I thought the dub was horrible. i am convinced that was not Alan Bate's authentic voice. The Scottish accent was diabolical, not worthy of him. Still a magical film however.
shareI thought maybe the audio track was out of synch with the film. Very off-putting.
shareI may be crazy too (in fact I am diagnosed but that's beside the point) because I thought that the original film that I saw was actually with a different lead than alan bates and it was in english. Genvieve Bujold was in it and I can't remember the actors name who played the lead... but it wasn't alan bates... am i crazy or is there another version of this film?? Brielle
shareActually, it was NOT originally in French. Part of the beauty of this film is that all of the characters speak their "native" language among themselves just as they would in the real world; the Brits speak English, the Germans speak German, and the French speak French. When Pvt. Plumpick (Alan Bates) is among the French people he speaks to them in French (which he is fluent in-- which is why he was chosen by headquarters for the job). When Plumpick speaks to his fellow Englishmen he of course speaks English. If you watch the "English" version of the movie you get subtitles for the parts that are in the other two languages. It really is so seamless that you hardly even notice the shift from one language to the other, especially if you happen to know a bit of French and German. However, I suspect that this flaunting of the hallowed Hollywood convention of having Germans speaking English with a German accent and Frenchmen speaking English with a French accent is one of the reasons why this great film flopped in the U.S. That and the sad fact that it was probably a bit over the heads of the lowest common denominator of the mass American audience at the time.
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