MovieChat Forums > Sans soleil (1983) Discussion > English narration?

English narration?

posted 15 years ago by PunchB
8 replies | jump to latest

I normally never watch a movie dubbed. I prefer the original dialog, and watch with subtitles instead.

But I'm wondering about this. I have the Criterion DVD with both French and English audio tracks. There's only narration as I understand, no actors portraying characters. Watching it in English would mean I could focus more on the images. Would you recommend watching it with the English narration? Is the translation good?

(Please also state if you're the type who would usually prefer dub before sub.)

[–] teamartfag 15 years ago

i've not watched the french version, only the english one. Alexandra Stewart's narraton is great, as far as i know the text is the same as chris marker wrote english and french versions, rather then having the french text translated by someone else.
i hate dubbed films normally but as there is no synched dialogue it isn't really an issue for me. i can't really imagine watching the french version now as i'm so used to hearing her say ''the first image he told me about...'' at the start i think i'd feel a bit lost. also i think trying to catch everything thats said in subtitles would be pretty annoying and i wouldn't be able to focus on the images and words at the same time.
i'm going to watch the english version of La Jetee soon which i've heard is slightly inferior but it's on the DVD i have of both films so i might as well give it a try

[–] PunchB 15 years ago

Thanks a lot for your reply! I'll watch it with English narration then. Some day when I have time maybe I'll also check out the French narration.

[–] Voice-in-the-Machine 15 years ago

Just to verify what teamartfag said, the English version was written by Marker himself (and the quote at the beginning of the film, which differs between the two versions, was also chosen by Marker).

[–] Revolutionow 14 years ago

There are no English language subtitles, so unless you speak French, you're going to want the English language audio track.

there is a very loud amusement park right in front of my present lodgings

[–] el-9984 14 years ago

The Criterion Collection edition has both the French and English narration soundtracks and an English subtitle option.

[–] Zoomorph 13 years ago

The dialog is so fast and complex and self-referential that I could barely understand it in english. I would not recommend french (unless you speak it of course), because you will miss out on the imagery and probably half the dialog as well.

~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

[–] thefly50 9 years ago

I'm pretty sure Marker himself said that his films are better off being watched in the language the viewer knows most-in this case, English. Alexandra Stewart's narration is really good anyway. I normally hate dubs, because I like to hear the original actors (Even in notoriously poorly lip-synched films like La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2), but Sans Soleil (and La Jetée) are films where you need to listen to the dubbed version.

[–] Trigonomics 9 years ago

I just watched it in French with English subtitles and I couldn't enjoy the film. It was hard to keep up with the imagery and stories she was telling at the same time. The thought of watching a dubbed version didn't even occur to me. While I'm not a fan of dubbed films, it seems necessary for something like this.