MovieChat Forums > Opera (1987) Discussion > Don't watch it in English!

Don't watch it in English!

posted 19 years ago by fdpedro
21 replies | jump to latest

If you haven't seen the movie yet, do NOT watch it in English. That means, do NOT watch it on AB's new disc for the first time. While it looks and sounds great, and has some nice features, the English dubbing kills everything Argento wanted the movie to be.

I mean, it is bad. Even for Italian horror standards. Only Ian Charleston gets a good dub, but everyone else does terribly.

Cristina Marsillach is given the most annoying voice... ever. The voice of the little girl next door was so annoying she reminded me of the little kid in Fulci's Gates of Hell.

Daria Nicolodi's voice is okay, her silly dialogue brings it down.

Not only that, but it also gives the movie some good unintentional moments of humor. The scene where the crew member plays cat and mouse with the killer, looses, and is stabbed with scissors is ruined by the annoying laughs and screams.

Sample dialogue:

"I need your help... there is a maniac after me. What should I do?"

"There is only one thing to do... call the police!"

You are better off with the Arrow DVD, which allows you to watch the film in Italian.

[–] RobertUK 18 years ago

I totally agree!

The bad dubbing in 'Opera' really lets it down unless you watch the Italian print.I find this a problem with most of Dario's movies.

[–] robbiedarkko 18 years ago

I agree with both you guys.

I've been learning Italian for a couple months, with one of the main intentions being to watch Argento films in their native language.

Ever since I first saw Opera (in 1996) I have always hated the English dubbing and you give the exact reasons why.

The thing is, now that I've got the Italian version - which seems like a totally different, darker, film than the English version - the damn voices don't go with the characters mouths, even though their tone gels perfectly. I saw this same thing with another Italian horror I watched recently called 'Delirium' - the language and voices are fine, but it doesn't go with the character's lips!

I really do not know what this is all about, but I'm planning on testing Suspiria out next.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] robbiedarkko 18 years ago

Thanks for the heads up - I didn't even know they were originally filmed in English. That explains things a hell of a lot, though - in Delirium in particular they look very clearly to be speaking English at points.

You wouldn't happen to know if the Italian in Opera is spoken by the original actors? It seems like it to me, though maybe I'm just hearing that because I'm still a novice in the language.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] clke 18 years ago

they dont care about the sound almost everyone in italian movies speak different languages.they dub after the movie is completed.

[–] The_King_of_Cool 8 years ago

Super old post. Many of these Italian films were filmed in English and many of these films had English speaking actors. Unless the English speaking actors could speak Italian they were dubbed by someone else.

Sometimes the non-English speakers may just sort of mumble their lines. According to Fabio Testi he did his lines in English in What Have You Done to Solange (though he was dubbed by someone else in English). However according to the actress that played his wife in the film, Testi just mumbled his lines or would simply move his mouth, but wouldn't speak.

I read the Big Racket, which was directed by Enzo Castellari was one of the rare times these movies were actually filmed in Italian and the reason was cause Testi couldn't speak English (the Big Racket came out 4-years after Solange). But anyways even if you watch these films in Italian they're still dubbed due to being filmed in English and or shot with no sound. And since many of these films use English speaking actors they'd have to be dubbed by someone who speaks Italian.

[–] dtsolomo 18 years ago

I didn't find the dubbing that bad for most of the characters, and considering Argento is known for the visual aspect of his films more than plot and acting, i don't think it's that big a deal.

[–] fdpedro 18 years ago

"I didn't mean to kill them, I ONLY WANTED TO SAVE THEIR SOULS!!!"

I think it's a pretty big deal.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] dtsolomo 17 years ago

If you're concerned about the diologue in an argento film, you're lost already

[–] scooby572 17 years ago

There are a lot of reasons to watch only the proper language track but as for dubbing in all movies it's a case of 'lost in translation.'
No language can just easily translate into English without it sounding all wrong.

There is nothing that can ever be done about that as 'lost in translation' has been around forever and always will be.

"Lucky to have the ability to see what i see, not what others 'see'"

[–] dawndeadromero 17 years ago

Yeah. The dubbing is pretty atrocious in this one. I've spoken to Coralina Tassoni and she has a very pleasant voice. She can speak english very well, but her dubbed voice in Opera is terribly annoying.

[–] Lucabar80 17 years ago

Once,a lot of months ago,I contacted Coralina Cataldi Tassoni by her site and I congratulated her for her playing roles in Demons 2 and Opera.
I believe her italian voice fits her character very well,her voice is always irritating and irritated like she is in the movie.

[–] Master_X_3_1_1 16 years ago

I found no problems with the english version. Certianly not enough that I would prefer subs.

"No man is just a number"

[–] zarch-3 16 years ago

The different voices add to the already strange situations. The effect is very unexpected and just another idiosyncratic part of these films like the music and the camera work

[–] MikeJackKearney 11 years ago

"English dubbing kills everything Argento wanted it to be." Argento himself oversaw the English version, as he does with all his films. The reason it sucks is because he created a bad English version. And the lead provided her own voice, so if it's annoying, then you only have the lead to blame.

[–] leanne-kershaw1 10 years ago

The accents were awful in the english one