MovieChat Forums > The Last Don (1997) Discussion > Good movie with just a little problem

Good movie with just a little problem

posted 14 years ago by rumpelteazer666
4 replies | jump to latest

I saw this one on tv as a boy and I liked it very much, as shown by the fact that after ten years I still remembered to check the title now and then to see if I could finally find it somewhere. Well, I found it and watched it again and I must confirm that it's a good movie, but this time, watching it in the original language I noticed an incomprehensible mistake from the director.

Basically, everyone speaks italian incorrectly, with a strong american accent and the wrong pronunciation. As for the old dons I could make an effort and imagine that they had lived in the USA so long to completely forget, but then the movie moved to Sicily and the people there spoke in the same way. Has anyone else noticed this? I guess you don't have to know italian to feel that something is wrong, since everyone laughs at that scene from "Inglorious Basterds".

Besides, no one seemed to know what was the right pronunciation for "Peppe" ('Payppeh', not 'Pippy'), not even him or the old don, and as for the actor playing Leo Vazi I had the feeling that they had briefed him incorrectly, since he was clearly trying to imitate a mexican.

Things like this have a way to pull you slightly out of the movie reality. I think they should have used a dub to avoid this risk, or keep to english.

But again, great movie. I think that the story itself had the potential to make an even better movie than the Godfather, but even if that didn't happen it's still very enjoyable.

my vote history: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=43162133

[–] sleepallday 14 years ago

His name was Pippi not Peppe, so they pronounced that right.

[–] rumpelteazer666 14 years ago

I've never heard the name Pippi except for Pippi Longstocking, so I've always assumed that it was "Peppe" (a common nickname for "Giuseppe") and it was just pronounced wrong in the movie.

Since I suspect that you've read the novel, could you tell me if it is ever mentioned that Pippi is a nickname and his real name is something like Giuseppe or Joseph? In that case the mistake would be by Puzo.

The reason why I keep on thinking that it is a mistake is not just that it is the only strange name in the story, but also that it would sound ridiculous to anyone who speaks italian, especially for a gangster. It's hard to imagine that his parents chose to name him that way and that the rest of the family did nothing to stop them.

my vote history: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=43162133

[–] pandora66613 14 years ago

I've read the book a few times and his name is Joseph.

Choose your destiny

[–] capo_bastone1 11 years ago

Yeah, de lena's given name is joseph, and all of yous have something legit in your posts. Yes, the dialects and accents are off in places, kinda what you get with a made for tv production. They just don't pay as much attention like they do for a major thing like Il Padrone. And Pippi is pronounced like it reads, Puzo never told us what it means though. An insider Sicilian thing maybe. It is a strange nickname for a paisano that is true, but have you heard some of the nicknames we get called by? Lol...