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Is Anybody Else Annoyed With The British Accents?

posted 15 years ago by seanymphette
4 replies | jump to latest

I was annoyed that everybody in this film had a British accent, even the American actors. Don't British filmmakers employ dialect coaches? Why would the gentry in 19th century Russia sound like Victorians in England? Last night I rewatched "Eastern Promises" which had impeccable Russian and Ukrainian dialects and accents in the characters that were immigrants, even though the setting was Great Britain. Then this morning I watched this film, supposedly set in Russia, and there's not a smidgeon of Russian, not a phrase, not a hint of a dialect or accent, no references whatsoever to the richness of their culture. That pissed me off. What's that about, some imperialist idea that Brit-speak is the lingua franca of filmmaking? I also find it ironic that the film shows Vladmir viewing Othello, instead of a regional play, and that Kirsten Dunst's deathbed scene is as heavy handed and melodramatic as Desdemona's in that Shakespearean tragedy. My god, how much do the British have to pander to themselves? This story is about Russians, do you thing we might spike that tea with a little Vodka?

[–] ivana2804 14 years ago

What kind of accent would you prefer? An American accent? A regional British accent? Australian?

I hope you are not implying that you would want them to speak in English with Russian accents, which is the silliest, most absurd, most grating film cliche ever.

The only way to be realistic about it is to have the actors speak RUSSIAN. Actual Russian. Certainly not nonsense like English with Russian accents and an occasional phrase or whatever.

If they are going to speak English instead of Russian (just like actors in theatre don't speak the language in which the play is written or the language that the characters would be speaking in real life, but the language of the country where the theatre is), then what exactly is the problem with the British accents? Would any other accent make more sense?

Pain is to pleasure as disco is to punk.You need to live through one to fully appreciate the other.

[–] agera 13 years ago

I was annoyed, too.

I'm an native English speaker and when I watch a movie made by English speakers for an English-speaking audience, I prefer it to be in a language I don't understand, such as Russian. The whole cinematic experience is so much richer when it's incomprehensible to its audience.

And I agree there was no reason to mention a sonnet of Shakespeare, an Englishman. Why didn't they discuss the poetry of Pasternak instead?

Altogether, a very disappointing film. I had to put two shots of vodka into my tea after watching it.

"The night was sultry."

[–] Krustallos 12 years ago

Mermaidbronze, very disappointed with your comments here, particularly after you were so insightful about "Crash". As the posters above say, speaking English with a Russian accent is the worst kind of kitschery. Russians speaking Russian to each other don't do so with a 'Russian' accent, they just talk. No accent is perceived by the listener, except for regional and class variations. As with "Dangerous Liaisons", if the film is successful in dramatic terms you don't notice the accents.

The only exception I can think of is "Last Temptation of Christ", where it did sound a little odd to have the disciples spouting fluent Brooklynese, perhaps because that's such a quintessentially urban way of talking.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] cyberdew41 12 years ago

"And I agree there was no reason to mention a sonnet of Shakespeare, an Englishman. Why didn't they discuss the poetry of Pasternak instead? "

I believe because this story took place well before Pasternak's time (b. 1890 - d. 1960).

Better they should have discussed Pushkin..."Ya vas lyubil: lyubov yeshche byt mozhet. V dushe moyei; ugasla ne sovsem..."

To whit:

"I loved you once: perhaps that love has yet
To die down thoroughly within my soul;
But let it not dismay you any longer;
I have no wish to cause you any sorrow.
I loved you wordlessly, without a hope,
By shyness tortured, or by jealousy.
I loved you with such tenderness and candor
And pray God grants you to be loved that way again."

Much more apropos, I agree. :)