MovieChat Forums > Takin' Over the Asylum (1994) Discussion > Scottish accents?

Scottish accents?

posted 11 years ago by lunayoshi
2 replies | jump to latest

'Ello! Sheltered Californian 'ere. ...if this poor excuse fer a typed-out accent wa'n't a right indication.

I have a hard time understanding some of the characters because their accents are so thick. Sometimes I have to pause the movie and rewatch some scenes because of it. I'm going to assume they're -all- Scottish accents aside from the Libyan lady. I honestly haven't heard accents that thick before, especially coming from David Tennant. So I was wondering:

Are those the differences between upper class vs. working class, location, or something like upbringing? I'd love to know; languages are fascinating and I wish we'd get more ACCURATE stuff from here in Hollywood. Sometimes American myopia in entertainment can be irritating. I can't imagine what people in Scotland (or was it Ireland? I think it's Scotland. It's been a while) thought of Mel Gibson in Braveheart, oh my stinkin' god.

I'm not sure if anyone on this board would know, but I'd give my left foot to understand. I can tell if someone was brought up between California and Denver, and then further East until you get to New England, but aside from Doctor Who, I haven't had enough exposure to tell the difference with anyone else, and I'm trying. I'd love to. Help?

Oh, and I thought I recognized the technician with Schizophrenia. He was the Irish ex-terrorist from Lie to Me*! ...I guess Tim Roth is another example of a British actor I'm trying to learn from, but his is more Cockney. I don't care if that's undesirable in England or something the same way Southern accents are frowned upon here. He's stinkin' Tim Roth! But I digress.

TL;DR: The differences in the Scottish accents: Where/why/faked or authentic?

P.S. Is that David's original/native accent that sort of faded over time or did he emphasize it for the sake of the film? I hear him in interviews now and it's not that thick. Anyone know?

P.S.S. His accent slipping in Doctor Who is precious~

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You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I cant spend the rest of mine with you.

[–] jane-669-738259 11 years ago

Would love to answer this, but I'm not clear exactly what you are asking - possibly because I'm a Glaswegian (where this is set) and don't ahve any problem at all with the accents . . .

David Tennant's accent is Paisley-ish (where he grew up I think) whereas his father has more of a western isles tint, I think. The hospital administrator has a posh Glasgow voice - generally considered quite fake, and pretty much something only heard in people over a certain age now. Francine has a working class Glasgow (probably east end) accent, and she uses a lot of patter. She is also brilliant in Tutti Frutti (another brilliant piece of TV set in Scotland, with a young Robbie Coltrane). Ken Stott doesn't sound llike he has much of an accent at all to me . . .

We thought Braveheart very funny. And we are weirdly proud of it - pretty much all of us can do the "you'll never take our freedom" speech, along with Mel's fake-Clydebank-that-sounds-pretty-american-accent, even though Wallce was another Paisley buddie.

[–] jalola298 9 years ago

I notice that even today, when David is interviewed for Scottish television or radio, his accent is much thicker than when he's interviewed for another broadcaster. So he definitely does turn it up and down. Overall, it's less thick than when he was 22.