MovieChat Forums > Pinocchio (2002) Discussion > Is this better in Italian?

Is this better in Italian?

posted 15 years ago by TheZapRowsdower
11 replies | jump to latest

It has a dreadful rating on Rottentomatoes (as well as IMDb), but everyone seems to be talking about Breckin Meyer's crappy dubbing.

Well, being that it's an obvious mistake to dub over a charming actor with a mediocre one, is the English version simply a gross bastardization of a good movie, or was the movie just bad to begin with?

Maybe it's denial on my end, but Life Is Beautiful was excellent, and I find it hard to believe that Benigni would follow that up with something... God-awful.

I'm very curious about this one, mainly because it just seems like its folly is in the dubbing.

[–] bodger1 15 years ago

Yes! Watch it in Italian with English subtitles. It's a very good film that Miramax foolishly threw away due to wretched dubbing. I refuse to watch the dubbed version.

[–] groucho_x 15 years ago

No. I'm italian and I watched the movie at the theater when it came out in 2002. I can tell you that this film is mostly crap. A very poor transposition of a really beautiful novel.

[–] destracricetale 11 years ago

I would not call this a "good movie". A bad dubbing can lower the rate : from 2 to 1 in this case.

[–] michaelliska 15 years ago

I didn't see it in English, just Italian with English subtitles. I thought it was really fun, a really good movie, and I'm really puzzled how others saw it as so horrendous. It really isn't that bad. All people say when discussing how bad it is: 1) bad dubbing, and 2) that Benigni is 50 years old and playing a child-like puppet, which people seem to not be able to get past. Okay, so what - suspend disbelief. We don't get am actor who "looks" like Pinocchio, which in this day and age most people would expect to be some sort of CGI puppet interacting with actors, but we get a PERFORMANCE of Pinocchio which is unparalleled in cinema. Benigni seemed to approach the film with this attitude, that it doesn't matter that he's too tall in some shots, not made of wood, etc. It's more like theater. The performance is brilliant, and that's what you watch for.

[–] Peter-175 15 years ago

I agree, michaelliska.

Benigni's Pinocchio just made the #3 out of 100 Worst Films of the Decade from Rottentomatoes. All that really means, however, is that of the 53 critics who saw it, not one gave it a positive review. Keep in mind that every one of them witnessed the English dubbed version.

The dubbed version is horrible. The voices are shrill and obnoxious. And if you're at all aware of who Roberto Benigni is and have seen the masterpiece "Life is Beautiful," then you will be aggravated not to hear his voice with his actions.

Miramax made the idiotic decision of dubbing, which destroyed any chance this film had in America. If it had been presented in its original Italian, I am sure that it would not have made the 100 Worst Films of the Decade list.

Personally, I wish that Benigni had portrayed Gepetto and that sweet little boy from "Life is Beautiful" had played Pinocchio. Oh well.

I don't know if "Pinocchio" is a masterpiece, but it is a treasure. Thank God they included the Italian version on the dvd!

[–] miss_miasco 14 years ago

The dubbed version is horrible. The voices are shrill and obnoxious. And if you're at all aware of who Roberto Benigni is and have seen the masterpiece "Life is Beautiful," then you will be aggravated not to hear his voice with his actions.

Precisely. I was really surprised to see this on TV the other day, so I recorded it and decided to watch it tonight. I was so disappointed that it was dubbed as I was really looking forward to seeing (and hearing!) Roberto Benigni as Pinnochio. His actions, and the dialogue, made me smile but the horrible dubbed voiced really aggravated me. I know I would love this film if it was subtitled in English rather than dubbed. Grrr. >>

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Lily Munster: Oh, Marilyn...the circles under your eyes. How lovely you look today

[–] Bladerunner 14 years ago

No, it simply blows.

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus

[–] richimorton 14 years ago

I think that ALL dubbing is stupid - I once watched a Starwars Movie (again) at a cinema in France , and it was so funny I completely lost interest in what the film was actually about - Luke Sywalker had a really deep macho voice etc ! I don't think the French in the theatre appreciated me laughing hystercally at some quite serious scenes (you're not my Father etc)

That which does not Kill me makes me Stranger . . .

[–] croat-hr 11 years ago

Dubbin is really the stupidest idea to ruin a movie. In our country only some cartoons (not all) are dubbed, and even that destroys it.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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