MovieChat Forums > Secret Window (2004) Discussion > Turturro's accent

Turturro's accent

posted 9 years ago by fatalfury1192
17 replies | jump to latest

I love John Turturro. I consider him a gifted actor, and always thought he would make a great acting teacher, but his southern accent was so irritatingly bad that it made the film hard to watch.

[–] onetimeatbandcamp2 9 years ago

Well as a European I thought he sounded very typically southern. It really worked for me.

[–] hcvondertann 8 years ago

Yes, I can imagine that would make a considerable difference. His accent surely wouldn't bother me so, had I seen the film before living there.

We viewed it with friends as part of a film evening (here in Germany). They all loved it and found his accent believable. Of course, they've never visited the USA, and have no real basis for comparison.

[–] hcvondertann 8 years ago

Agreed. I lived in Mississippi for a number of years, and never heard an accent in any region there that even remotely resembled the horrid, cartoonish mishmash that he came up with.

It was like fingernails on a chalkboard.

[–] alligatoruk 8 years ago

I just presumed that it was deliberately over the top "Southern" because he was a character in Mort's head. That was how a "Mississippi" accent should sound in his mind - he even attempts it when he first tries on the hat at the thrift market.

I found Turturro really menacing though, so it worked on me.

[–] And_V_123 8 years ago

Correct

[–] rzaxlash 8 years ago

Turturro was terrible. He's a great actor but every now and then overdoes it.

[–] vinnypaul 8 years ago

The film does not take place in Mississippi, it takes place in upstate NY. But I suppose you could justify his poor accent as an exxaggeration in his head.

[–] travis.lowell 8 years ago

It's Mort's IMPRESSION of an accent, manifesting itself. This was clearly done with purpose.

[–] hcvondertann 8 years ago

I believe that most of us UNDERSTAND that. It is still counterintuitive; in the beginning, the viewer should believe that John Shooter is a real person, just as Mort does. It's a narrative ARC.

The over-the-top accent achieves just the opposite. For anyone who is familiar with regional accents of the American South, at least.

[–] kb541 8 years ago

It sounded more Alabama to me. Like the same accent that everyone used in Fried Green Tomatoes.

[–] And_V_123 8 years ago

Only good performance in an otherwise pathetic poop, someone's just queasy about how their idol j. derp got outacted by a real talent

[–] greenbudgie 8 years ago

Turturro is the one that I had my eye on in this movie too. That man is scary and mysterious.

[–] tylerhills1986 8 years ago

As you may have noticed from other posters, his accent seemed fine. His accent was never supposed to be an authentic Mississippi accent, he was a made up character that lived in the mind of Johnny Depp, so he sounded however he wanted him to sound.

[–] vinnypaul 8 years ago

Again, the film does not take place in Mississippi, it takes place in upstate NY.

[–] ronkeopke 8 years ago

Anything I have seen him in, he has the same accent

[–] chilone (17309) 3 years ago

I couldn't disagree more. This was Turturro's crowning achievement. He made the movie.

[–] Saenzwa9 (449) 2 years ago

He sure did! He obviously went the caricature route. Not only did he pull it off in spades, but he managed to do it while still coming off as scary, menacing, and deranged. In the hands of a lesser actor the character could've easily come off as just a clown.

I barely knew anything about John Turturro at the time, and he had me convinced he was a true psychotic, backwater, lunatic hick who was some post apocalyptic visionary, and the leader of a bizarre, pseudo religious cult who planned to carryout mass genocide in the name of Christ