MovieChat Forums > Breakfast on Pluto (2006) Discussion > Unintelligible dialogue

Unintelligible dialogue

posted 15 years ago by pat102853
82 replies | jump to latest

I'm getting very tired of British or Irish films that assume that Americans understand their often unintlligible burrs or brogues. Enough already. Provide subtitles. Upper class English accenst are fine. Even Australian I understand. Cockney not OK. I know Neil Jordan wanted authenticity and that's fine. However this film lost me because I could not understand half of what Kitten was saying. Please provide subtitles. US English is not the same as British English. I wonder if they have as difficult time understanding Southern US inflection as we do their regional speech. If Jordan provided subtitles for the so-called robins in this film (they bore no resemblence to any robin I've seen), he called have provided subtitles for his main characters. This film was just OK. Had I understood the speech it would have been better.

[–] redhotridinghood 15 years ago

I have to say that as an Irish person I find that rather insulting. Perhaps you'd prefer to have American actors putting on pathetic, unrealistic accents e.g. Far and Away.

And I have to say it was quite nice to hear Cillian Murphy use his real accent (or something very close) in this movie.
Neil Jordan's films based in Ireland tend to go for authenticity with regional dialects instead of doing what most do and have only actors from Dublin. How would you feel if every movie from the US only used Mid Western or New York accents? It would hardly be realistic.

This is the way some Irish speak. If you don't like it watch something else. And by the way it's Hiberno-English we speak in Ireland. How would you feel if someone said you were unintelligible and demanded an interpreter to be present whenever you spoke. :(

[–] discofresh 15 years ago

I agree, red. Besides, that is the way Patrick McCabe writes. As a fan of Patrick McCabe and a fan of Neil Jordan, I have to say he was spot on with the dialogue in this film.

'You got a pickle up your ass again!'

[–] kweekes-2 15 years ago

To redridinghood (hot?):

First of all I think you went a little too ballistic on the OP. I think all the OP was saying is that it would be nice if movies came with subtitles (IMO, that should include American ones) for anyone who may have trouble with the unfamiliar accents.

Second, regarding your comment about "if every movie from the US used only Mid-West/New York accents", I can only wish American movies used real American accents. Unfortunately 99% of the American accents used in American movies are fake and simply a watered down generic mess that Hollywood uses in order for non-Americans to understand. They sell better this way, even to Europeans. Southern/Boston/New York accents tend to be the worst imitated of all. And no Hugh Laurie in House does NOT sound American. He just sounds cranky. :-)

I wish American films were more authentic in accents and locations (I do get tired of hearing that this or that American film was shot in Europe or elsewhere). I fully understand why some Euros have looked at me and said that the US is totally different from what they've expected. It will be if all your info comes from incorrect TV/Films.

Okay, rant over. :-)

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] daver6 13 years ago

I must admit I could not understand half of what he said and I think that was because he mumbled so much. The others had accents that I understood well enough but 'kitten' mumbled and spoke too softly. It does not matter what the accent is or what language is being spoken, a mumble is a mumble and its no insult for someone to complain about that.

These days I often cannnot understand Tommy Lee Jones as I find he speaks in a way that is almost uninteligable.

I do not care if a regional accent is authentic or not (unless it is an English accent of course!) as long as the actors speak clearly. I am sure in the UK casting directors at auditions say things like "What, we cannnot possibly use him; he pronounced the 'T' in computer".

Films get made in East European or (presumably) Canadian locations because it is cheaper and the movie business is just that...a business.

[–] diotima-431-472948 10 years ago

I agree that America is a diverse country, full of regional accents, most of which are rarely used on film or television. It seems to me that American movies use a California accent - not necessarily the typical So Cal accent that people often associate with California - but the typical California accent you'll hear from most adults here, which isn't surprising, since the film and television industry grew up here. I live in California, and Hugh Laurie sounds a lot like my friends here, actually.

There are times when other accents are used, usually because a character needs a different accent to establish that he or she is from a different place than the rest of the characters, or because the filmmakers want to invoke some sort of American stereotype. Like a Southern accent, or New York accent, altho often those other accents aren't very authentic. There are certain small budget films that will use regional accents exclusively, but they are rare. And that's because our film industry, as i said above, is controlled by the large studios that control our distribution system, which take such a large cut of a films profits, that even small independent films have to make over twice their budget to be profitable for the filmmakers themselves. In such a system, nearly every movie made has to appeal over the entire of our very, large country. Thus, films use the accents they've been using for over 100 years, because that's what everyone here is used to. But that's not how it is in other, smaller, English speaking countries.

[–] klc-16 15 years ago

redhotridinghood:
He said that it was unintelligible TO HIM... which is simply stating a fact, not "insulting". Sheesh.

The point is not that there is anything WRONG with an accent...but that some accents ARE difficult to understand for those not born in a specific region; adding subtitles for international consumption - even to other English-speaking countries - is simply acknowledging the fact that some accents are harder to follow than others. Ever heard a Jordy accent from just below the Scottish border? Good luck to you!

The French often get to see Québecois films in their theatres with subtitles...at least they did before it became PC not to. Québecois French is filled with regional accents, regional vocabulary and even literal translations directly form English that just WON'T be understood by the average French-speaker. Better to add sub-titles than to make the film unexportable is a no-brainer!

And let's face it... many of today's actors don't enunciate, and often the background music is too loud, drowning out a lot of the dialogue, at least for those over 40 years old. There are a lot of American AND British films which I can barely follow, simply because of the raucous soundtrack and the mumbling actors...not even a question of accent. Subtitles would be a godsend.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Major_Movie_Star 13 years ago

Good work klc-16, but you are wasting your time trying to deal with someone who clearly has no ability to listen.

[–] Major_Movie_Star 13 years ago

redhotridinghood is very interested in how other people feel! In reality s/he is rather precious about their own concerns, and more than a little bit rude. How would s/he feel if, say, an American film based on New Orleans was voiced only in cajun accents/dialect? Perhaps s/he would take his/her own advice and go watch something else?
The reality is that if Irish/British films want international success, then they must respect the needs of international audiences; that includes a basic requirement that the dialog be intelligible, or else subtitled.

[–] kitty2hearts 12 years ago

I have to say I love to hear accents from all over. Having grown up in the American midwest with it's flat rather unmusical tones I appreciate the beauty in the sound of unfamiliar accents. I had no trouble understanding any of the accents in this film. Maybe the OP is in denial of a hearing problem they need to have checked??

[–] Stenian 8 years ago

Get over yourself. Some people just naturally can't understand accents outside of their country. There is no "hearing problem" or anything. What an obnoxious reply.

[–] ybrika 15 years ago

The OP noted that the robins seemed unfamilar. The european robin featured in the film (Erithacus rubecula) is a completely different specias to the american robin (Turdus migratorius)to which earlier english settlers gave the same name on account of the red breast of both species. The eurean robin also features in "The Secret Garden" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108071/)

[–] cragcrag 15 years ago

Why should European film makers pander to the ridiculous whims and requests of ignorant, self-important, self-indulged Americans?

Quite.
They shouldn't.

Good day.

[–] Major_Movie_Star 13 years ago

ridiculous? ignorant? self-important? self-indulged?
Truly, when one finger points forward, then three fingers point backward!

[–] hermione47 10 years ago

Hear hear!

[–] Blu-Buddha 15 years ago

The o.p. needs to get out more often. I'm an American citizen and I had little trouble understanding the dialogue in this film. America is not the center of the universe.

[–] LittleMissDysthymia 15 years ago

Subtitles are your friend. You can find them in the DVD menu.

Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and severe hemorrhaging.

[–] doodle_bug00 15 years ago

wow...this comment is the american attitude at its worst....i mean really? It wasnt made JUST to entertain americans. I could understand it just fine. Maybe you should stick to american films...

[–] Mechanical 15 years ago

I have to agree with the other posters, this film was not made solely to entertain an American audience, and it is very insulting to compare Hiberno-English with the twittering of a robin.

Whoever said 'America is not the centre of the universe' had it about right. Get a life.

[–] doodle_bug00 15 years ago

Yes...Y-E-S....

"Trying to pull myself away
I'm caught in a pattern and I can't escape"

[–] Applejackson75 15 years ago

Why didn't you just turn the subtitles on? They're almost always available. Unless you're watching this on VHS, in which case the problem isn't the dialog, it's that you're trying to watch it from 1997. The movie didn't even come out until 2005. That said, anyone who can't acclimate to an accent within the first 15 minutes of a film might have a learning disability.

Don't steal. The government hates the competition.

[–] tom-soya 14 years ago

"anyone who can't acclimate to an accent within the first 15 minutes of a film might have a learning disability"

I agree with you.

[–] kitty2hearts 12 years ago

LMAO!! Thank you for my morning laugh!! I was beginning to think that I must have a better than average ability to understand accents because I had no problem understanding the accents in this film. Now I understand that I just don't suffer from this particular learning disability and I am also living in the present and not 1997! (Although age wise I think I would rather be in 1997 but that is totally beside the point!)