How was the accent?


I loved the film. Sir Anthony was superb.

But that leads me to a technical question. For those of you who are Kiwi, how was his accent?

A second question, twice he was asked by an unknowing American as to whether he is English, Bert answered with a retort. I missed it both times. I think he referred to the English as "pommie" or somesuch. Could you please explain ... unless of course it is particularly insulting.

P.S. I was popped one on the nose when I was around 12 for asking an aussie kid if he is English. Note to self. Bad idea to ask anyone if they're English :-)

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Anthony Hopkins' accent was pretty good. Some people have criticised it as being a bit Scottish in the consonants. But the Kiwi accent was different in the sixties from what it is now and there was a definite Caledonian influence in New Zealand. Invercargill is named after a town in Scotland. I think Munro is a Scottish name.

You're right. He referred to Brits as "pommies". This is a mildly depractory term. Depending on the context, "pommy" can be insulting or endearing. Colonials from the antipodes have a strong sense of identity and don't like to be thought of as British.

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Just as a matter of interest, see if you can find an Invercargill in Scotland. There isn't one you silly sod, it just sounds Scottish.

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Invercargill in New Zealand was named after the founder of the city, William Cargill, who was Scottish.

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Me's guessing he's thinking of Inverness... Couple that with the Scottish parish of Cargill, and I think what we have here is a reasonable mistake.

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Personally, I thought he did a brilliant job of the Invercargill accent. And they do have a rather different accent down there.

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A POM - Prisoner of the Monarchy as in pommie b**tard!

Evun duttee 'ol min need luv too!.

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Yes, there are several theories about the origin of the word "pom". Some say it comes from the letters POM worn on early convict uniforms, standing for Prisoner of Mother England. Though I think that's pretty much debunked now.

Most likely is that it comes from cockney rhyming sland - immigrant = pomegranate, becomes pommie.

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Really?

Well I'm a kiwi and I thought his accent was excellent.

And for the record I DON'T think this was that great a film.

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His accent was excellent in this film,

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As an Australian, I thought his accent was quite good. But he sometimes sounded more Australian than Kiwi and at times he sounded Scottish. But all in all, I thought he did a great job.

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Well, as an english POM (of Irish parents), I could detect his Welsh accent with a litle bit of Southern Irish mixed-in. Didn't matter to me - very enjoyable film.

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POM is the term used for native english folk.. nothing to do with being prisoners.

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Surely that refers to the enforced penalised colonist not the actual Brit.Have they been calling us who live in the grosse britainland that name incorrectly. Limey was a name used. Pommie maybe should be used as a derogatory term for the descendants of those sent abroad as punishment and called so by those who may have had a choice.

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A POM - Prisoner of the Monarchy as in pommie b**tard!


http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/pommy.asp


doc

"Undomesticated equines could not remove me" - Teal'c

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The accent was nothing like the "current" kiwi accent, however, I know a very old lady who has the exact same accent, so I would say it is perfect.

However, when comparing to the other kiwi actors in the movie it wasn't consistant.

I was surprised to see the Mayor of Invercargill appearing in the movie, I guess you could say it was a cameo appearance LOL.

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People who knew the real Munro seem to think Hopkins' accent was pretty close - members of his family have said as much on these very forums.

Presumably the DVD will contain footage of the real Munro for comparison purposes, which should settle it.

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I found the accent nothing like the current Kiwi accent, but it is interesting to read here that others know that the accent was different 'back in the day'. I thought perhaps a kiwi accent would be impossible for Americans to understand so he went for an English Aussie Kiwi mix.

As for the term 'pommie' - in Australia it means you are from England (just England and not Great Britain since the Scots, Welsh and Irish are not covered by this term). There is an old expression 'whining pommie' from decades back that was meant in an endearing way, but I haven't heard it in a long time. Don't ask me where it came from other than Australians seem to think the English come here and complain too much about the hot weather, but I've found the English I've met don't whine more or less than anyone else.

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Actually he surprised me. I thought his accent was very good, had a bit of trouble with vowels. Dad lives near Invercargil in Queenstown and he said some of the old timers have a slightly Scottish accent. In that context it stands up. Also I have heard it was remarkably acurate as a replica of Munroes accent.

Otago was settled by the Scots mostly, Dunedin was the hub and at one time the largest city in NZ. NZ has some quite distinct accents around the country, the central North where I am from is quite thick, the south has a twang to it and the Aucklanders are hard to tell from Aussies in alot of cases.

One thing Kiwi's hate is being refered to as a Pom or an Aussie for that mater, tho less so in the case of the later. We are fiercely independant by nature I think. Maybe why 20% of the population buggers off at some point.

The term POM is accepted as being Prisoner of Mother England. hendem could be right though. I often wondered if that were the case. Seemed to be too coincidental.

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I'm Invercargill born & bred (in Oz now like most of the kids I grew up with ), 4th generation Southlander , grew up in Grasmere around the corner from Bainfield Rd where Burt's shed was really located (all built up now and the film location was elsewhere ) and my Nanna came from Fortrose where Burt spent a lot of his youth - according to my Uncle Jimmy she might conceivably be one of the girls on the back of his bike in the album shown in the film

anyway this was the first time I've heard a genuine Southland accent on the big screen, which all things considered is pretty amazing

if you're visit Invercargill make sure you visit Hays Hardware in Dee St where the bike is on display

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I thought the accent was incredible! I think he got it absolutly right and it made you forget it was Anthony Hopkins. I finished the movie and just wanted to hear him speak again. As a Kiwi I absolutly would believe he was a fellow kiwi, and the comments above about the accent sounding a bit different 'back then' is correct and southlanders sound different to north islanders as well.

Fantastic movie, fantastic performance.

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Yeah I agree, north islanders sound quite different to south islanders. I was born in Invercargill, and still live here. Not only did I think he had a genuine accent, but his manner of speech too, I thought was VERY Invercargill.

"They believe every ******* word you're saying. And you know why? Because you're super cool."

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I thought his accent was very good... I live in Hamilton in the north island and I have come across older people that sound exacally like that... truely amazing :)

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"We are fiercely independant by nature I think."

That's heartbreaking, considering what's happened under PM Jacinda Ardern. 😢

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I just saw a scene and his accent was awkward to me.

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So, his accent was good but the rest of the cast wasn't accurate to the time and place. Sounds like the production should have spent the extra cash to have everybody in tune accent-wise instead of just tutoring the lead (Hopkins).

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Being a Kiwi, I thought the accent overall was really fantastic. He got the rolling R's of the deep south pretty much spot on. Excellent movie and it was great to see so many familiar Kiwi actors involved :)

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The only person who came close to the true Southland thick Burrrrrr was the Bank Managers secretary - Miss Springfield. The rest of the actors had Generic Kiwi accents. Sir Anthony was superb - his accent and mannerisms were great. He reminded me a lot of my Dad (4th generation Southlander born in Gore)

The saying is that people in Southland roll their 'rrrr's. The reply to that is "only when I walk".
Boom tish!

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yeah im a kiwi and i can say his accent is fairly accurate for the time. alot of the older community tend to have english/scottish hints in there accents

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Im not a Kiwi but being an Aussi we hear the NZ accent frequently and I'd give him a 8/10.
The way to pick a Kiwi accent is to ask them to say the number "6" if it sounds like "sex" then your most likely talking to a Kiwi.

A "pommie" is a slang term used to descibe English people used mainly by Australians and NZr's.

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that's funny, because to kiwis, aussies say 'six' and it sounds like 'sex' so we're both in the same boat.

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WHAAAA!!!!?!?!?!. six in new zealand tongue is SUX...whereas you aussies are the SEXers lol. yeah 8/10 id say

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"six in new zealand tongue is SUX...whereas you aussies are the SEXers"

Spot on!

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I'm a New Zealander who has travelled a lot. While talking to some Europeans who had travelled to both Aussie/NZ it become clear what really makes the difference between Australian and NZ accents: the vowel sound for 'i' is the crucial.

The Autralians tend to make 'i' sound (to Europeans) like short 'e' and NZdrs make 'i' sound like short 'u'.

i.e.
'i' -> 'e' Australian
'i' -> 'u' NZ

For example, fish and chips becomes 'fesh and cheps' (Aussie) and 'fush and chups' (NZ).

By the way, I found Anthony Hopkins accent inconsistent, and he didn't maintain it throughout the movie. But I enjoyed the movie.

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Umm.... I'm Aussie, and I agree with your Kiwi assessment of pronunciation, but I don't say "fesh and cheps". I say "fish and chips", just how it's spelled.

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