A language question
Why does Idi Amin mostly speak English, when he gives his first speech heard in the movie? The audience is mostly Ugandian.
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Because 1: Forrest Withaker is not Fluent in Swahili.
2: For the same reason they spoke English in Troy and Schindler's List.
The biggest audience are English speaking people and thus all relevant dialogue for most movies is usually in English. Did you see the Movie about Saddam Hussein on HBO? You had Arabs speaking in English. If you watch Rush Hour 3, you have a French couple in Paris, arguing in English; which of course would never happen :)
Thank you for your answer.
But Nicholas seems to understand, what Idi says, so Mr. Amin seems to speak "really" English in this speech.
Or could Nicholas speek Swahili?
I believe that as a former British colony, most Ugandans of the middle and upper class were (and are) fluent in English, if not bilingual. The same is true of Indians. I'm sure Amin used either language depending on his audience.
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Yeah, I was thinking the same. Perhaps he even wanted to do the present British people of influence a "favor"- or better said: wanted, that they also understand, what he has to say.
shareI believe that as a former British colony, most Ugandans of the middle and upper class were (and are) fluent in English, if not bilingual. The same is true of Indians. I'm sure Amin used either language depending on his audience.
That's correct. But you must keep in mind that though many African countries have English, French, Portuguese etc as the official language, only the educated Africans could speak those European languages. In my country for instance, very few people could speak French though the Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest French speaking country in the world by land area and second by population after France.
So fluency in English and French depend on the literacy rate of an African country. But then, you have to consider the quality of that English or French because those countries are very poor and cannot always offer a decent education. share
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Thank you for your answer.
But Nicholas seems to understand, what Idi says, so Mr. Amin seems to speak "really" English in this speech.
Or could Nicholas speek Swahili?
No, Nicholas couldn't speak Swahili at all as he came directly from Scotland. And yes Idi Amin could speak English fairly well though he only had a second grade education. He was a soldier under the British rule so many of his higher ranked officers were British who mostly spoke to him in English.
There are several good documentaries that portray Idi Amin, and you can hear him speak a thick accented English.
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I think this is one of those moments where you have to suspend disbelief. They had everyone speak English in the movie just to make it easier for English-speaking audiences.
shareI think this is one of those moments where you have to suspend disbelief. They had everyone speak English in the movie just to make it easier for English-speaking audiences.
Exactly. Most moviegoers come from the English-speaking world and the biggest Markets are in North America or UK, so filmakers and producers need to cater to what their biggest audience is most comfortable with. It's perfectly fine with me to have a movie set in Africa, the middle East or even Western Europe, when people are speaking in English, as long as the dialogue has some substance or relevance.
The British Empire conquered half this planet and at the same time gave the world its lingua franca. ENglish is the language that dominates for business, for music, for movies etc. I am a native speaker of French and Lingala, but I understand the need to put some things in English because most people would understand. share
you have a French couple in Paris, arguing in English;I was in an Irish bar in Cannes and two French guys had an argument in English, it was really bizarre.
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