MovieChat Forums > Sin nombre (2009) Discussion > Awesome movie, but accents were off

Awesome movie, but accents were off

posted 14 years ago by sarainunez
16 replies | jump to latest

So, I'm from Honduras (Tegucigalpa, as a matter of fact) but I think some of the people cast in this movie were CLEARLY not from Honduras, or Mexico. I could hear some Puerto Rican accents in this movie (which is COMPLETELY different). It was VERY distracting to me.

If you want an analogy, try a Texan accent vs New York accent for comparison and you'll get what I mean.

Aside from that - which was VERY distracting to me - as I'm sure it was to others.. the movie is great. Amazing story line and AMAZING actors. That particular gang "Mara Salvatrucha" really is a huge problem in Honduras. And hopefully, this movie will deter people from any sort of "glamor" gang life could hold.

The guy who plays Casper in this movie is incredibly talented. I would not doubt for one second if anyone told me he was in that gang. And his friendship with Sayda is so bittersweet and unexpected.

Hope to see more from this director and these actors.

[–] andrewsdeniro 14 years ago

I hate it when the accents are wrong - being from the south coast of england i'm always bumping into hondurans & puerto ricans - anybody who's spoken to one knows the difference!

For anyone who isn't from Honduras this isn't distracting - and certainly not worth all those capitals.

Brilliant film

[–] tearsxforxstars 14 years ago

Well, then it's like how in Frasier, she was meant to be from Manchester but her accent was the most mockney I've ever heard... I used to find that very frustrating, annoying and distracting.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kyle_the_actor 14 years ago

I remember reading an article once claiming that no one outside of America gives a crap about getting accents right in film and theatre.

[–] kytt 14 years ago

well, i'm actually from PR and, trust me, those were NOT PR-ican accents.

[–] migdalia2346 8 years ago

I'm from PR as well, I don't understand what this person is talking about.

On Earth, we called it love. I don't know about Mars, though.

[–] SeisCinemaSeis 14 years ago

So, I'm from Honduras (Tegucigalpa, as a matter of fact) but I think some of the people cast in this movie were CLEARLY not from Honduras, or Mexico. I could hear some Puerto Rican accents in this movie (which is COMPLETELY different). It was VERY distracting to me.

You couldn't be more wrong. NONE puerto rican actor worked in this film. Most the actors, even those who plays the central americans (hondurans, salvadoreans, guatemalans) are actually from México. A few of them are from Honduras, that's the case of the leading actor: Edgar Flores who plays Casper aka Willy.
Sol, Smiley, Sayra his father and uncle, Martha Marlene, Lil Mago, all of them were played by mexican actors who did their best to reproduce faithfully honduran or salavadorean accents.
Would be better if salvadoreans were portrayed by real salvadoreans, hondurans by hondurans and so on, but sometimes it's just not possible for practical/economical reasons. You should understand this wasn't a Hollywood production with a mega-budget but an indy film.

[–] sarainunez 14 years ago

I didn't say I knew for a fact that I knew there were Puerto Rican actors in this movie, I just said they sounded like they were.

Like I DID say, this movie was brilliant, just the accent bothered me, but I suppose it was because this was based on a girl who was from Honduras. Unlike Mexico, our entire country is very small, and there is no huge change in our accents from region to region.. or even from us to Salvadoreans.

I never said this was a Hollywood production, and Im so glad this movie got made in the first place.

[–] LatinoNoir 14 years ago

sarainunez, you can't just mention how the mara salvatrucha is a big problem in Honduras and not acknowledge the MAIN problems they're causing El Salvador. Still, it shouldn't just be a concern for your country but ALL the countries MS are affecting. I just thought that needed to be pointed out.

[–] surlycalavera 14 years ago

Actually the accents I think were pretty legit. Accents tend to change from region to region in most countries, like someone from the south usually speaks different from someone from the north. I can assure you there were no puerto rican accents in this film. Although what might have been a little disconcerting is that there were a few different accents in this film, but none of them was that really pronounced mexican accent which most people might have been expecting...as in Tu Mama tambien or Amores Perros.

[–] fenderbass2122 14 years ago

I noticed their dialect was a little off from Mexican dialect which led me to think they weren't from Honduras/Mexico, but many of the gang members sounded just plain Mexican. It was the main characters that didn't sound as they should

[–] looota 14 years ago

i agree.... sayra sounded more mexican and caspar sounded more central american.

[–] spot-light 12 years ago

I don't think that the accents were inaccurate. I know they weren't pefect, but they tried to do it, and ended up doing it well. Sometimes it seemed that the accents were a bit Mexican, a bit Salvadoran/Honduras and a bit Guatemalan at the same time. But I consider that someone living in Southern Mexico and having constant contact with Central Americans could end up having that mixed accent.

They included many words from El Salvador / Honduras / Guatemala, used 'vos' instead of 'tú' and incorporated gangster's slang.

Compare it to other movies about El Salvador were the actors and directors didn't even try to imitate the accent. That was the case of 'Salvador' and 'Voces Inocentes', but not this movie.

[–] Xcalat3 12 years ago

there where no Caribbean accents in this. I familiar with Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican accents and this they where not.

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] faux-monnayeurs 10 years ago

There is some footage where the director explains a little bit about their difficulties to get the accents right. He said that when they were casting for the film they were looking for the girl lead in Honduras and for El Caspar/Willy in Mexico. However, they ended up with Edgar Flores who is from Honduras, andPaulina Gaitan, who is from Mexico. Flores was not a professional actor. Moreover, they saw that even professional mexican actors generally had no proper training for accents. They hired a girl from Honduras who had been a candidate for the Sayra role to train Gaitan, but apparently it did not work out too well. Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that Cary Fukunaga and his crew were aware of the accent problem but could not settle it within the constraints of their budget and their plan to cast only actors from the region and not from the US.

[–] DeltaHomicide 8 years ago

It's bound to happen when you're a director putting together a group of Spanish-speaking actors to make a movie set in Honduras and Mexico. I've heard the same complaint on the Narcos board (which also stars Paulina Gaitan / Sayra).