Australian English

I believe the accents were exaggerated as well as the mumbling to communicate the psychologically inbred, inescapable natures of both the criminals and the police.

For the protagonist for example, mumbling is typical for introverted solitary types, who just don't talk much.

They didn't need to enunciate properly because they never communicated or hanged around immigrants or people outside their class or vocation.

When that happens you develop a 'slang' understandable to only a small community or even group of people.

This is much less so in Melbourne now than it was in the 80's when the story was set. A lot more immigrants now in Melbourne, Rose Byrne, Emily Browning, Rove Mcmanus are from suburban Melbourne very easy to understand. Cate Blanchett, Abbie Cornish grew up in more regional areas.

I haven't seen the film just the trailer, but that's what I understood was being communicated with the accents. Sort of the complete opposite of Al Pacino in 'The Godfather' who takes on this presidential almost international form of speaking like he's addressing an international audience, compare his voice with that of his father, 'Don' Corleone who is basically indecipherable in his speech.

A lot more subtle in Animal Kingdom, but the concept is the same.

Just like the US, Australia has differences in regional accents. The accents you here in the depressed lower-class suburbs of Australian cities are quite different to the more neutral accents of middle class, more prosperous accents ... and the wide range of migrant communities in Australia, means that the accents are becoming more varied all the time ... a lawyer from Sydney's prosperous eastern or northern suburbs would probably be indistinguishable to you from an upper class English accent.

Does someone from Brooklyn sound like someone from Beverly Hills,or Rhode Island?

Keep trying ... we eventually understood what Gomer Pyle was saying, (and wished we hadn't).

But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.

Australians seem to think mumbling equals good acting. Didn't you see Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain?

Any stupidity I exhibit is purely for comical effect.

Streuth, turn the Telly up when you get the disc cobber that should fix the prob no worries mate. ;)


PS I come from Melbourne and did struggle at times but it was mainly due to volume.

Oh dear, when I posted my topic I hadn't seen this one! Woops!
I suppose it has something to do with living in Melbourne and being Australian myself but the way they speak sounds completely normal to me and I'm amazed when people say they can't understand it. Picnic at Hanging Rock I should point out was probably easier to understand because in 1900 (when it was set) most Australians still had broadly English/British accents which we departed from over time.
Wow, that's a bit sad that we can't be understood. But yeah, that's normal.

http://splendidandlovely.blogspot.com/

Here's an observation: I'm from Sydney, Australia, and the last time I was on holiday in the US, I'd say the majority of Americans weren't able to distinguish between an Australian accent, a South African acceent and a New Zealand accent. But they could distinguish a New York accent from someone from Oaklahoma, which I probably couldn't do.

Geez man, how can you not understand what they're saying?

I bet I speak for most Canadians, Aussies, Brits, Kiwis when I say that we can all understand each other *perfectly* and understand the Americans.

I just can't understand how some Americans can't understand other accents talking the same language.

There are three Australian sociolects - Broad, General and Cultivated.

General is of course what you would normally hear.

The actors were broad.

Cultivated is considered upper class.

I think it was just mumbling. Be thankful your country isn't the one being homogenised via popular culture.