The film was great and it made me cry. A film I would watch again. :)
But Dakota's accent is really off putting. It sounds like she is trying to hard and it kind of sounds nasal. Just no for me I am afraid. She suits the southern accent she has. But British people son't even sound like that. I'm from England and we just talk normally. Not like how Dakota is trying to talk.
Your point is not credible because if you read enough comments here you will find a link to a British linguist who says Fanning's accent was quite good.
But even that doesn't matter, if a person can't enjoy a performance because they think the accent isn't quite right, then they are watching for the wrong reasons anyway. It isn't a film on accents.
TxMike
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.
Her point/opinion isn't credible just because a linguist says otherwise...
And yes, somebody's accent can definitely spoil a performance. Of course it can. Because that's what acting is, embodying the persona of a character, from gestures, to accents, to affectations to everything. That's a ridiculous claim to make... Dakota Fanning is supposed to be bringing a character to life, so the way she speaks is important. If I didn't care about accents and dialogue and dialect, I'd just read the book. If this was an audiobook would you say the same thing?
Anyway, I agree with the OP. It's off putting. Dakota is one of my favourite young actresses, she's extremely talented, but she's yet to perfect her British accent. No big deal.
The truth is, I found all the other actors around her about 30X more annoying. It's one thing for Fanning to sound a little robotic/monotonous, I can forgive it because I know she's good. But the rest of the cast were British (I assume) and they all sound awful. Pretty sure that's down to bad casting/poor acting all around. Everyone was putting on a RP, stage-play-theatre accent. Maybe that was to make it accessible to other (read: American) audiences, but it sounded like crap. Apart from Kaya Scoderliaoiuesorkjfhse (sorry), she was okay. Even Olivia Williams sounded like an idiot.
It was a little nasal, it was a little too upper-crust for the type of girl she was supposed to be and at times it did sound a little Australian. But it was passable. And she played a British teen very well, and she played a dying teen very well. So the film wasn't ruined for me.
Why do people so frequently get told to "read the book" on a movie database?
"Her point/opinion isn't credible just because a linguist says otherwise... "
Thanks ! :)
"so the way she speaks is important."
At least somebody else realises this.
" Dakota is one of my favourite young actresses, she's extremely talented, but she's yet to perfect her British accent. No big deal. "
I agree.
"Everyone was putting on a RP, stage-play-theatre accent. Maybe that was to make it accessible to other (read: American) audiences, but it sounded like crap. Apart from Kaya Scoderliaoiuesorkjfhse (sorry), she was okay. Even Olivia Williams sounded like an idiot. "
I actually agree none of them sounded completely right..
A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. - Marilyn Manson
" find a link to a British linguist who says Fanning's accent was quite good. "
That proves nothing, what one person said so.. Yes to some people it may be okay but I just found it err..
A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. - Marilyn Manson
Eh, I thought it was pretty good. It sounded different to most of the other, really British actors, but it was believable nonetheless and didn't sound American. It wasn't a completely authentic accent like a few actors are able to do, but it definitely wasn't distracting for me.
shareIt was distracting because of how it sounded and it was hard to understand her..
A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. - Marilyn Manson
I didn't think she was hard to understand at all. Her accent sounded pretty standard to me - i.e. she was aiming for the most common British accent. Having said that, I do agree with you. Her accent was clearly British, but at the same time I felt like she was trying very hard to be British. It's like when my friends joke around and put on a fake British accent trying to be English, based on what they'd heard from movies etc, without having had any real training. It sounded like she was copying what she'd heard, so that it was a copy of a copy. It was like the real thing but also put-on, if that makes sense.
You heart me? What is that? Is that like I love you for pussies?
"I'm from England..."
If you were, you'd know there's HUNDREDS of different dialects just in London and the surrounding areas alone.
"If you were, you'd know there's HUNDREDS of different dialects just in London and the surrounding areas alone. "
I'm not from London and yes there are but not that type.
A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. - Marilyn Manson
I'm from England… We don't all talk the same way.
She did OK.
"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"
"I'm from England… We don't all talk the same way.
She did OK. "
That depends what part of England you're from. She was trying to do an accent from the South East, which is where I'm from, it doesn't sound the same.
A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. - Marilyn Manson
I didn't get the sense that she was trying to stretch herself… She just used a clipped middle-class accent (which didn't sound anything like the character's dad, as others have said… ) At the very least, she was convincing as someone indigenous to this island, though… It was close enough, for me.
"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"
I don't know exactly where this film is set (only seen some of it and was multi-tasking at the time). From what I did see, I totally though Dekota Fanning was brilliant and her accent pretty decent. She may have got the region wrong but she matched the boy playing her boyfriend fairly evenly.
Not an easy role by any means and despite this being a mediocre film there were some solid acting performance, including Fanning's.
I'm from London BTW.
When you portray a character that has a different accent from your country of origin, it isn't an easy task at all. I thought Dakota did well. The movie made me think that Dakota is a British actress, even though she is American and has an American accent normally. I think that this is one of Dakota's hardest roles because the character of Tessa is very different to the characters she has played before. She did such a good job and I'm so glad I've seen half of this movie :) Good on you, Dakota :) You go, girl!!! :)
Short hair suits Dakota as well, even though I love her long locks too :) x
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I agree with that and for that reason alone, I almost couldn't watch more than five minutes. After keeping it on and watching it until the end, I realized I actually adapted to her fake-sounding English accent. I can't even understand how people claim her accent was realistic as I watch British TV more than American and my boyfriend is English. I showed him a clip and immediately he said the same as what I had, that her accent was very artificial.
shareHer accent wasn't great, a lot it seemed had to do with the rhythm. She seemed to sound monotone and dull all the time. I know she's ill, but if she can run surely she can speak with a bit more air in her lungs.
That's another thing! I don't know who wrote the script. Maybe they've been influenced too much by American slang. But in the UK people only say "I'm sick" if they're feeling nauseous. If you have a disease or cancer or a cold, and you're telling people that, then you would say "I'm ill". Also nobody i've ever known has described food as "good", it's either "nice" or some other equivalent.