I'm not going to see Valkyrie. However, the dumbest criticism I've heard of the movie is that the actors, particularly Tom Cruise, doesn't speak with a German accent as if that is somehow hokie.
Uh. Germans speak German, not English with a German accent. If all the characters are German and presumably they are all speaking to each other in German, then a good case could be made that the movie should be entirely in German with English subtitles. That would only limit the potential audience and the actors probably don't know German so it would be in German with English accents and that doesn't make any sense. That means we are left with a choice between English with no German accents and English with German accents. I find the idea of English with German accents far hokier than normal English. In fact, who would even think that speaking English with a foreign accent is somehow more authentic?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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3 comments:
Shouldn’t they at least pay attention to class distinctions? I have every confidence in all the British actors being able to pull off the English equivalent of upper crust Prussian aristo – but Cruise? He could at least have tried - perhaps an amalgam of William F. Buckley and John Kenneth Gailbreath. There’s never a method actor around when you need one.
George Pal
So... You mean that in all those gladiator movies I ever watched that the Romans really didn't speak with crisp British accents?
Damn.
I am suddenly reminded of a line from a Mel Brooks movie: "Unlike some OTHER Robin Hoods... I can speak with an english accent!"
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