Well, it was high time

[gothikmaus]

I finally, finally, saw "The king's speech". I'd wanted to see it ever since it came out, but for one reason or the other I always had to put it off. Then I found out the cinema in my town was showing the original version (I actually wrote an article about it in the local magazine) and decided I just had to go. I went with two friends and, since it was in English with Italian subtitles, I brought along my mother too. I think the last time we had gone to the cinema together was in 1988 to see "Benji the Hunted". XD

After the film we chatted a bit and I was kinda shocked when a friend told me she had trouble understanding the actors. I told her "What? They had impeccable diction." And she replied "Well, I can't understand British English so well, it's better with American English." I was very surprised because it's the opposite for me. Life's just full of surprises, isn't it?

Comments

[angrylogic.livejournal.com]

But Geoffrey Rush is Australian ;-;

[gothikmaus.livejournal.com]

Well, but most of the cast was British...

[urania-chan.livejournal.com]

I understand American English better, too, but I really try to change that because I find British English much sexier. xD
Only saw the German dubbed version of King's Speech though, so I can't really say how difficult it was for me.

[gothikmaus.livejournal.com]

I'm probably just more used to hearing British English, that's why I find it easier to understand. Unless people talk very fast or use a lot of slang, of course. :P

I refused to see the Italian version of that film, there would be no point.

[urania-chan.livejournal.com]

I actually rather liked the German dub. I thought it was well done. :) Maybe the Italian one isn't so bad either?

[gothikmaus.livejournal.com]

Italian dub works are usually well done, but with a film like this I wanted to see the original version.

[dementordelta.livejournal.com]

My mom is American and has a lot of trouble with British English! She gets dvds and puts the closed captioning feature on so she can just read dialogue if the actor is British. Weird!

[gothikmaus.livejournal.com]

Really? That's interesting, I thought native speakers only had trouble with very strong accents or heavy use of slang.

[schwimmerin.livejournal.com]

Did you like it? :)

And it's true, a lot of Americans can't understand British English. And my dad (who is a linguist) said that he thought the actors' accents were bad. I was like, they are actually British (well, not Geoffrey Rush, but he was also using his native accent). WTF.

[gothikmaus.livejournal.com]

Yes, I liked it very much. And my mum loved it! :)

I read a few years ago that some American TV channel had to put on subtitles during an Oasis interview, because people couldn't understand a word of what the Gallagher brothers were saying. XD

Also, I didn't notice Geoffrey Rush's accent. I mean, I could cleary hear that the actress impersonating Wallis Simpson had an American accent, but if you asked me "What kind of accent does Rush have?", I wouldn't know what to say.

[eryka-59.livejournal.com]

I also find British English easier to understand (and much prettier, hehe) than American English. But see, it is also the opposite for my sisters - they do watch TV shows (Glee, House M.D., Vampire Diaries...) in American English, so it definitely helps! ^_^