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January 1999, Week 4

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From:
Darryl Wiggers <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 13:40:19 +0100
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> In showing my classes "foreign film" videos I always choose subtitled
> versions. However, I need some advice concerning Fellini's La Strada. As
> I understand it, the film was made with a cast speaking both Italian and
> English, e.g. Masina--Italian, Basehart--English. What about Quinn? Is he
> speaking English or Italian. The problem I face is that if Quinn is
> speaking English and the Italian version of the film is dubbing the
> Italian, and further, since Masina speaks very little throughout the film
> (her great performance being essentially mime), then the majority of the
> dialogue is in English, and it would make sense to use the dubbed-in
> English version rather than the subtitled one.

It's purely a matter of taste. A similar dilemna can be found with
Bertolucci's 1900. Most of the speaking parts are by English-speaking
actors (Robert DeNiro, Burt Lancaster, Donald Sutherland) but both
language versions (as well as North American and European cuts) are made
available. Frankly, I find it silly to dub the actor's voice, and then
subtitle it back into English, but others disagree. The thing to
remember, though, is that many Italian films (and ALL of Fellini's
films) were not shot with synch sound. Hence, the dialogue is always
dubbed in later. So, whether you hear Italian or English, it's all
dubbed anyway. In the case of La Strada, it's been years since I've seen
it but, as I recall, the English-language version features his own voice
(probably dubbed in later, but still his own voice) and the
Italian-language version does not.

Darryl Wiggers

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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama.

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