What Dialect will we be getting in the Les Mis film?

[E.Davis]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 10:52pm

French, English, American?

Updated On: 3/21/12 at 10:52 PM

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 10:55pm

I'm hoping for Kiwi or Romanian just for fun.

We're going to be getting English/Continental. Every English language production uses them, the director is English, and it's being shot in England.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 10:57pm

So a mixture of RP, Cockney, Estuary?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:07pm

It always made sense to me that they would use French accents or at least European.

The accents in the last 3rd national US tour of the original staging were so distracting. It seemed as if everyone was intentionally instructed to use American accents right down to the Thenardiers which sounded so bizarre when they started singing "Master of the House" instead of "Master of the 'Ouse"

[justoldbill]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:21pm

I hope they all sound like Juanita Hall in SOUTH PACIFIC-
"Hey, Valjean? You saxy man."

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:31pm

The rule of cinema is that British dialects are the standard go-to for all of Europe, unless the characters are Nazis or the movie is in a foreign language anyway.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:37pm

Can someone explain the phenomenon Kad described? This discussion came up with a friend when I was watching a movie (filmed in English) that took place in Russia. Most of the actors spoke in some derivation of an English accent. It wasn't remotely close to a Russian accent. I don't understand why this is the default decision for any English language film that doesn't take place in the United States.

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:44pm

I don't get why people expect accents. It's already hard to believe the people in Les Miserables would be speaking English so if most of the cast is English they should do an English accent.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:48pm

There would be no reason for French dialects. The movie will be in English. One doesn't go to see The Three Sisters with an American, British or Australian cast and expect to see it performed in a Russian dialect. Unless one is in Italy, one doesn't hear productions of Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice performed in an Italian dialect. It is safe to say that unless one is in Germany, Doctor Faustus is not performed with German accents (one would hope!(.

As to what specific dialect in the English language is used, it will most likely be standard UK English (just because conventionally, for better and often for worse, classics are typically done that way), but it could just as legitimately be American. An argument could be made for Australian given the leads are both Australian, but I doubt that the production would do that, not only because Les Miserables with Australian accents would seem quite bizarre to its target audience, but because it would be ridiculous to expect an entire supporting cast of non-Australians to master the dialect when two Australians already more than adept at English and American dialects are playing the lead.

One would expect that the cast would use the same national dialect, with parallel sub categorical distinctions (conveying "class," regional differences, if need be), to convey that they are compatriots. While the characters are French compatriots speaking French, the actors are not speaking French, but English, which is why it would be quite silly and unnecessary for all of them to affect French accents. (of course this would be different if the film had made a decision (which would have seemed to say the least bizarre) to primarily cast French actors, which it did not).



Updated On: 3/21/12 at 11:48 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/12 at 11:50pm

It is perceived that, for American audiences, a British dialect is understood as being sufficiently European without being too foreign, incomprehensible, or abrasive. There are exceptions to this, of course. But, generally, if it's a movie set in a foreign-speaking European country, everyone will speak in British dialects.

It doesn't help that many European dialects are associated with villainous characters (Nazis, Soviets, any Eastern European dialect... the French).

Most Americans portrayed in non-American films will typically have some sort of standardized accent, too, regardless of where the character is from.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 12:03am

^ right! of course it's different when a film has characters who are not all of the same nationality.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 12:34am

It's all marketing. Films are made to reach the highest commercial demographic. Or the lowest common denominator. Or both.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 12:46am

Something I've noticed: The women will all sport French accents, while the men will stick to their own dialects.

At least, that's how most things set in Italy work.