Originally Posted by
Ransi
I can't say if any research has been done on dialect variations to the severe extent of Chinese dialects, however, in a linguistics lecture I attended, I believe it was hypothesized that the age of 12 is the cut-off at which learners are able to learn a language fully to the capacity of native speakers with no accent (second-language acquisition). Given the difficulty in comprehension between varying Chinese dialects, I think it can be considered on a similar linguistics scale. So requesting that all actors fluently speak in standard Mandarin, of which they may have had no comprehension of prior, is potentially very difficult depending upon the dialect's degree of difference from standard Mandarin as well as the age at which they began learning standard Mandarin speech. It's a bit unfair I think to judge acting capability based upon an individual's language acquisition capability.
That's an interesting point, but isn't that more about a person's "natural" speaking ability and not acting ability?
For example, in Hollywood there are a lot of Australian and British actors that are able to speak with an American accent.
And if you watch Taiwanese variety shows, I've seen plenty of times where celebrities will fake a Beijing Mandarin accent for fun when talking about their experiences filming in China.
Take a look at this article:
http://www.langology.org/?p=723
It talks about how actors hire "Dialect Coaches" to train their accents:
Know anyone who can slip into a Cockney accent,
slide through a southern drawl, pop in a Queen’s accent,
and even manage a French accent as well and all convincingly?
Or have you ever wondered how Leonardo DiCaprio had a Rhodesian accent
in Blood Diamonds, or how on earth Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway
all have a proper English accent in Alice in Wonderland?
Or maybe you were surprised at how Javier Bardem toned down
his strong Spanish accent in No Country for Old Men? Did you
just assume that they learned alone?
Guess again. More than likely they did it with the
help of a dialect coach, the new must have accessory for every Hollywood star.
Notice how much effort and care is put into getting an authentic experience. When an actor goes through this training and are able to express themselves their expression and emotions are really seen through the film.
So it's definitely possible for an actor to train their accent if they take the time. Now I understand that many Chinese productions don't have the budget for this and they don't have the time to re-film scenes over and over again if they actors natural accent slips out.
But still, this should be the goal. Not just of the production but also of the actors. If they actors held themselves to a higher standard, along with the production, then Chinese entertainment would improve as a whole.
I truly believe that excellence is in the details. And that a production that is lax about these things will never truly be great.
This is a very interesting discussion and I'm glad to hear your opinions on it You're actually the first person I've ever heard that's ok with the dubbing, so it's very neat to hear the other side's thoughts!