I don’t know what I’d do without the Cineclub in Granollers.
At the top of the new programme you can see it says Cinema V.O.
That is the magic code for Original Version (the other way round in Catalan) and means the film will not be dubbed.
Dubbing is something I’ve had to come to terms with here. It can be quite cleverly done with the lips seeming ….almost…. to move at the same time as you hear the words spoken. It can also be completely askew and you have to enter a special part of your brain which can ignore weird behaviour such as someone mouthing silent words, or continuing to speak with their mouthes shut, while taking seriously the content of the actual speech.
Also there seem to be no more than a couple of women who perform the dubbed parts in Catalan and one of them in particular has a very strange dramatic slightly creepy way of talking.
Watching a film that is clearly set in Scotland, or Australia, or, as a few nights ago in St Trinians school for Girls, with people speaking Catalan while their mouths move independently is interesting but not always relaxing.
On the television is one thing and in the cinema is another. There are cinemas that specialise in V.O. like the Alexandra in Ramble de Catalunya in Barcelona. Or the Verdi in Cardedeu which is a small cinema in a lovely town about 10 minutes drive from here. But Granollers although it is the capital city of the Valles Oriental with a large and prosperous (take a look at the shopping street) population has only a cinema complex with films either dubbed or in Castellano. I think there is one day every month or so when they show a film in V.O. but have never been able to find out when it is.
So, big thanks to the people who run the cine club, which shows films every Friday and Sunday.
Obviously sometimes I am watching a film with Spanish subtitles, or a Catalan film with no subtitles at all but still I prefer this to dubbed versions. It’s usually pretty busy and when the film ends sometimes I come back to consciousness and think I am in the film club in Penzance. There is a similar feeling of like-minded people streaming out onto the street and discussing the film.
Of course as English is my first language I have been sheltered from the dubbing experience. So many films are in English that historically there was no need to provide another language. Those of us who want to see films from different parts of the world were happy to both read and listen although I am sure there are still many people in the UK and USA who wouldn’t watch a film with subtitles.
But here it was a different story. The dominance of English speaking films has created an industry of dubbing to allow the majority of people to watch British and American films and TV programmes.
And then there is the question of Catalan language films, with or without dubbing into Castellano. And should films in castellano have subtitles in Catalan?
All very interesting and I will write more another day.
Hah, I CAN leave a comment finally! I often read your blog, but have never been able to leave a comment before:-( We could do with a v.o. cinema here as we have only one cinema and all films are dubbed in French. It’s rubbish, the two films I saw were both dubbed by just one actor, doing EVERYONE’S voices at great speed and no regard to..eer, acting.
Hah, I CAN leave a comment finally! I often read your blog, but have never been able to leave a comment before:-( We could do with a v.o. cinema here as we have only one cinema and all films are dubbed in French. It’s rubbish, the two films I saw were both dubbed by just one actor, doing EVERYONE’S voices at great speed and no regard to..eer, acting.
Hah, I CAN leave a comment finally! I often read your blog, but have never been able to leave a comment before:-( We could do with a v.o. cinema here as we have only one cinema and all films are dubbed in French. It’s rubbish, the two films I saw were both dubbed by just one actor, doing EVERYONE’S voices at great speed and no regard to..eer, acting.
Dear darling Riina so lovely to get your comments that I have put them all here – all three! Hee Hee!
Let me know if there is something difficult about leaving a comment – I have tried to make it easy – eg not having those horrible word things and not needing to put your google name of anything. but …who knows?
anyway – Yes down to dubbing or dubbelling as Pep calls it!
Why not start a VO cine club?
I want to see you this year – must make it happen. Hope you see this but in case not, I will write k xxx
Thank goodness everything on Dutch television or in the cinema is the original version with Dutch subtitles (unlike Germany where everything is dubbed with a limited number of different voices, I believe). I once saw Taxi Driver in Paris dubbed into French and you could see Robert de Niro mouthing ‘You talking to me?’ but saying something like ‘Vous parlez avec moi?’ A strange experience so I’m glad you can at least see some films in the original version. x
I have been speaking to some students about the Terminator movies (teens obviously) They watched it dubbed. I’m sorry, but Arnie ain’t nobody without the voice. Honestly.
We are lucky in Zurich that most movies in all cinemas are in the orginal language. I love going to the movies but only in the orginal language!
Hi Emma
Yes I think it is cultural – some countries are used to subtitles and hearing another language and others are more centralist. It was something I found really strange when I arrived – and annoying – but now I try to let it flow over me and laugh at the dubbers.
Kate x