MovieChat Forums > Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto (1975) Discussion > Italian vs. English version

Italian vs. English version

posted 22 years ago by DHD99
16 replies | jump to latest

I've seen both the dubbed-in-English and original Italian version, and I think some scenes were shortened in the dubbed version -- but then, I saw it 30 years ago.

In particular, I'm thinking of the scene where he's about to rape her and then changes his mind because he disciovers she wants it. As I recall, in the dubbed version, he just says -- "No. You WANT me to do it. So you must now ASK!" while in the original Italian, he makes a much longer speech about how after all she's done to him, "yes" is not enough, and she must love him and burn for him, etc.

Anybody else notice the difference?

[–] pjkenn75 22 years ago

I can't say I noticed a difference between the two, since I've only seen the subtitled-in-English 'v.o.'

Just saw this, and he does go on and on about having to love him & burn for him, etc., before he'll condescend to take a piece of her capitalist pie.

[–] trypt 20 years ago

How could you ever watch a dubbed version of this film? The whole "feel" of the film is in how they talk, in ITALIAN. Great flick though, I wish I understood Italian, but the emotion and tone was enough even if the subs were not true to what they were saying.

"You have been assimilated, resistance was futile!"

[–] DHD99 20 years ago

I didn't actually choose to watch the dubbed version. My dad wanted to see it, and that was the version that was playing.

[–] trypt 20 years ago

Watching it dubbed makes it the same as the new Madonna version, crap. Watch it again in Italian, its a masterpiece even though you don't understand it, it adds so much to the film to hear them talking in their native tongue, so much emotion.

"You have been assimilated, resistance was futile!"

[–] DHD99 20 years ago

Well, I HAVE seen the original language version as well as the dubbed version. That's what prompted me to start this thread in the first place.

[–] tompee_z 20 years ago

i agree, i got the privilege of seeing this beautiful film in my film history class last week and we got the original italian version with english subtitles. as with any foreign language film (a favorite of mine, "hero", comes to mind), certain intonations and expressions and sentence structures etc. add to the over-all emotive aspect of the film. prior to this, i saw "la strada" by federico fellini (if you haven't seen it, do so!) and comparing the "sound" of the language between the two films, "swept away" was more fast paced and passionate and furious, perhaps a symbolism of the relatinship between the two main characters. and i agree with an earlier comment also, it would be great if we could watch this without the use of subtitles, because the characters were going a thousand miles a minute and anyone knows that a lot of that gets lost in translation to the subtitles. anyway, i'd like to end by saying that all foreign language films should be viewed in its original form, without the dubbing.

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[–] satanetto 20 years ago

You're right, you CAN'T see this - and most other movies, Italian or not - dubbed! And still you miss most of the movie if you don't know the language.
One thing that makes Italian movies rich is the variety of accents and dialects that you still have in the country. Here Giannini speaks with a really strong Sicilian accent, while Melato accent is from the north, probably Milan. Same pattern as in "Mimi' Metallurgico". The north-south/industrial-proletarian divide and the social aspect are always a strong theme in Wertmuller movies. Here the symbol is even more strong: Giannini is a humble worker from the south, treated as a slave by what he keeps calling a "bottana industriale" (industrial bitch) from the north, with no other worries than relaxing and getting a tan on her yacht..

[–] sky-40 19 years ago

The debate between dubbed or not dubbed remains strong, but Satanetto explains well the great class divide between north and south, in this case (as in many other Italian movies) expressed through marked regional accents, emphasized further by Melato's conspicuous soft 'r' (French style), which equates her with the wealthy industrial magnate Agnelli (Fiat), and her peroxide looks (Milanese women would perhaps like to think themselves more Austrian than Mediterranean, and the city is awash with bobbing fake blond heads).
The period of the film's production is also significant for the diatribe about Communism – initiated by Melato on the boat with the scrounger (Aldo Puglisi) and later taken up with Giannini – which requires some background knowledge of Italy's history since WW2, too complex even to touch upon here.
Last night here in Milan, Wertmüller and Melato were on stage together for the presentation of the former's new book, largely autobiographical, complete with a CD in which she performs some of the many songs she has written over the years for stage productions.
The two women were just as you'd expect (sassy to a degree, bursting with energy), and had the hall in an uproar for an hour with their anecdotes on life on the set and lively comments on their field of work. The talk was followed by a screening of a restored version of the film (but without the help of subtitles for the Milanese who cannot understand Sicilian. . .).
When questioned how she would express a similiar class divide today, Wertmüller confessed that things today are "far more complicated" but confirmed that a sequel to "Swept Away" is in the cards. Ain't we lucky.

[–] alicecbr 19 years ago

I'm a Southerner, myself, so hearing all the references to 'you dumb Southerner' in the movie by the 'industrial whore' (aka corporate whore?) was funny.
We Southerners are considered ignorant in this country as well, the U.s.A. and judging by our illegal president/cum king....they're right.
I used to cringe when i heard my accent on TV because I knew the content would be full of ignorance. They are isolated, and don't even have an AirAmericaRadio station down there, so cut them some slack.
My only answer for the ignorance is that if you don't use it, you lost it.
Up here in Boston, I have to be thinking every minute in the winter and when I'm on the roads. Otherwise, I die.
It's colder, so in the winter we read. Also, we have people from all over the world up here, it's where the melting pot starts. So we can't be as prejudiced, because we know these people as human beings, not as a group.
Maybe all that conspires to make us smarter, better educated. But the I.Q. is the same, as you can tell when someone smart from the South starts tahkin'.

"He who swaps his liberty for the promise of 'security' deserves neither." Ben Franklin

[–] alicecbr 19 years ago

I love this movie, even though I bought it, thinking it was "Island of the Slaves", a play I just saw at the ART . But it certainly follows those lines, as the masters become the slaves. And all the mistakes the new masters make in the same lines of the slaves.
This had more of an erotic component to it.

But did you think that when he asked about his kids, that he really would NOT have wanted to return to this island, even if the woman had wanted to go?
That he still would be the ignorant Southern man, and would not have been able to carry the relationship past the sexual?

Also, the looks on the husband when he has rescued his wife: the knowledge he seems to have of what has gone on, especially the changes that seem apparent?
You hope those changes are permanent, but who knows?

Great movie. Glad I didn't see Madonna ruin the whole thing.
Has that male actor done anything since of note?

"He who swaps his liberty for the promise of 'security' deserves neither." Ben Franklin

[–] satanetto 19 years ago

That male actor, if you mean Giannini (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316284/), is one of the greatest we have in Italy.. even though some of his last movies were a bit more commercial. He's in most Wertmuller's good movies, I recommend Mimi Metallurgico (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068950/) and Film d'Amore e d'Anarchia (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070061/). A very good recent one is Ettore Scola's La Cena (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140603/)

[–] alicecbr 19 years ago

thanks. I prefer to buy my movies. Are any of those on DVD, and where can I get them for a good price? Most of mine come from half.com
"He who swaps his liberty for the promise of 'security' deserves neither." Ben Franklin

[–] scoobydiesel 18 years ago

I watched it with sub's...I dont think this would be very good with Dubin

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One day i'll have something cool posted here....

[–] sawells 10 years ago

The English version lacked flames of passion and the raw sexuality of the Italian version. One of my favorites.