MovieChat Forums > All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) Discussion > No Attempt at a German Accent?

No Attempt at a German Accent?

posted 21 years ago by TastesLikeApples
28 replies | jump to latest

You'll notice that the authentic feeling that you should get from seeing a war movie is completely absent here. It's not the fact that the actors don't speak German, that can be forgiven (it would obviously be too difficult for them). But rather, it's the fact that none of them even ATTEMPT to speak their lines with a German accent! It would be okay if they at least all spoke with the same accent, but one of the soldiers sounds American while all the others are British! Ridiculous. They're actors, but why didn't they act? Ian Holm was the closest to a German accent, if you could call it that.

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[–] noonan121 17 years ago

You truly are stupid. Your supposed to assume their German. Why would they need a GERMAN accent if they were talking ENGLISH. By the way they talk english so you dont have to read gay subtitles.

[–] rwsmith29456 17 years ago

I liked it the way it was. If you were German you wouldn't think that you or others were speaking with an accent. If it were done another way, I would prefer German with subtitles.

[–] wight1984 16 years ago

Completely necessary and would have just ended up distracting. Worse, it could have added a sense of 'otherness' to the characters that would miss the point of the film.

I have nothing against films with historically accurate languages that are subtitled, but if it's an American production in English then let them speak with their normal accents...

[–] lawrence142002 15 years ago

Speaking in a German accent is unecessary. The viewer is to allow themselves to imagine that they are German themselves and thusly they are easy to understand because the generally sound like you do. How do you connect with a fake accent? You don't. It's deliberate. You are supposed to make a connection with the characters.

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[–] Bernnard_Black 14 years ago

A British accent is commonly used in American made films with foreign characters. Look at shows like Rome or movies like Gladiator; ancient Romans most likely didn't have a British accent. We use the British accent because it sounds different enough from Americanized English to indiate they aren't Americans, but it can still be understood without subtitles.

[–] magic8ball2112 13 years ago

Going against the grain here, but I agree that SOME attempt should've been made to present the Germans as Germans with the use of Germanic accents to their English language lines.

I caught a good part of the film on local, low-powered TV and had to wonder why all the guys in German uniforms weren't at least trying to indicate they were Germans? I liked Borgnine's 'grizzled old veteran' character but had to remind myself he wasn't portraying some grizzled old American veteran! And for a man in the Army, he sure was portly, lol!

True, films have traditionally done crappy attempts at accents. lol, Enemy at the Gates' Brit-accented Russians come to mind. And lets not forget Kevin Costner's damning portrayal of wayward Briton Robin Hood. He didn't even attempt an English accent til his character meets Friar Tuck. And then it sounded so painfully fake (after doing the film, up to that point, in his American drawl), why? attempt to feign an English accent then??!

I disagree that trying to do the roles with fake accents takes away from the German soldiers' humanity. If anything, it reminds us that 'the Hun' was just as human as our 'good guys'. lol, plus, faking accents isn't like trying to use black & Asian actors to portray the Germans!

[–] Archeoterrex 12 years ago

I agree with the topic poster. It just comes off as lazy and suspension of disbelief is broken when I hear those thick English accents. The Germans fought the English during WW1 too, but they conveniently only fight the French in this movie. Pretty lame.

[–] JohnDee3 12 years ago

I don't see the language or accents as any issue at all - the only other alternative is to have the whole film in German language. Why is it such an issue to some people that the film is in English? Should "Spartacus" have been made in Latin????

Also, I don't think that the story was written to conveniently only portray the Germans fighting the French. Unlike the other Armies, in both world wars, the Germans fought practically everybody! So a film which shows them fighting one army or another will always be realistic and is not necessarily a tiny vignette. In World War though, the Germans and French fighting was especially heavy and constituted a large percentage of the combat on the Western Front.

[–] Archeoterrex 11 years ago

Yeah but if they suddenly fought the English, doncha think it would be kinda.... ODD?!

[–] crissttigaldames 11 years ago

Jesus people, three words: suspense of disbelief. Plus, just HOW would it be any more realistic to have Germans speaking in English with a German accent?. Seriously, how?.

They WERE attempting to show they were German: you are told so and they're wearing German uniforms ffs.

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[–] bhilburn 11 years ago

Besides, Germans don't speak English with German accents. They speak German. So what's the point.

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[–] Nexus71 10 years ago

No I don't think they should be doing that.It is not needed also Remarque wanted the story to reflect the experiences of all the men who fought in W.W.I, that is what made the novel so popular to begin with,all soldiers who fought in that war(not only the Germans)could relate to the stories Remarque told!Well the authenticety of this movie isn't as bad as you discribe considering it was used during my history lessons about W.W. I,and from what I was tought about WWI it gave a fairly accurate description of trench-warfare.The point of the novel and the films are to relate to a wide audience because of the shared experience.The only thing they should do is clean up the images and tweak the sound and give it a dolby 5.1 soundtrack,I think that should enhance the impact of the movie quite a bit.