MovieChat Forums > Body of Lies (2008) Discussion > So, he thought that he was speaking Arab...

So, he thought that he was speaking Arabic...? XD

posted 14 years ago by Swezy-For-Easy
19 replies | jump to latest

We used to hear American actors speaking other languages & leading them to a whole new level of badness XD

Recently, for example, the Chinese in Limitless ( my Chinese friend said to me that he didn't understand a word of what Bradley said )

Anyway, the new thing in this movie, that Mark Strong said to Leonardo DiCaprio : You speak Arabic well.

Now we have a *beep* serious problem because I'm an Arab & i didn't understand a single word of Leonardo's Arabic ( i mean Leonardo's language XD )

The funny thing was Leonardo's eyes when he spoke Arabic. He looked so confident that he was really speaking Arabic LooooooL

Hollywood actors, stop speaking any language except English, especially if it's a language that has special letters like Arabic.

[–] Memnu 12 years ago

I speak Arabic and thought his Arabic was very good considering the fact that he isn't Arabic and probably never had spoken it before. Yes at times he wasn't that understandable, but I agree with Mark Strong, he did speak Arabic well.
And you say "the funny thing was Leonardo's eyes when he spoke Arabic. He looked so confident..." Um, isn't that what an actor is supposed to do, make it look like he really is that character?

You say you're an Arab and that Hollywood actors shouldn't speak other languages. You're not an actor, but why did you learn English, a language that has "special letters"?

[–] foton 12 years ago

I am an Arab as well and I completely agree with the original thread poster..."Speaking " a language and being a native of it is totally a different story ...I have studied English , French and German (Beside Arabic of course ) and let me tell you that Arabic is the most difficult and most versatile of them ALL , more sounds , very similar to an non Arab 's ear , letters and writing is much more varied and when you come to hear dialects and accents from various Arabs (Iraqqiis , Syrians , Egyptians , yameni ...etc ) trust me me you will feel you're listening to another language not just an "Arabic accent " ...In fact we Arabs find it very hard and complicated to understand each other's local accent , let alone speaking it .. unless trained for quite a good time ...

[–] foton 12 years ago

I couldn't understand a word of Leonardo Di Caprio 's "Arabic" ...but kudos to him he at least tried ...But other Hollywood actors were very good almost excellent at speaking Arabic like the one in "Three Kings " who pretended to be an Iraqi and I couldn't believe he was American till I saw the info on IMDB !! He nailed the Iraqii Arabic beautifully , though it 's very hard to learn ...As for Arabic trainers on set , they are usually Morroccon and they just teach their Arabic accent which is easily distinguished by any Arab ...I remember laughing so hard with my brother when we watched (The Mummy ) with all those Moroccon extras pretending to be Egyptians , while dressing and speaking in a purely Non-Egyptian method ...We may seem similar to other people but believe me , we're not :)...
As for a poster here - whom for some unclear reason - bashed the original thread poster for just speaking & expressing his opinion in a another language ; with different letters ; is truly bizzare and pathetic ..and almost arrogantly racist ...

[–] Croyles 12 years ago

There are 4 alternatives, go back to the old style where everyone just put on an english accent no matter where in the world they are,
or never make moves that take place in another country,
hire more native people (this is the best option i think, but it's very time consuming for most studios, Tarantino is great at this)
or find a true bilingual actor that is actually also good at acting.

I know how you feel hearing these actors butcher your language so confidently, but it's just not feasible to find a new good actor that is truly bilingual for exactly those 2 languages at exactly that time of shooting, every single time.

I'm German so trust me I hear it a lot. A lot of the time actors just shout the language and try to make it sound like klingon.

I guess there are certain movies that are best never watched by people who speak these languages. As people said, for them who have zero knowledge of the language it was convincing enough, and that is the reason why DiCaprio had to look confident doing it, whether or not it was gibberish.

Hollywood definitely could do better with common languages and accents such as English, German, French, etc. Especially when the part in question is for an extra.

[–] foton 12 years ago

@ Croyles
*Thumbs up opinion * ...and Tarantino is "the Best " once again :) at doing movies ...It may be a bit time consuming for some studios , but they shouldn't be cheap about it , spending some more money on it wouldn't cost a lot compared to what DiCaprio would be payed for example to utter such crap ..and it would be better certainly .

[–] Croyles 12 years ago

I don't think Tarantino is the best director/writer by a long shot. I just admire him for actually hiring native actors.