MovieChat Forums > Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2009) Discussion > a question to native french speakers...

a question to native french speakers...

posted 16 years ago by indiamikebell
17 replies | jump to latest

i don't speak any french myself. if i had never heard of KST before going into this film, i would have just assumed she's a french actress!! but could native speakers tell french is kst's second language from her accent?
in this movie, the little girl said her auntie has an accent? maybe KST had to speak french with an english accent for the purpose of this role (the character being only half french)?
i've seen KST in other french movies where her character is native french, like in "tell no one". she seems 100% convincing to me!!
another quick question, who speaks the best french out of the three?
1. KST
2. helena bonham carter
3. monica bellucci

[–] TheBlanchettFan 16 years ago

Yes, we can definitely hear an english accent in her voice but it's not very strong. From the three actresses you listed, she is the one who speaks french the best. But the only one american actress who can speak french without any accent is Jodie Foster : she does all her french dubbing and in A Very Long Engagement, she speaks french perfectly. I can understand that you don't get the difference, it's like most of french people who cannot say if somebody has an english or american accent.

[–] indiamikebell 16 years ago

hi, thanks for the reply. so you don't think KST was trying to speak french badly on purpose, just for the purpose of playing this role (her character being half english). cos in her other roles in french films, she plays characters who are supposedly born and bred in france. so wouldn't the audience feel that's really weird? abit like having juliette binoche (who speaks prefect english but with a slight french accent) playing a cockney character in an english movie! the english audience just won't buy that!!
ya i've heard how prefect jodie foster's french is! she did go to a french speaking international school in the us! you got to start young to be able to speak another language with no accents, probably no later than like 12, right?

[–] renzopiano 16 years ago

You can absolutely tell she's an
english speaker first but , english girls speaking french have a real attractive accent methinks.
She was quite convincing in "Ne le dis a personne" french speaking wise but
she's no Jodie Foster

[–] Wes_NYC 16 years ago

please remember that KST has a british accent in the movie because the script rquested so, otherwise she speaks french perfectly.... and no, it is not the other way around....

[–] jaimebien 16 years ago

Really? I haven't seend KST in any other French movies, and although I'm not a native French speaker myself, I could pick up the English-influenced accent when she spoke. However, it did seem to me that the script was used to explain her accent, rather than her having the accent because the script required her to. If that were the case, they would delve deeper into the English-ness of the family. Did you maybe read that in an interview? I'm quite interested to know for sure.

[–] bostonfilmfan 13 years ago

I agree - the script had to explain her accent, especially because her SISTER didn't have any accent. Other than that, there was no reason for this. It was used very elegantly in the scene where they visit their demented mother who suddenly starts speaking English, but it was not necessary for the plot.

[–] marlarkey 12 years ago

She has lived in France since 1979 and is married to a Frenchman.

[–] psdhart 14 years ago

Wes NYC is right, speaking of Jodie Foster who dubbed her part Silence of the Lambs into French herself, does KST do this as well?

[–] janney_ms 13 years ago

She dubbed herself in many of her movies. For example: Four weddings and a funeral, the english patient, random hearts... I remember an interview when she said that she try to do most of her own dubbling because it had to be done in really short time and that's not good because the actor who dubbed the voice don't feel the emotions of the caracter and don't have time to learn them. They just say what the text say and nothing more. So if she can she do it herself.

[–] Roublardise 16 years ago

When speaking French as a person, KST has almost no trace of an accent anymore (she used to a bit but not anymore, very impressive). Now, sometimes (very rarely) she may have some vocab problems but that's it. She could pass for a native easily. She's very Parisian in some of her expressions even!

Now, in this movie she puts a slight English accent on purpose as it is required by the script. We can hear it but as it is explained by the scenario, that doesn't surprise or bother at all.

Hope i helped. ;)

[–] janney_ms 13 years ago

You can heard her little vocab trouble like you said almost just when it's a intense scene like the last one when her sister said she knows about the little boy. When Kristin scream her text, you hear more clearly her english accent. But personnaly i find it just lovely!

[–] geoffrey-jackson 12 years ago

Thank you for asking this question. Thanks too for the various answers. It's interesting to read about the subtleties of KST's performance.

By the way, I chose this film after recently watching Bitter Moon (1992) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104779/ in which KST performed brilliantly. In fact, all the actors performed well - probably due to Polanski's directing.

For the record, I rated this film 8/10. A fine piece of French drama with a heart-wrenching ending.

[–] elijaprice 12 years ago

I'm a brit who speaks French as a second language, and I LOVE watching KST in french movies, because (besides being an incredible actress and very beautiful) her English "accent" makes her easy to understand for me.........often when watching French movies, actors will talk in a colloquial way, or too fast and I'll miss some of what they're saying....but with KST I can understand basically every word she says. So yeah, I'm not a native french speaker, but from the other side of the coin, I can say that she DOESN'T have a strong French accent, I can tell that English is her first language when she speaks French.

[–] annick_eisele 12 years ago

I am a native speaker. KST speaks really good French. However, she has a slight accent even when she plays a French person as in Leaving.

[–] nicklpool 12 years ago

Given that the director wrote the script, I think he added the totally irrelevant 'English mum' (who incidentally wasnt played by an English speaker) to explain KST's slight English accent.

[–] janney_ms 12 years ago

In fact, in Leaving, she plays a UK woman who came to France because ''c'était trop dur pour moi en Angleterre''. (It was too difficult for her in UK). But yes you're right she has just a slight english accent and it makes her just more lovely to listen!

[–] marlarkey 12 years ago

She is English but she went to Paris when she was 19, married a Frenchman and has lived in France ever since.

Her French is as native as it can be for someone who has lived in France as a native for 30 years.

Apart from her English and Hollywood films (eg Four Weddings) she has starred in many native French films.