MovieChat Forums > The Double (2011) Discussion > fake russians in the movie !!!!

fake russians in the movie !!!!

posted 13 years ago by eugedo
16 replies | jump to latest

The thing which disturbed me most was that none of the russian characters spoke russian in the movie. What they spoke was some jibberish, no one would understand. Best of them was Gere, apart from his terrible accent. Can't understand how movie with leads like Richard Gere, Topher Grace and Martin Sheen would fail terribly in this very important aspect, they should have cast real russians.
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" was best of last year in this term, showing authentic Istanbul, Budapest of the era, and russian agent played by Konstantin Khabensky (very good and famous russian actor).

[–] Sanchez6 13 years ago

Yes, it was pretty pathetic. This movie has some amateurish and lazy moments.
Another example:
http://oi41.tinypic.com/2n6fzmo.jpg

[–] Jelena9412 13 years ago

Just like Hollywood with fake Chinese / fake Japanese / fake EVERYTHING.

I simply don't get it... With such huge budgets, they can't spend a few hours getting a few lines right? Or better yet, get someone who can actually speak the language.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] planetmutty 13 years ago

I don't see the big deal. Hollywood films are always casting a nationality and getting another nationality top play the part. How many British, South African, Australian, New Zealander etc actors do you see playing the parts of Americans? Happens all the time.

As for the Russian being gibberish, unless you could speak it you wouldn't know or care.

When I said I wanted to be a comedian, they all laughed at me. Well, they're not laughing now!

[–] fuzzyviking 12 years ago

"As for the Russian being gibberish, unless you could speak it you wouldn't know or care"

And there is the attitude that grates on us non-US moviegoers.

We DO speak our languages, and we DO care. That the people making the movies so very clearly did not care as long as it sounded suitably "foreign" shows a lack of respect and a lazy approach to casting.

I have watched several movies that I enjoyed until there is a jarring error in language that throws me completely off and makes an otherwise decent movie seem shoddy.

True, most people will not care, but to some, quality still matters.

[–] jking143 11 years ago

well don't think all us Americans are that arrogant--enough of us maybe, but not all. :-) I looked to see how much money they made off this film but didn't see it (I thought that info used to be included on imdb--maybe not), but the money the producers did NOT spend on real Russian actors, or at least ones who actually could speak the language properly, went in their pockets. I get bugged by this too--and the sloppy accents allowed.

[–] shonoffilm 13 years ago

Sounds like actors doing their jobs of acting and not impersonating.

[–] klauke 12 years ago

go watch some foreign movies and see what a butchered mess they make of the english language if someone has to speak it in THEIR movies. to call out 'hollywood' is to call out any film industry anywhere in the world as well... theyre all every bit as bad at this crap as the 'evil' hollywood that everyone likes to pick on.

Belief in a supernatural source of evil is unnecessary -We alone are capable of every wickedness

[–] bill_ferencz 12 years ago

That doesn't make it right. And Hollywood will and should be called out with their budget and accessibility. Get the details right. It's the least one could ask for.

[–] dbisse-1 12 years ago

When you line up to pay 50 bucks to see a movie, then come talk to me. Where you just as upset when you saw the Star Wars movies?

As long as the sub-titles are right, I don't care.

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 12 years ago

Both Shepherdson and Geary would have intentionally spoke Russian so that they didn't sound like a native. I don't know how you could miss that this would be important given the plot.

http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies

[–] jejozi 12 years ago

Good God, another foreigner complaining that an American movie, made with American actors, primarily for an American audience got the accents wrong. You and all the others like you need to get a freakin' life.

This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

[–] nevets829 11 years ago

There were some jibberish or rushed Russian words, but some were REAL. Im studying Russian right now and listen for Russian if its supposed to be in a movie. Not everything said was BS, some but not all. They probably teach em enough to squeeze thru, like in the Hunt for Red October,but not enough to get in trouble. Dos Vedanya

[–] Syava 11 years ago

Ha, for someone studying Russian you sure *beep* up saying до свидания(do svidaniya)as dos vedenya means absolutely nothing. Unless you were trying to contribute to this thread by posting gibberish Russian. If that was your goal, then молодец!!

[–] addie37 10 years ago

There are some actors who are very convincing with accents and language - such as Kristine Scott Thomas who often features in French films.
There has been so much negativity in the British press recently about "privileged" (for which read educated, neutral accents etc) actors hogging the best roles but very often they are the ones who have additional language skills and the ability to switch into accents more easily than someone who already carries a heavy accent with them.
I agree that it would be good to have more bi-lingual actors working in films so if a script called for a Danish person who spoke clear English then that would be the actor you would target and I think that is happening more and more especially now that British audiences are getting more familiar with foreign tv (subtitled) and are comfortable with either subtitles being used when the foreign language is spoken or those actors they have seen on tv featuring in British films.
In this film, whilst I really like Stephen Moyer, he certainly didn't convince me with his accent!