MovieChat Forums > Versailles (2016) Discussion > Not in "French"? What were they thinking...

Not in "French"? What were they thinking?!?

posted 10 years ago by Powerbreak
25 replies | jump to latest

With so many successful Scandinavian tv-series (Borgen, Wallander, The Bridge, The Killing, ...) in original language, here we have a French monument - produced by the French - being played in English?! WTF? This is the stupid 'The Man in the Iron Mask ' all over again? So what, there are not enough good French actors available? Is this meant to educate English-speaking teenagers, who don't like to read subtitles? This is a purely opportunistic choice from the makers who rather bet on 'demographic' assessments than on the artistic value of the series. Pathetic!

ps: I am not speaking French and do not live in France.

[–] StaraBaba 10 years ago

Calm down. The Borgias in the TV show were not speaking Italian, Vikings are not speaking old norse. It's only a TV show!

[–] aus_trinity 10 years ago

It is in English, as a number of European shows made in non-English speaking countries, so that it can be marketed to a much larger audience and make the production company more money. There was a conference a few months back where this issues was discussed and the main point that the production and TV programmers made was that by making the show in English, they could easily sell it in other countries within Europe and over seas without having to have subtitles or dubbed in audio in another language. Sky International made the very valid point that they have 100 million subscribers in Europe, many younger bi-lingual viewers and that English language shows are very popular, plus they can sell it to America easier. Personally I am grateful for it, while I have no issue with subtitles, I have a medical condition that makes it harder for me to concentrate, making shows or movies that are all in subtitles harder to follow and generally headache inducing. Having said that The Closest, a French movie spoken in French and a Korean movie called Perfect Match are in my top 5 favourite movies, subtitles and all!! Two very funny movies :)

[–] acthewriter 9 years ago

Calm your tits. It's just a television show. Their are plenty of things to get worked up over, but this isn't one of them.

Smh

Wearing my 'fro as high as it will go

[–] tjejen 9 years ago

Facepalm. That totally put me off from watching it. It's a stupid decision, there's enough of a market worldwide for French-speaking shows.

[–] minervara99 9 years ago

There are French-dubbed episodes available for you to enjoy around the net. And it's the right decision to make this series in English.

[–] tjejen 9 years ago

French-dubbed?? Hahahhahahahahahahahahahaha. Yeah let's watch a French show taking place in France but dubbed. Makes total sense. For the record, I'm perfectly capable of watching it in English, I just think it's a terrible decision to have the original language be English instead of French, for obvious reasons. They could have dubbed it to English instead.

[–] acthewriter 9 years ago

You sound stupid. Why would a show, specifically created for the English-speaking audience, filmed in English for that express purpose, need to be filmed in French and dubbed in English? If the whole idea is to appeal to a broader English speaking audience, wouldn't it stand to reason that it would be filmed in English as well? The show is meant for ENTERTAINMENT purposes. It's not a damned documentary, therefore there is no reason to get your stinky panties in a twist about it being filmed in English and dubbed in French.

Wearing my 'fro as high as it will go

[–] scootergirl9988 8 years ago

Nothing is worse than dubbing. French with English subtitles? Yes. Dubbed? Hell, no.

"Nothing is more ill bred than trying to steal the affections of someone else's dog."

[–] Ithilfaen (183) 8 years ago

lol yeah right because they are going to make millions selling a show to a few million people in Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg and Switzerland. As opposed to all the rest of the world.
Or do you actually think anyone in Africa is interested in a show about Versailles? Because that's where most of your French-speaking people live.

[–] Scifi71 9 years ago

The producrs said Louis himself would want it in English because it reaches a much wider audience.

Humankind cannot bear very much reality. ~T.S. Eliot

[–] Mike-donit 9 years ago

Silly remark. Glad it's in English so it gets greater exposure. I saw some episodes in French, you can go look them up if your so concerned. I've watched Marco Polo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Julius Cesar, Shaka Zulu,etc, all in English and very grateful that history I learned in school and classics I've read about came to glorious life. Now I get to enjoy the magnificence and intrigue of HRH XIV !

[–] VGsam 9 years ago

good luck selling a show worldwide that's in French

[–] coolest_saint 9 years ago

good luck selling a show worldwide that's in French

Bingo.

It's a great series and to get the recognition it deserves across the world, the script has to be in English, end of. Filimg it in French would definitely have brought a bit more charm to it, but sadly, French is becoming increasingly irrelevant and the series would simply not appeal to large numbers of people in different countries.

[–] yakushijtenzen 9 years ago

I am sure the series is great, but obviously it drops it at least 3 points (out of 10) for being in English.

French cinema is thriving, the French language isn't dead, this is a story which should have been done in French by French actors.

In addition, I can say that the French language is unique, and has a much more advanced and nuanced way of speaking than the English language, especially in that time period by nobles, so you lose the entirety of the period by having it in English.

That said, I love British film-making so that makes it less bad.

[–] Scifi71 9 years ago

French cinema is thriving, the French language isn't dead, this is a story which should have been done in French by French actors

The series was made for international distribution> Engish is spoken by a lot more people than French is.

Humankind cannot bear very much reality. ~T.S. Eliot