I watched Captain Corelli’s Mandolin last night. What a mess of a movie. Considering Nicolas Cage is Italian, he does a piss-poor job of portraying one. His delivery of dialogue was stunted and clumsy, and he had zero charisma. I didn’t believe it for even one second.
This picture depicts poor Penelope Cruz, caught in the wooden clutches of Nicolas Cage.
The cinematography was beautiful, but nothing could rescue this movie from poor writing, confused casting (Penelope Cruz as an Albanian? Huh?), and awkard acting. The only good thing I got from this movie was this line: “Love is what’s left over after being in love wears off.”
I must go now. Birds are dying.
Wow, was it as bad as Portman in V for Vendetta?
You must be kidding. Portman was both brilliant and beautiful in V for Vendetta.
Maybe I shouldve been more specific. But no, i’m not kidding.
While I did like the character, the looks, and all that…..her fake british accent ruined it for me. It didnt sound right. It sounded American most of the time and when she pronounced something with a british accent, it was distracting and awkward. Sometimes, it was as if she tried too hard. This could perfectly be because I know that she isnt british and I’m used to her sounding American, but for whatever the reason, that fake accent was a hell of a bad thing in that movie. And it really stuck out like a sore thumb because almost everyone in that movie was british, or more british-sounding; so when she did it, it was awkward.
Weaving, on the other hand, was the fucking bomb. No need for no accent! Just the simple neutral Agent Smith-like voice that kicks so much ass.
o_O i completely agree with superkev here. portman was gorgeous, and i didn’t notice the accent issue at all.
and mandolin indeed sucked. thank you for putting your finger on WHY it did, kev!
I know you’re big Portman fans here, but why is the term “gorgeous” being thrown around when I mentioned the way she talked? Its about as relevant as a bearskin rug in the space shuttle.
An actor has to simply (not easily) portray a character convincingly. CONVINCINGLY being the big keyword here.
I know that Hugh Jackman is Australian, I know that he sounds Australian in real life. Same as Nicole Kidman, same as Hugo Weaving. But when they play American characters, they talk convincingly enough for me to buy them as American and not Australian. I know that Portman is American and sounds American, but when she played a character thats English…..it just didnt sound convincing for me. Thats all. I’m not saying she looked like crap or any other thing that could be taken as blasphemy by some, though I’m sure it will.
I asked my British friend what she thought of Portman’s accent in V for Vendetta. She said, “It was adorable!” I said, “Yeah, but did it sound real to you?” and she said, “Of course it sounds real. She’s British.” She was surprised to find out that Portman is actually American. I think that’s a pretty strong vote in favour of Portman’s accent. I’m not an expert on accents, but I think that a born-and-bred English girl is probably a better judge of British accents than an Argentinean-American whose first language is Spanish 😛
Nice shot.
Im sure they thought she was good for the part, because they got her for that specific role. But I dont care if Queen Elizabeth thought she was great; it still sounded awkward when I heard it. Its not like I had a choice to like it, for Chrissakes. I could go off on a tangent on why I dont have to agree with the majority even for stuff I dont personally agree on regardless of their credentials, but thats a horse beaten to death.
Plus Kev, if you want to use that strategy, I could say that Nic Cage’s accent was convincing. And since I am more Italian than you are (A Canadian of Chinese descent whose first language is nothing like Italian), would that make me right and you wrong? Hell no.
PS: I didnt even see the movie.
Your comparison doesn’t make any sense at all… The Chinese-Canadian thing especially, since I was born here and I’m a native English speaker. We’re judging accents of English, not Italian. I couldn’t tell you if Nic Cage spoke good Italian, but I can tell you that his English dialect is all wrong.
Anyway, I’m not trying to convince you of anything, since that’s most likely impossible. The horse named “Diny Admitting He Doesn’t Know Something” is the kind with a big horn on its forehead. It might exist, but we’ve never seen it. I’m just providing evidence for other people who might read this.
Maybe I’m wrong (possible horse sighting!) when I read “Considering Nicolas Cage is Italian, he does a piss-poor job of portraying one” and interpreted it as you thinking that he does a bad job of convincingly portraying an Italian, quite possibly by the way he talked. Maybe a wifebeater wasnt enough or he just didnt eat enough pasta. But since I havent seen the movie, its a moot point.
I know you werent trying to convince me, Kev. Its a matter of opinion, so convincing me is hard, considering that I dont pull my opinions out of my nose.
I’m just having trouble connecting the “Diny Admitting He Doesnt Know Something” horse (He exists, I just keep him well hidden) with my opinion about Portman’s accent. I’m also having trouble connecting how my ethinicity discredits my perception of British accents completely, as if I’ve never heard one in my life.
I don’t think your ethnicity makes you unable to have an opinion about British accents. I just said that someone who was born and raised in England knows British accents better than you do. I don’t think there’s much to argue there.
You’re right, there isnt anything much (anything, really) to argue when it comes to that part. But like I said before, the Queen herself could validate it, but it still doesnt sound right for me. Weird? More than I originally thought, but it still wont wash the awkwardness I got when first watching the flick.
ouch…it’s hot in here……
hehehe….
do we dare to comment?!!