Asian Invasion

[Don Brown]

>Don Brown says that a dubbed film can't be considered a foreign-language
>film. He's got a point -- perhaps I should have said "foreign film" when
>referring (somewhat facetiously) to Pokemon.
>
>That raises the question -- is a dubbed Japanese film still "Japanese" or
>has it been rendered nationally neuter? Hmmm.
I would say that dubbing "neuters" any film.  I think I have yet to see a 
dubbed film that manages to match the original dialogue for nuance, passion 
etc.  The American edition of PM did have a higher class of voice talent 
and scriptwriting, but is it any match for a subtitled version?  In the end 
I suppose it comes down to personal taste, so I'll leave it there.
As for the issue of national desexing (there's a scary thought), I think 
dubbing is less of a muddling factor than, say, a film produced by several 
companies from different countries, with an international cast and 
director.  I'm a New Zealander, so I'll raise the example of "The Piano" - 
the director had been a resident of Australia for several years, two of the 
three most prominent roles went to Americans, and the money largely came 
from European based studios (if I'm not mistaken).  Ask any New Zealander, 
they'll tell you it's a NZ movie.  Ask an Australian, they'll probably say 
that since Campion is an adopted ocker, it's an Aussie film.  There's no 
easy answers to this one.  
Is Oshii Mamoru's forthcoming "Avalon" Japanese, or Polish?  Or both?
Don Brown
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