inactualfact wonders today why all English-language movies and TV series shown here are dubbed into German. I used to be bothered by this, but I’m not anymore, probably because most movies I watch these days are on DVD with an English soundtrack. Anybody want a useless Fargo DVD with German soundtrack only?
What does bother me is that for many movies the title is completely changed in German. How is anyone supposed to know that North By Northwest in German is “The Invisible Third”, or that Animal House is “I Think a Horse Kicked Me”, just to name two examples. You’d think for Animal House they’d at least come up with something with food fights or cucumbers.
As for why everything is dubbed, I imagine it’s because it’s always been done and now the German audience expects it. Or maybe because the Nazis wanted everything in German. Who knows.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
why? because “the audience” wants to watch movies and series in German, and the market is big enough. I prefer the original soundtrack, but dubbed is still better than having subtitles. Subtitles are only fun in a hungarian movie theater when you find out that there is one person who reads slower than everybody else and thus laughs later than everybody else…
I’ll swap your Fargo DVD for my Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee. I always check the language tracks now….
I prefer subtitles over dubbing any time. But I guess I am the minority.
What movie is “Die Ritter der Kokosnuss”?
I don’t know, back in college I kind of enjoyed Friday nights at the Campus theatre watching subtitled French films. Then again, while I was in college my finacée was in Germany, so my social life was kind of warped.
@Heiko: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Do I win a prize?
PS Now that I think about it, I’m surpised that they didn’t rename Fargo for the German market. How about “Ich glaub’, mich beisst ein Häcksler”?
Hey Scott, we also have a useless Fargo DVD with German soundtrack only and bought the new edition a couple of days ago. I thought the dubbed version of the film was hilarious, but it’s nothing compared to the original version (You’re darned tootin’!).
(inactualfact, I’ll swap with you if you’d like to!)
And then there are DVDs like “Trainspotting” where you can NOT switch off the German subititles for “legal reasons” – as they explain on the cover. Frustrating.
Yeah, but for “Trainspotting” even some of us native English speakers still need the subtitles.
Hello,
I’m a french student in a Business School and i’ve been through your blog. I read very interesting things. But I’ve a question about the chapter “Rub a dub dub”: you look very bothered by the fact that english films are dubbed, but it’s the same in the States, isn’t it?
I think you should try to enjoy cultural differences rather than being upset because of them. I hope for you that you’re going to see the good points of the german culture and not just the bad ones.
Actually the few foreign-language films shown in the States are almost always subtitled, not dubbed. Foreign films that may appeal to a mass audience tend to be completely remade with American actors and a new plot.
An exception seems to be Godzilla movies from Japan, which are dubbed, and extremely poorly dubbed at that.
Germany isn’t all that bad… otherwise I wouldn’t have stayed here so long.
From my colleage Dirk Olbertz, currently working in St. Petersburg, I’ve found out about an even worse form of dubbing: original language with a single Russian overvoice.