Determine original language of the movie

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Sometimes I want to watch some movie in its original language i.e. without translation.

For some movies, it's pretty easy. For example,

  • Antonioni's Blowup was originally filmed in English
  • His L'Avventura was originally filmed in Italian

But for some movies it's not easy to determine the original language.

Like, Spirits of the Dead by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini. How I can determine in what language it was filmed originally: Italian or French?

Another example is Beyond the Clouds by Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders. The question is the same: How I can determine in what language it was filmed originally?

Well, currently I'm interested in these two movies, but my question is broader. Is there a way to determine the original language of any, i.e. arbitrary, movie?



Best Answer

One suggestion would be the BBFC website (British Board of Film Censors) that categorizes each film it provides a certificate for.

So, for Beyond the Clouds, we see the related works that point at

PAR-DELA LES NUAGES - BEYOND THE CLOUDS

Title - PAR-DELA LES NUAGES - BEYOND THE CLOUDS
Also known as - BEYOND THE CLOUDS
Year - 2009
Distributor(s) - Second Sight Films
Classified date(s) - 15/05/2009
Main language - French
Submitted run time104m 54s
BBFC reference - BVF066043

So, the original here is French.

BBFC doesn't list "Spirits of the Dead", so you'll need some other reference there. It's doubtful you'll find a single source for every film. The BBFC does seem pretty dependable though (when it has results).




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How movie are made in different languages?

Lip-sync dubbing or simply dubbing (also called voice-overs in other countries) is another way to do movie translations. It involves replacing the original or source audio track with recorded audio (dialogue) in another language. Spain, Italy, Germany, and France are territories where dubbing is favored.

How many languages are movies translated into?

A typical animated tentpole is dubbed for 39 to 43 territories; a four-quadrant live-action film like Pirates of the Caribbean is translated into about 27 tongues, while a more typical live-action movie usually is dubbed into 12 to 15 languages.

What language has the best films?

The result: 100 films from 67 different directors, from 24 countries, and in 19 languages. French can claim to be the international language of acclaimed cinema: 27 of the highest-rated films were in French, followed by 12 in Mandarin, and 11 each in Italian and Japanese.

What are the 5 most common languages to dub in movies?

Debra Chinn, Netflix's director of international dubbing. The most popular languages Netflix's media gets dubbed in are French, Italian, German, Turkish, Polish, Japanese, Spanish (Spain), Brazilian Portuguese and Latin America Spanish.



The Language of Film: Crash Course Film History #5




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