Why are there accents in Les Misérables?
Originally, the book was written in French. The 2012 adaptation has English actors and they are expected to speak in English.
However, why do they speak with different accents?
Thénardier (Sacha Baron Cohen) speaks with a French accent, Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone) with a (very strong) British accent, the remaining actors don't have a noticeable accent (to me, at least).
I could get it if it were only actor accents (Daniel Huttlestone is British), and not character accents. But Thénardier's french accent is definitely a character one.
Are they using different English accents to demonstrate different French accents of the original novel?
Best Answer
It could be that their accents are meant as indicators to their personality and class.
In the examples you give: Thénardier adopts a 'fake' french accent, to attempt to pass himself off as more sophisticated than he is. The fact the accent is French is unimportant, it's the act of pretense by Thénardier that is being portrayed.
Gavroche is an urchin, perhaps the bottom rung of the lowest class in society. His accent is thick cockney, which is analogous to being common and uneducated in British culture.
In disparity to this: Jean Valjean (whilst imitating someone of nobler birth) has correct enunciation and a statesmanlike presence. This is indicative of education, and a higher class citizen.
Pictures about "Why are there accents in Les Misérables?"
Why is everyone in Les Misérables British?
It's a sort of comedy accent.\u201d Beyond the potential unwanted comedic effect, West says there was a deeper reason for wanting the entire cast to use British accents for their French characters.Why do French people in films have British accents?
Thus, this explains that the reason why the film industry relies on the British accent is because it's most familiar to English speakers, which makes up the majority of viewers. \u201cThe idea of learning a bunch of different languages when we were very young [lets us] have the ability to understand what someone is saying.Is Les Misérables French or Spanish?
Overview. Les Mis\xe9rables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original French title.Is Les Misérables British?
Les Mis\xe9rables is a British television series based on the 1862 French historical novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.Why Does Les Mis Have English Accents? or, The History of the Cockney Musical
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