I saw a comment recently from someone who harshly criticized dubbed versions into German, not because he had a problem with dubbing per se, but because it doesn’t sound natural.
People in dubbing countries all know the spoofs of dubbed films. The forced voice, the too-English grammar, the absence of the plethora of lovely, colorful, and imaginative swearwords available in any language (“Kackscheiß” anyone? “Himmelarschundzwirn”?) in favor of the ubiquitous “fucking”, the overuse of loan words etc etc.
We all know that for many reasons, dubbing doesn’t sound like a conversation between friends on the street. Critics of dubbing tend to ignore that most of the originals aren’t a spontaneous conversation, but something that’s been carefully scripted and performed. But dubbers unfortunately tend to ignore the level of naturalness in the original and simply stick with the established dubbing conventions. And that is extremely unfortunate.
Audiences today have the opportunity to switch between language versions. They can hear the original. They are arguably also better traveled, compared to audiences in the 1950s, when dubbing solidified into the main mode of consuming entertainment. They are more likely to have direct personal exposure to Hip Hop culture, have an idea of what a “Scandinavian” intonation might sound like, or find the speech melody in a Japanese manga exciting rather than alienating, and they might want this reflected in what they hear in the dub, alongside what they see.
There are many reasons for a conservative approach to language in dubbing. After all, as soon as you get noticed as a dub, you have lost. But there is no reason not to strive for a level of naturalness that’s on par with the original.
If someone mumbles to the point where they cannot be understood in the original – let them mumble to the same point in German. If they sound fake and artificial in a sitcom – no need to resort to method acting in the dubbing studio. But what Tim Robbins does in “The Secret Life of Words” when he speaks at edge of the audible, that deserves all the care and attention to detail that’s possible. And got it in the German dub, by the way. Alexander Löwe’s script, Dorette Hugo’s direction, and Tobias Meister’s voice performance are a collaborative masterpiece.
What’s threatening dubbing is that it too often simply doesn’t sound like the original. It doesn’t have the same connection. And people notice.
Audiences are looking for an experience that’s as immersive and as intense as the experience that original audiences get. And they deserve it. They pay good money for their streaming subscription, or for their movie ticket. Want to get them out of the house and into a cinema? Off their phone and to the TV screen? Then make them feel that they are as important to you, the dubbing company, as the original audiences are to the producers of the original. Otherwise you might as well not bother.
