Dialects in film

[Tom Kysilko]

At 2/18/2005 09:56 PM -0600, Janis Vizier Nihart wrote:
>Another movie I have enjoyed is Shipping News with Kevin Spacey..  I don't
>know what dialect it is but its interesting.  Can anyone tell me more about
>it????

Newfoundland.  According to the DVD, the actor playing the cop/firefighter
in yellow rain gear at the scene of the accident, which was Spacey's first
reporting assignment, was a local.  He also served as dialect
coach.  Anyway, the rest of the cast who are supposed to be locals do sound
a lot like him.  The producers and director speak with pride that the cast
"nailed the accent."

One of my favorite exaggerated MN accents can be found in the mouths of
nearly all the characters in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (1999)  Actually, I have
heard an accent that extreme in real life, but it was in central WI.

I'll let others judge the accuracy, but I sure have fun listening to the
Bronx or Brooklyn accents of Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei in "My Cousin
Vinny" (1992).



   Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
   pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA
           http://www.visi.com/~pds