Dialects in film

[Jonathan Lighter]

I agree about Pesci (Newark, NJ) and Tomei (NYC).

Comic characters are hard to judge. Some of what seems to be their "accent" often comes from their exaggerated delivery.  Phonetically, though, these two are naturals.

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are New Yorkers too. So was John Garfield. Their screen accents are entirely authentic.  Holly Hunter is from Conyers, GA, and is also "real" in most of her roles.  Will Geer (Frankfort, IN) was certainly passable (to me) as Grandpa Walton of WV.

JL
Tom Kysilko <pds at VISI.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Tom Kysilko

Subject: Re: Dialects in film
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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

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