Italian, no doubt.
As I understand it, many Italian films, especially genre fare, weren’t even shot with live sound; the idea was that they would just be looped for whatever languages they would be distributed in later.
Yeah, the Italians are fond of dubbing. One of the reasons why I don’t like a whole lot of Italian cinema, but it’s their decision so whatever.
—PolarisDiB
TJ is correct, because of their international casts and financing that came from Germany, France, Italy, Spain and sometimes the US ( they were great tax shelters where you could always claim the picture lost money) the films were often dubbed into the language where the film was being released. This was also a method to hold production costs in line and was most effective. As to your actual question I’m afraid as of today the only version available, to my knowledge, is the restored Fantoma disc with alternate “Happy” ending.
Okay, so is it in its original form suppose to be watched in Italian? Or was it released originally in dubbed english?
I guess that’s the whole point. There is no original language. The film has French, German, Italian and Spanish actors. I watched it in English. You might as well watch it in your native language. It is one of the great non-Leone Spaghetti Westerns.
How interesting. I just started watching the Fantoma copy last night and was surprised to find it had no Italian option. However, I don’t mind dubbing, and, yes, I’m sure there was no sync sound recorded during the shoot, so this English version is about as official as any dubbed Italian version I could get anyways. Great music, by the way. Nicolai and Morricone’s collaborations are always interesting.
In answer to your latest question Christopher, the original Italian seems it would be no more original than the original English…BOTH are the original versions. Neither is more authentic.
at CHRIS: the Fantom version has the original ending while you watch the movie but the alternate ending as a supplementary extra.
Oh, yes, what Ari said…well put. No original language…might as well cater to one you speak fluently (if you’re an English-speaker, that is).
Thanks for the answers.
This is disappointing.
Yes, unfortunately, if you have the not unreasonable expectation that actors’ mouths actually match the words that come out of them, many Italian movies from that period will disappoint you. As someone who likes giallos/spaghetti westerns, I got used to it. Look at it on the bright side, not constrained to record live sound liberated the camera. That’s why so many of the Italian films have such amazing camera movements.
I believe I heard or read soemwhere that one reason Italian films are shot MOS is that the industry never bothered sound-proofing their stages (or mostly didn’t bother).
Can anyone verify this?
In any case most of the films are shot silent, sometimes withe ach actor speaking whatever language s/he is most comfortable with, sometimes with all actors speaking (but not recorded in) whatever language the producers see as the biggest target market so that the post-production dubbing most closely matches the lip movements in that country.
Well, in large part it’s more that many Italian films weren’t shot on soundstages, but on location (an important aspect of, for example, neorealism), so live sound microphones tended to pick up too much street noise. Dubbing of foreign films was compulsory during the fascist period (from 1933 until WWII), so the means were in place. Also, dubbing allowed for using actors with a wide variety of Italian regional accents and dialects, as well as foreign actors, and still maintaining a consistant soundtrack. Once post dubbbing was standard practice, though, it would make sense that, even as filmmakers started to rely on soundstages more, they wouldn’t be too concerned about soundproofing them.
Well, in large part it’s more that many Italian films weren’t shot on soundstages, but on location (an important aspect of, for example, neorealism), so live sound microphones tended to pick up too much street noise. Dubbing of foreign films was compulsory during the fascist period (from 1933 until WWII), so the means were in place. Also, dubbing allowed for using actors with a wide variety of Italian regional accents and dialects, as well as foreign actors, and still maintaining a consistant soundtrack. Once post dubbbing was standard practice, though, it would make sense that, even as filmmakers started to rely on soundstages more, they wouldn’t be too concerned about soundproofing them.
Ben, you are correct. I should have been clearer in my orginal post. The alternate “happy” ending is included as a special feature and not actually in the film itself. Sorry.
Christopher, it is a great Sergio Corbucci film and you should try and get past the dubbing.( yes it can be distracting but the film is worth the effort.)
I enjoyed it. Putting the dubbing aside, it was an exceptional movie. I cant get enough Klaus Kinski!
Christopher
What is the intended original language to view this film in? I just rented a copy that is in English and has no other option available. It looks dubbed to me. Also, on this site and IMDB it is listed as “Italian” under language. Anyone know of the top of there head? I want to make sure I am watching it in its original intended to be viewed way. I cant fucking stand dubs.
Thanks