Thursday, May 6, 2010

Movies in Germany

The first time I saw a movie in Germany it was Grease 2 in 1982. It was dubbed except for the music. I'm not fond of dubbing as I want to hear the original actors' voices even if it's in a language I can't understand.

Since then, I've only watched films in Germany at the Berlinale. It's one of the three premier film festivals in Europe along with Cannes and Venice. The Berlinale is designed to be an international event. Most presentations are in English and films are presented in their original language with English subtitles except for specific theaters where the subtitles are in German.

I thought about taking Mr. Dullum to a movie but then it dawned on me that perhaps things hadn't changed in 30 years. I asked Thomas Carlsen, one of my German friends and he explained:

Hi Tom,
Filme in englischer Sprache gibt es nur in Kinos in Großstädten - manchmal.
Normalerweise werden alle Kinofilme synchronisiert - so nennt man das 'Dubbing' hier.
Viele Grüße & gute Reise!
ThomasCarlsen Fachübersetzungen
22453 Hamburg


Roughly translated:

Films in English are sometimes available in theaters in large cities. Normally films in multiplexes are dubbed or "synchonisiert" as it is called in German.

It looks like if I want to take him to a movie, we will have to make the trek up to Frankfurt or Wiesbaden.