Warning: Forget the dubbed English track--stick to the French

I made the mistake of watching the Criterion DVD of this film using the dubbed English track. Big mistake. The voice actors, especially for the children, simply do not do justice to the material. I turned right around and watched it in the original French with English subtitles and it was MUCH superior. Often, when there is a choice, I prefer the English dubbed track the first time I view a film so that I can focus more completely on the actors faces and afterward, now familiar with the story, watch it in the original language. In some of the Fellini films, for instance, or in Life Is Beautiful, the English track is first rate. Not so here, which leads me to wonder why Criterion would offer the dubbed version when they usually do not. Why here, and not in 8 1/2, where the English track is excellent?

Very strange.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way.