Why didnt the villains in this movie just speak Afrikaans to each other in this movie? Why do villains always do that!?? Why the hell would a villain shout "Kill him!" to his sub-ordinates in English when it's not their first language? I can survive a quick speech in Russian or Chinese with subtitles between the villains, and it makes them more believable.
Doesn't that annoy anyone else?
Who says english isn't their first language? Its the most commonly spoken language in SA.
"If I'm laughing at what I think I am, its very funny"
Yeah, I've lived in south africa for 10 years of my life, and the first language is English.
shareBecause it was implied throughout the movie that everyone of them were Afrikaners. You can also hear it in the accent, especially Arjen Rudd's, which is clearly an Afrikaans accent and not a South African English accent.
BTW among whites, Afrikaans was and is actually the most prevalent in SA.
Its a film contrivance that is used in a lot of films, two characters are talking in their own language with subtitles, then suddenly they start talking in english.
You are meant to assume they are still talking in their own language, but that it is being translated for our benefit.
I understand that and am OK with that. However, I responded to a comment surmising that English was instead supposed their first language, which is heavily implied in the movie that it isn't.
Also, the native dialogue of the characters is almost non-existent. Whenever they (rarely) do it's clearly unauthentic. It sounds like Dutch pronounced in an American/English way.
Sure it's the most commonly spoken langauge. Thing is to people who were hardliners in 89 there's a good chance that even if they spoke English better, they wouldn't do so we each other out of pride.
shareEnglish most spoken? I thought it was like 60% Afrikaans and 40% English. For the white South Africans that is.
shareI guess they wanted to avoid using too many subtitles, plus English wasn't exactly uncommon in SA. Although during apartheid Afrikaans was the language which enjoyed the highest prestige.
shareI'm with you here. I think it's plain laziness. There are plenty of movies where they actually made the effort of adding a little credibility with authentic speech.
However, the movie did have a few incidental phrases in, I would say, mock-Afrikaans. Prior to his execution, you hear Hans exchange a few words with Pieter Vorstedt. However, it is not really Afrikaans, but Dutch pronounced in an English way. Very disappointing. There was also some chatter over the radio that Riggs and Murtaugh pick up. I would have to find that to hear what it is, but it is very likely the same.