Obviously an American movie of a Dumas story is unlikely to be as good as a French one, and similarly for analogous situations. But that doesn't mean such a movie can't have any merit. I haven't seen Inglourious Basterds, and I have no desire to, but some people certainly think it's a good movie in its way. Movies like Amadeus and Gandhi were found deserving of Oscars despite the fact that they had British or American protagonists depicting iconic heroes of other countries, with the language issue present as well in Amadeus as well. And Gone With the Wind somehow managed to become one of the most popular movies of all time despite its sacrilegious notion of casting Brits as Scarlett and Ashley.
Just a side note in this discussion, but still:
You seem to list films here that worked despite of characters being played by actors with different origins than the character. How does Inglourious Basterds fit in then? Tarantino tried really hard to cast people from the respective countries or at least capable of speaking the language. The whole point of several episodes within the film was to make fun of the fact that characters in spy movies used to get away with only rudimentary knowledge of the language they are trying to infiltrate.
... he may have seen the bit about casting Tom Cruise as a German and then accidentally transposed that with Inglorious Basterds, when really the answer he was looking for was Valkyrie (which despite not having a German as the main German character I thought was a fairly well done and historically accurate movie). Maybe?
Warder to starry_nite
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
The Three Musketeers (2011)
- 13/09/2011 09:34:25 AM
1099 Views
Oh dear. I may not survive this. *NM*
- 13/09/2011 01:34:33 PM
307 Views
I plan to...
- 13/09/2011 09:51:33 PM
745 Views
are there French actors who would lower themselves to an America Film?
- 14/09/2011 02:49:53 PM
674 Views
Lower?
- 14/09/2011 11:52:46 PM
711 Views
The "lower" was mostly a joke 
- 15/09/2011 01:45:59 AM
824 Views
- 15/09/2011 01:45:59 AM
824 Views
Re: The "lower" was mostly a joke
- 15/09/2011 04:28:36 AM
720 Views
- 15/09/2011 04:28:36 AM
720 Views
I explained to you why a majority of America would not be comfortable.
- 15/09/2011 01:27:19 PM
681 Views
Re: I explained to you why a majority of America would not be comfortable.
- 16/09/2011 10:48:36 PM
688 Views
That seems a bit harsh.
- 14/09/2011 07:35:56 PM
874 Views
I am confused...
- 14/09/2011 09:46:45 PM
661 Views
At a guess ...
- 14/09/2011 10:05:00 PM
746 Views
No. I try to pretend Valkyrie doesn't exist.
- 14/09/2011 10:12:25 PM
826 Views
Can I ask why? You've got me curious.
- 14/09/2011 10:33:57 PM
737 Views
Are you really trying to make me argue both sides of the argument in one thread?
- 14/09/2011 11:04:50 PM
706 Views
- 14/09/2011 11:04:50 PM
706 Views
Clearly the answer is I shouldn't refer to movies I haven't seen nor want to see. 
- 14/09/2011 10:10:37 PM
684 Views
- 14/09/2011 10:10:37 PM
684 Views
I had no idea Scarlett and Ashley were played by brits *NM*
- 14/09/2011 11:01:06 PM
302 Views
And not just any Brits... Leslie Howard died on some sort of mission for his government in the war.
- 14/09/2011 11:08:26 PM
648 Views
Ok, if Orlando Bloom is a cackling over-acting villian, I may have to see this.
- 13/09/2011 10:03:06 PM
704 Views
Haven't seen it yet, but...
- 14/09/2011 02:17:02 AM
863 Views
I think with that attitude it is entirely possible to have fun with this film. *NM*
- 14/09/2011 11:48:50 AM
313 Views
Definitely waiting for this to hit the cheap theater. Then it can just be a guilty pleasure. *NM*
- 15/09/2011 01:24:23 PM
288 Views