So, when I saw the promos for Blood Diamond, I could only respond one way. “Wow, Leo, you have the worst fake Sath Effrican accent since Lethal Weapon II.”
And yet, somehow, critics actually seemed to like it. Have they never met a real South African? I’m sorry, but I could never take a movie with such horrendous voice acting seriously.
What gives?
As I recall, he isn’t from South Africa, he’s from Zimbabwe and I actually think his accent is pretty good.
Regarding the movie, I was involved throughout, I thought the editing was especially good, I really liked the score, acting was decent all around. I can understand people getting a bit upset by the preachiness but I happened to agree with the message so naturally it didn’t bother me.
Loved the movie, one of the best I saw in 2006. and yes, Leo’s part was not from SA, but Zimbabwe. He enlisted in the SA army, did some fighting there, but he wasn’t born there.
Leo even calls his home Rhodesia and, having spent some time in the area, I was convinced by the accent. He and Djimon (both nominated) are very good, though the movie is quite a mess in places (par for the course for an Ed Zwick film). Still, it doesn’t skimp on graphically detailing a number of the horrible things that go on down there. Not anywhere near the top of my 2006 list, but still much better than I expected.
It’s funny. . .whether an accent is right or not seems like it should be a kind of “objective” thing, but people get as divisive about it as whether someone is sexy, or whether something is funny.
Unless the accent is flat out completely wrong (which Di Caprio’s ISN’T), I think it’s a good idea for movie viewers to be forgiving. Why? For example. . .I know a couple Russian guys who sound nothing like Malkovich in Rounders – his accent sounded comical when I first heard it, and I could have let it ruin that role for me. But, I know a guy who knows a Russian guy who thinks the accent is DEAD ON. . .as good as he’s ever heard.
My point? Who am I to go, “that’s the worse Russian accent ever.” I know 2 or 3 Russians, and they’re well-educated, and fairly well off people. I figure that’s something Malkovich looked into.
Further, when Di Caprio or Malkovich or Tom Hanks is doing an accent, I gotta believe they’ve studied it, practiced it, received feedback and criticism on it. It’s not like these guys are making $100 Million dollar movies and it slips through the cracks that their accents stink. Like, “whoops, we didn’t think about getting that part of it right.”
I stand corrected, although frankly he doesn’t sound much like any Zimbabwean I’ve met either.