dullboy

I bought the region 1 version of So Close and started playing it with the Cantonese track assuming that was the original audio. Well, I noticed that the sync was off when Shu Qi started talking. At first I thought, maybe it's like the old John Woo films where no live audio was recorded and it was all overdub, but I decided to switch to the Mandarin track, and lo and behold, there was Shu Qi's actual voice and (seemingly) original audio track! So I figured her and her onscreen sister were speaking Mandarin, and everyone else was speaking Cantonese. The two main police characters (the girl and the guy, I forget their names) seemed to have true Cantonese audio, while most of the others seemed off, including the "American" actors.

What pissed me off was that I had to switch audio tracks each time the scenes switched between the two cops and the two sisters in order to get true audio. And what's more, when the girl cop had scenes with Shu Qi, she spoke Mandarin to her making her true audio track in those scenes on the Mandarin option.

What's going on? Why couldn't everyone's true audio be played though the whole film? If not everyone in China speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin, why couldn't they just have used subtitles? Is there any version of this film on DVD that has the true recorded audio all the way through?

Yocke

Yeah, there's no real true audio track for So Close. Some people speak mandarin, some speak cantonese. The non-mandarin speaking people were dubbed in to mandaring for some territories, and the non-cantonese speaking people were dubbed into cantonese for others. There is no audio track that has mixed languages.

dullboy

That sucks. Guess I gotta keep flipping that audio button. At least Karen Mok can speak Mandarin with Shu Qi and Vicki Zhao onscreen.

cultshock

Its very common for films in HK to be shot with some actors speaking Cantonese and some speaking Mandarin. Of course, until recently, HK films were shot MOS, so it didn't matter, as all the dialogue was recorded later anyway. But this tradition of varying languages being spoken on set has continued with sync sound shot films today.

So Close was filmed for the most part in sync sound. Shu Qi and Vicki Zhao are native Mandarin speakers, and I don't think they are too fluent in Cantonese, so they spoke Mandarin on set, and the Cantonese track had them being dubbed by different voice actresses. Karen Mok can speak both languages, so she spoke Mandarin on set in scenes with Shu Qi and Vicky, and Cantonese in other scenes. She dubbed her own voice, where necessary, in both language tracks.

With most HK films, I listen to the Cantonese track, but with this film I make an exception, so I can hear the real voices of all three leading ladies. I'm too lazy to switch back and forth for an even more authentic presentation though.

dvdsamurai

I have a Korean version of it and it does not have this problem

cultshock

Why not?


Oh, one thing to add: Shu Qi =

dullboy

Do you have a link to this version?

cultshock

I seriously doubt such an audio track exists as well.

prymal

Huh? I have the korean release as well and the first thing I noticed was the audio issue. It's annoying as hell.

DVDude!

I've heard that Silver Hawk is the same way. And that English-speaking (American) actors are dubbed. That's one reason I haven't bought it.

khai

Hmm, I just watched Silver Hawk yesterday with the DTS track. All of the original languages are played on it. Cantonese, Mandarin, and English..

DVDude!

They are all combined on the same track? If so, cool. What release is it? I think there is only one, but just to make sure, is this it? LINKY

khai

Yep, that's the same release that I watched.

DVDude!

Cool! I'll get it then. Thanks, khai.

DVDude!

Just ordered Silver Hawk the other night. Thanks again, khai.

dvdsamurai

As I said mine does not it is a korean version that has Columbis Pictures marking on the box. It is also in a slim case.