A Foreign Accent is good

Bleuville

I think one aspect that made/makes the Bond films exotic is when characters have pleasant foreign accents.
The French women like Elektra King and Vesper Lynd(or was she English?) and
the Italian tones of Mathis (he's supposed to be French! played by an Italian.)
Also Adolfo Celi as Largo, give the films a foreign flavour.
Fiona Volpe in Thunderball has a great accent as well.

I think it's an important ingredient, as opposed to everyone speaking plain English.

Does anyone agree ?

Bleuville.

mrbond

It makes the films sound and feel more exotic

The Domino Effect

In American films, a clipped English accent is usually a key element in suggesting that a villain is seriously dangerous...or an expert is very smart indeed.

In Bond films, a 'non-English' accent is usually a key element in either a seriously dangerous villain...or an exotic femme fatale.

In other words, any accent other than your own tends to bring a new element to a character. Long may Bond villains and gorgeous Bond women (good and bad) have accents!

Number24

Please cast Maria Bonnevie and Laetitia Casta!

Luke

So here's a question. For those who speak native languages other than english, does an english accent ever sound exotic?

Hardyboy

Luke wrote:

So here's a question. For those who speak native languages other than english, does an english accent ever sound exotic?

My fellow Yank, don't they sound exotic to us? We tend to stereotype those with English accents as cultured and sophisticated. Actually, a couple of years ago I met a woman from Wales and told her how nice her accent was; she seemed surprised and said that a lot of people in the UK stigmatize Welsh accents.

Number24

Luke wrote:

So here's a question. For those who speak native languages other than english, does an english accent ever sound exotic?

Not exotic, but I like the sound of it. much better than how they speak the language in the former colonies. :v

Barbel

Round these parts, an English accent is more daring than exotic!

Moonraker 5

Hardyboy wrote:

Actually, a couple of years ago I met a woman from Wales and told her how nice her accent was; she seemed surprised and said that a lot of people in the UK stigmatize Welsh accents.

And for good reason. "Baaaaa..." is all that needs to be said