MovieChat Forums > Woman in Gold (2015) Discussion > Worth seeing this movie just for Tatiana...

Worth seeing this movie just for Tatiana Maslany's performance!

posted 10 years ago by dlkbc-1
7 replies | jump to latest

Just saw the Woman in Gold preview.
I kept looking at the person who played young Maria and thought that she looked familiar. I thought that she looked just like Tatiana Maslany but I thought, no, it can't be her because almost all of the dialogue was in German. Wouldn't they use a German native speaker?

But sure enough! It was Tatiana Maslany! I asked my German speaking friend and he said that her German was authentic and was surprised to hear that it was a Canadian playing the role!

Helen Mirren only spoke one line in German.

Go see the movie, if only to see Tatiana Maslany's performance! Had me bawling at one point...her talent has no bounds!

[–] dawnmuse79 10 years ago

"was surprised to hear that it was a Canadian playing the role!"

Why shouldn't a Canadian or a Mexican or an Italian play that role? It's called ACTING .... Remember, an Egyptian (Omar Shariff) played a Russian (Dr. Zhivago) Marlon Brando played a Mexican (Viva Zapata!), Charlton Heston played an Italian (The Agony and the Ecstacy) Meryl Streep played a Polish woman in Sophie's Choice! Maximilian Schell (a German) played a Russian monarch in "PETER I" ... yes, it's called "acting."

[–] berniegfletcher 10 years ago

I think the OP was commenting on the quality of the German spoken, not so much on the nationality of the actor. Tatiana Maslany speaks a number of languages fluently, including German. I have heard that all of her lines in this film are in German. Many actors can act the hell out of a part, but speaking another language with a perfect accent is not so easy. All of the actors the second poster offers as examples speak English in their roles, with the exception of Streep, but then the brilliant chameleon Streep (like Maslany) is exceptional. Most native-speaking listeners can tell when an actor is "faking" a language or accent unless they have a terrific dialect coach. Using the names Streep and Maslany in the same breath may seem heretic, but just watch her. They have the same intensity. Good luck to Tatiana. From people who've met her I know she's a very nice person as well as incredibly talented. Watch Orphan Black. Amazing!

[–] juzlookn 10 years ago

I just saw this movie, mostly because of Tatiana Maslany. I love her in Orphan Black, and consider her an amazing actress. She does not disappoint in this movie, and there is one scene in particular that had me in tears. As to her German, I've read that her grandparent are German, and she has grown up hearing it all her life. I don't believe she is fluent, but has excellent examples for it. This talented girl is destined for greatness, and she is well deserving of it!

[–] Flickfan-3 10 years ago

Yes--I enjoy "Orphan Black" and felt TM has been cheated at every Emmy after it began...
and she was excellent in this film...the dynamics of the movie allow her character to have a wider character arc than Mirren's older Maria which I think creates a larger dynamic for her...

as to the language--
Mirren speaks fluent French and Russian from what I have read--
I thought the accent they made her use in the film about the French restaurant owner was just tacky...
the fact that she spoke only one line of German can be attributed to two factors--
when she in her younger self was taking leave of her parents for what all knew was a final good-bye, her faither said to only use English -- the language of her future...
and Mirren's older Maria said that she refused to speak German because of the bad memories and events the Germans/Austrians had done to her, her family, and others...her choice to embrace her new country

"That's the beauty of argument, Joey...if you argue correctly, you are never wrong..."

[–] horsenbuggy 10 years ago

I kept saying, "I really like her but I can't think of what I've seen her in." D'oh. I was thinking she was English and I'd seen her in some Masterpiece Theater work.

[–] popeyesucks 10 years ago

Worth seeing this movie just for Tatiana Maslany's performance!

I agree 100%.

I thought that she looked just like Tatiana Maslany but I thought, no, it can't be her because almost all of the dialogue was in German. Wouldn't they use a German native speaker?

But sure enough! It was Tatiana Maslany! I asked my German speaking friend and he said that her German was authentic and was surprised to hear that it was a Canadian playing the role!

According to her Wikipedia page, Tats was speaking German long before she learned to speak English, so she is, actually, a native German speaker.

Not to mention that Tats is unique as a Canadian actor in that, like Jordan Gavaris and the late great Jonathan Frid, but unlike Michael bloody Hogan (who ruined BSG for me) and the halfwit hacks of Trailer Park Boys, she does not go out of her way to sound like a Canadian everytime she opens her mouth. On OB, she convincingly pulls off the main character, Sarah, who is a Brit, as well as Helena, who is Ukrainian. The only time she sounds Canadian is when she plays uptight, boozehound soccer mom-turned Nancy Botwin Alison Hendrix. Even Cos and Rachel do not sound particularly Canadian, which is why OB is infintely preferable to BSG and Trailer Park Boys.

Benoit killed 2x as many w/o a gun than Belcher did with one/S&W fighting climate change since 1852

[–] NikkiFromSiberia 10 years ago

Yes! I was coming here to post just that!
I wanted to watch the movie specifically because Tatiana was in it, and then found out the storyline and how it follows real events. And it was awesome.
She was flawless in this, so much emotion!
She needs more big movies.

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