Mix by Michael Barry and Tom Fleischman is fine, generally avoiding audible shifts from Italo version’s production sound to the new dubbed tracks. Oddly, the one Yank character, originally played by Aaron Craig, is replaced here by Marc A.
Chip Bolcik comes off best amongst dubbing thesps as Dora’s sleazy Fascist fiance, Rodolfo, while Horst Buchholz is the only original cast member doing duty here, as riddle-obsessed Dr. The casting of American-sounding James Falzone as young Joshua is a jarring flub, while other key players (such as Nicholas Kepros’ Uncle Leo and Patricia Mauceri’s school principal) have no discernible Italian accent. Though the love of Guido’s life has a fraction of his lines, Borrelli’s English is close to mush, as when she proclaims, “I wash jusht like patty in heesh hahnds.” Other key leads pose far greater problems, starting with Ilaria Borrelli voicing Nicoletta Braschi’s Dora. While Nichols may not be Benigni, his voice grows on the listener and manages a steady course through an immense stream of dialogue. Just as noticeable - and more unavoidable - is lack of sync between English dub and mouthed Italian, one of the more difficult Euro tongues to match closely to English speaking patterns.
Anyone who watched the Oscars knows what Benigni’s English sounds like, and if only because this is clearly not Benigni, actor Jonathan Nichols’ voice will at first be a letdown to pic’s hard-core fans. airwaves, is the first time we hear the voice of Benigni’s hero, Guido. Intro is now an English voiceover: “This is a simple story, but not an easy one to tell.” The most dramatic indicator that this dubbing is a victim of the subtitled version’s mega-success, as well as Benigni’s ubiquitous presence on U.S. Guido is a happy-go-lucky boy who instantly falls in love with Dora, a school teacher. Davis and directed by Rod Dean) marks the most significant effort to date. The Life Is Beautiful English Movie is set in the late 1930s in Italy and is about a young Jewish guy named Guido who comes to the city to stay with his uncle. While this is hardly the company’s first attempt to parlay one of its foreign-lingo hits into an ostensibly bigger marketplace - “Like Water for Chocolate” and “The Postman” being the major dubbed projects - new version of Benigni’s WWII-set comedy-drama (produced by John M.