Anti-Productivity: SNL's British Crime Movie

Oi!

By Matt Rorie | Feb. 17, 2011

I have to say that this SNL skitch, even if it is one joke stretched out for three minutes, still struck home for me; I'm already mildly hard of hearing, and trying to watch stuff like Snatch and In Bruges is at times an exercise in slack-jawed incomprehension. I do, indeed, often turn on the subtitles for British crime dramas, and it looks like I'd probably have to indulge in a bit of them to understand Don' You Go Rounin' Roun To Re Ro, indeed.

41 Comments

Spacetrucking moderator on Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:07 a.m.

Raggy ?

CrazyCraven is online on Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:08 a.m.

All made perfect sense to me.

JacDGon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:10 a.m.

For an SNL skit, this was actually pretty good.

Snatch is a great movie by the way.

SonKiteon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:14 a.m.

Yeah English is hard to understand sometimes

SSullyon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:21 a.m.

There were multiple parts in Rockin' Rolla that I had to stop and replay because I didn't understand a word some of the characters were saying. Great sketch.

Trexotonon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:26 a.m.

I wouldn't say american tv is without blame either. With english as my second language it's often very hard to hear all the street talk on shows like the wire. Good thing there's subtitles there too!

KarlPilkingtonon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:26 a.m.

You foreigners can't even understand English?

Undeadpoolon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:31 a.m.

I've never had much trouble with British accents, possibly because I took nine years of theater with a British woman as a kid, but this was a damn laugh riot.

ThatFroodon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:35 a.m.

Just a question, for you british folk... was this comprehensible to you?

alternateon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:42 a.m.

Is in Bruges a British Crime Thriller? The two main stars are Irish and it is set in Belgium ;-) Ralph Fiennes really did some great scenery chewing in that movie.

alternateon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:48 a.m.

@thatfrood said:

" Just a question, for you british folk... was this comprehensible to you? "

Well for a start - depends where you are from. British covers a lot. Just like asking an American from the west coast to watch say Fargo or something set in the deep south..

With the example of Snatch and other Guy Richie films, they use an awful lot of slang - if used at all any more, then localised to a small part of London - so yes I am sure a lot of natives found some things hard to understand.

I am English and Trainspotting was quite hard to understand for me - the book even more so as it is written in a phonetic dialect, yet by this token it was a British movie and I am British.

mracoonon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:50 a.m.

Ha, I live in Wandsworth and there is a prison there (biggest in the UK). I though that was nice touch.

ShadowKirbyon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:51 a.m.

Yeah, it's like me who can't understand what some frenchmen from France are saying since I'm from Quebec.

ThatFroodon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:56 a.m.

@alternate: right, I know about the whole "british means a lot of different things" thing, but here in the US I can understand accents from all around the states. I'm just wondering if that snl video was actually intelligible to someone who is british.

ThePickleon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:58 a.m.

I have some trouble with accents in general. The British one is probably the one I understand the best though.

FreylikeDaveon Feb. 17, 2011 at 11:58 a.m.

I can't speak for London and a lot of the cities down south (which a lot of the accents seemed based on) but here up North accents can be equally as incomprehensible... but its a small minority. Most people are clear with some tinges of a regional dialect. Films just seem to think we all are extremes *sigh*

ThePickleon Feb. 17, 2011 at noon

@alternate said:

I am English and Trainspotting was quite hard to understand for me - the book even more so as it is written in a phonetic dialect, yet by this token it was a British movie and I am British. "

I love Trainspotting, but the scene with Spud getting interviewed for a job always troubles. I can never understand what he's saying.

mbkishon Feb. 17, 2011 at 12:04 p.m.

I am pretty good with most British English, but recently I had to turn on the subs for Red Riding trilogy. Those get a little rough at times. Also, everybody has problems with Snatch; the Pikey language is supposed to be crazy as shit.

Martin_Blankon Feb. 17, 2011 at 12:13 p.m.

I haven't seen RocknRolla but the Brad Pitt character in Snatch is supposed to be incomprehensible. How anyone thought the other characters accents were equally gibberish is kind of perplexing. I never lived in the U.S. but I have no trouble discerning any accent no matter how ridiculous the words they're spewing.

skiddon Feb. 17, 2011 at 12:23 p.m.

@alternate said:

" Is in Bruges a British Crime Thriller? The two main stars are Irish and it is set in Belgium ;-) "

It's minor, but I was thinking the same thing. We can expand it out to British & Irish Isles.
But I take Rorie's point, occasionally accents can be kinda tough to decipher

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