[skylee]

I've just seen the film "The Day The Earth Stood Still" 地球停轉日. There is a part in which Keanu Reeves meets with a Chinese old man (another alien) and they speak Chinese. The old man's Chinese is not great. And the star tries very hard to speak it right (there are 3 or 4 lines). He has tones, and the pronunciation is not all that bad. But personally I found it hard to have to listen to what they said. (Maybe western audience feels the same when they have to listen to Chinese actors' English. )

I like Keanu Reeves, but the film is just so-so.

Anyone else seen the film? Any comments on the Chinese?

[kdavid]

He probably learned the bare minimum for the part, and as a result, doesn't speak too well.

Anyone seen him speaking Chinese elsewhere?

[Lu]

Never heard him speak Chinese in another movie (and haven't seen this one either). But I agree, he probably just learned the bare minimum.
When I saw the thread title I thought he actually spoke Chinese. I think Reeves is part Chinese (quarter or so), so it could have been possible.

[renzhe]

He most likely learned the lines phonetically. An actor should be able to do that without trouble.

For example, Gong Li learned all her English (and Spanish) lines for Miami Vice phonetically. And there were many. I think that Shu Qi did the same for Transporter.

[bhchao]

Quote

For example, Gong Li learned all her English (and Spanish) lines for Miami Vice phonetically. And there were many. I think that Shu Qi did the same for Transporter.

Michelle Yeoh also learned to speak Mandarin phonetically in CTHD.

[imron]

Not all actors can do this though. See for example Firefly and Serenity, where the Chinese was unintelligible most of the time.

[Xiao Kui]

I recently saw a Chinese-American film Ping Pong Playa which has a foreigner who does a good job with the pronunciation, but he just talks way too slow. The other characters speak very clear (Taiwan?) Mandarin. (the film's in English but the older generation Chinese always speak Mandarin to each other and the young people) BTW if you get a chance to see it, I think you'll appreciate it if you've lived in China - it's low on art but high on laughs.

[zhwj]

Keanu Reeves often seems to have trouble pronouncing his English lines, although he obviously tries hard.

[roddy]

I think in Firefly and Serenity they just didn't really care - which is fair enough as a) a fraction of their audience would notice and how do we know how Chinese will be spoken in the future anyway? And for that matter, perhaps Keanu was speaking some odd alien dialect. . .

[skylee]

I saw the film again today (bcos i like keanu reeves though he has trouble pronouncing his english lines ). The chinese he speaks is not that bad really, but he simply speaks too slowly, trying to get it right.

[RobGMun]

Saw this with my chinese gf last week, when i asked her if his chinese was any good she just shook her head with dissapointed smerk on her face