The Italian Dubbing of ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Has Stirred Up a Surprising Controversy

One thing is certain of The devil wears Prada 2: The ambitious project to make a sequel to a cult film after 20 years has succeeded, at least as far as box office figures are concerned. The numbers speak for themselves, with $77 million generated in U.S. theaters and another $157 million in the rest of the world since its April 29 release.

In the face of such box office success, this episode inspired heated debates for days over its quality and comparisons to the original. In Italy, these arguments even extend to the dubbing of the film.

The controversy comes from the choice of voice actors in the Italian version of The devil wears Prada 2which are themselves a nod to continuity; it’s the same cast as the original. Connie Bismuto is back to play Anne Hathaway as Andy, Francesca Manicone doubles Emily Blunt as Emily, Gabriele Lavia is again Stanley Tucci’s Nigel and, above all, Maria Pia Di Meo, the actress who has been the familiar and expressive voice of Meryl Streep in practically all the Italian adaptations of recent years, including the formidable Miranda Priestly, has returned for the sequel.

While many fans were happy to revisit these familiar voices, other viewers noticed some idiosyncrasies, largely due to the advanced ages of the voice actors themselves, particularly Di Meo and Lavia.

Di Meo, born in 1939, is undoubtedly a master of Italian dubbing, and her performances, linked to great Hollywood actresses like Jane Fonda, Julie Andrews, Mia Farrow, Barbra Streisand and Streep, have made her one of the most recognizable and expressive voices of cinema in the theaters of this country.

Yet some say her performance now reveals too much of the passage of time and that there is a disconnect between her 87-year-old voice and that of a character as energetic and vivacious as Miranda (played, in the original, by 76-year-old Streep). Could this nine-year gap be too big to bridge? The same was said about Lavia, who overtakes Stanley Tucci with a result that often seems a little forced.

But more than a question of age, there is perhaps a broader discussion to be had about dubbing in general and its effectiveness in an age where download first and then streaming platforms have accustomed us to seeing more and more content in the original language.

Even just listening to the trailers posted online for The devil wears Prada 2, a native Italian speaker will notice not only that voices that have aged to varying degrees don’t match, but also that the speed of the lines makes them difficult to follow. And what about the adaptation of the dialogue? “I’m a features editor at Runway,” Anne Hathaway’s Andy says proudly, but how many of those outside the newsroom know what a features editor is? And again, when Miranda’s second assistant says, “I have to pee, I drank a venti,” how many people outside the United States immediately understand that she is referring to a Starbucks drink?

Perhaps then, what hasn’t aged so well is not so much the voices of individual voice actors but a dubbing system that no longer – in most cases – keeps up with the pace and specificity with which the content itself is produced. However, in the face of this consideration, we cannot ignore that, at least in a market like Italy, especially in cinemas, people massively go to see dubbed versions of films.

So perhaps these same online debates serve to keep attention focused on how many countries outside of the United States are seeing these films. And which not only deserves greater respect, but also a quality that is not entirely guaranteed with today’s hectic pace.

This story was originally published on WIRED Italia and was translated from Italian.