Don't Compare Your Acting With Foreign Actors
by Ashlley Elias
The problem with the fixation that foreign movies are better is the same as with comparing your acting with that of a foreign-language actor. There are lots of things you are overlooking and don't understand that is misinforming your opinion.
Overlooking Language
If you don't speak the language then you have no idea how these words should be delivered. You are reading the movie and hearing a soundtrack of gibberish. These actors could be equivalent to a low-budget exploitation movie's actors and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. You can't make a comparison between these actors and an actor of another language, much less yourself.
Unfamiliar With Culture
Along with an ignorance of speech, you don't likely know the people of that culture well enough to know if the body language is accurate. Does everybody in this culture kind of have a stooped over subservient posture? In certain cultures people will maintain that kind of posture in front of superiors but not others, you wouldn't know that since you aren't that versed in their ways. In the USA staring at people is a way of commanding attention but in other cultures it can be seen as rude. Characters in different cultures will use body subtleties in different ways that you will not be familiar with.
Unfamiliar With Average Person
If you don't know anybody from this place where the film is set, you can't properly calibrate who the characters on screen are. Even if the story is fantastical, every performance has some sort of grounding in human behavior in real life be it naturalistic or caricatured. Since you don't know what normal people are like, you can't even know this person is interesting. They may just be acting poorly and you take it as an interesting portrayal.
Unfamiliar With Environment
You've probably never been to this place the movie is set and you might have some preconceived notions affecting your judgment that are wrong. You will assume that people do things like you would if you have no evidence to the contrary. Characters living in a place where people are watching them on the street at all times may behave timidly when interacting outside, but you might take this as a performance not being very confident. There are lots of assumptions a home audience would know about that you don't.
In a foreign movie there is so much that goes over your head. As you are hypnotized by their mother tongue, you will also be overwhelmed by the foreign scenery. It's one thing to fool yourself into thinking foreign movies are superior, but you don't use foreign actors as a gauge to judge your own acting. Unlike watching an English-language film which is where we set the bar for our own performances, doing this with foreign actors will skew your barometer.