Italians have watched foreign films dubbed for almost a century, and audiences there expect dubbing done properly: a different voice for each actor, lines that fit the timing of the scene, no original voice audible underneath. MovieCineLab was born in Italian, and Italian was the first dubbing language we got working. Upload a film in another language and listen to it in Italian, with the original music and sound.
Listen: Charade in Italian
The clip comes from Charade (1963): on the terrace of a ski resort, Regina tells her friend Sylvie she wants a divorce, then Peter Joshua turns up. Four characters, four Italian voices, exactly as the automatic dubbing produced them.
Real lines, from English to Italian
Here are some lines from the example films, next to the original. The translation is not word for word: it is fitted to the actor's number of syllables, so the sentence ends when the actor's mouth closes. «Te lo sei inventato» replaces «You just made it up», which has a similar rhythm.
| Character | Original (English) | Dubbed · Italian |
|---|---|---|
| Regina Lampert Charade (1963) | He's hiding something from me, Sylvie, something terrible, and it frightens me. | Mi nasconde qualcosa, Sylvie, qualcosa di terribile, e mi spaventa. |
| Peter Joshua Charade (1963) | Do we know each other? | Ci conosciamo? |
| Regina Lampert Charade (1963) | Why, do you think we're going to? | Perché, pensa che ci conosceremo? |
| Regina Lampert Charade (1963) | Until one of them dies, I couldn't possibly meet anyone else. | Finché uno non muore, non potrei conoscere nessun altro. |
| Peter Joshua Charade (1963) | Shakespeare never said that. | Shakespeare non l'ha mai detto. |
| Peter Joshua Charade (1963) | You just made it up. | Te lo sei inventato. |
| Johnny Night of the Living Dead (1968) | They're coming to get you, Barbara. | Vengono a prenderti, Barbara. |
| Popeye Popeye: Assault and Flattery (1956) | Your Honor, I'm innocent. | Vostro Onore, sono innocente. |
Lines exactly as they came out of the automatic dubbing of the example films, untouched.
English doesn't distinguish between the familiar «tu» and the polite «lei». The translation decides by looking at the scene: Regina and Peter, who have only just met, start with «lei» and move to «tu» as the conversation loosens up. Characters keep their original names.
What you get
- The film dubbed into Italian, in full, as MP4: play it in any player or project it.
- Subtitles as SRT, in the film's language and in Italian, included in the price.
- The screenplay as PDF and Fountain, which the dubbing prepares anyway.
If the film is in a language you don't know, an English or Italian screenplay also works as a guide: scenes, characters and actions, written by looking at the pictures.
Who it's for
For anyone with a classic in its original language who wants an Italian audience to watch it without reading subtitles. For film clubs, libraries and schools in Italy that want to screen a foreign film to people who wouldn't follow it in the original. And for filmmakers who want to hear what an Italian edition might sound like before handing it to voice actors.
What it costs
One minute from your pack for every minute of film. A 90-minute film dubbed into Italian uses 90 minutes, which is the Admission pack. If the dubbing fails, the minutes go back into your pack.
They don't expireYour minutes stay in your account until you use them.
10 free minutesWhen you sign up we dub 10 minutes of one of your films for free, in one language.
If a job failsThe minutes go back into your pack.
Want the same film in another language too? See multi-voice dubbing, or dubbing into Spanish or French.