Dubbese fu: The kung fu wave and the aesthetics of imperfect lip synchronization

Dubbese fu recuperates the dismissal of the ‘poorly dubbed’ English-language voice tracks in the
Hong Kong kung fu films that became globally popular and profitable starting in 1973 as a position
that improperly valorizes only the perfect lip synchronization version of the audiovisual contract.
Instead of one, there is a total of three possibilities with Italy representing a looser version and the
films of Hong Kong’s kung fu wave representing the imperfect version. The internationalization
strategy adopted by Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest identified the necessity of voice dubbings
into the target market’s language, which in the case of the United States, required English dubbings
since the goal was to become appealing to mainstream rather than art cinema audiences. The
history of English dubbing studios in Hong Kong, the key individuals who made it happen, and
the working conditions of the dubbing process are recreated to uncover how imperfect lip
synchronization became a new aesthetic norm.