The last part is the conclusion and the paper draws to the end at this part. Language barriers, cultural differences and even politics can prompt film names to change around the world. Hollywood movie titles in france are often given easier english substitutes to make them more accessible to french audiences, instead of simply being translated into. Weekend at bernies was also a bad translation in mexico. However, a worrying amount of proof suggests otherwise. I assume these are the latin american titles for these films though right. This 2004 film, starring ben stiller and vince vaughn, essentially revolves around people being hit in the nusse by dodgeballs.
Bad santa implies billy bob thorntons father christmas only wants a bit of fun, he doesnt mean any harm. Apologies to anyone who doesnt want the plot of dodgeball ruined for them. Abroad in japan summarizes some of the strangest and funniest japanese translations of movie titles. Good vibrations sex vom anderen stern german title in english. With so many films released which are all vying for the publics hardearned cash. Check out this unbelievable list of translated film titles that will leave. Funny and weird film title translations by thornews on july 31, 20 1. The 15 funniest foreign translations of american movie titles nextmovie staff 11032011 as were all aware, hollywood movies dont just. For example, christopher nolans the dark knight 2008 was known in spain as batman. Some movie title translations range from the hilariously bad to the downright unintelligible. However, the translation of english film title has not got enough attention at home or abroad, and good translations of english film titles are few and far between.
On the translation of english movie titles yin asian. Matching asian titles with european languages, and vise versa. Bad santa hilarious movie title translations zimbio. Im a little obsessed with bad translations of movie titles so much so i named my book after one of them. If youve ever taken a close look at the spanishlanguage titles of popular american films, chances are youve noticed that theyre called something. I would prefer closed doors if i had to choose a translated title. Movie titles with bad spanish translations popsugar latina. The 10 most hilarious movie title translations taste of. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Foreign film names are often much better and more honest than the originals. With large quantities of english movies being introduced into china, more and more movie titles are translated into chinese, some well done while some poorly done.
Funny foreign film titles list of 50 bad film title translations. Bad and hilarious translations and why they happen. A title about zaniness that doesnt sound zany itself is like a dad joke thats only funny because it falls so. Hebrew can be a tough language to translate into, explains avi edery, deputy chief executive of the new lineo cinema chain in israel. With its religious undertones, the most famous line in star wars has some very culturally specific translations. One would think, oh, they just ripped off the movie and used the spain title for some reason.
The czech republic makes a good point with their title. The only thing better than an intentionally funny movie is an unintentionally funny movie title translation. Therefore, in view of the cultural medium function of the film title translation, this. Love this piece ive just written a blog on bad film title translations myself and found your blog doing some research. Uproxx movies everything new and important in film. The title of the movie and the original play its based on likely refers to the amount of hair product john travolta and company used throughout production. Movie title translations can have amusing results, as studios juggle linguistic and cultural details to create locallyappropriate titles. I remember reading a story about awkward film title translations. But upon protest from the movies director, the film was released under its original name. As a word and a sentence may have different translations or may work for one case but not the others. Here are ten of the weirdest, most hilarious movie title translations to date. The title cheers would have never worked in the us due to its association with the hugely popular. Its also a throwback to the more innocent era in which the film takes place, where cool guys were called greasers.
The 28 funniest englishspanish movie title translations. Funny foreign film titles list of 50 bad film title. Theres only that many good films and only that few good acting roles, majority of the actors started from bad films. What are the worst movie titles translated into your language. Well, germany, youve explained this movie with characteristic precision. Finland has a real habit of changing movie titles around, and as the op points out, adding stupid phrases to the end of the name. The 28 funniest englishspanish movie title translations on the. The 37 worst translated movie titles ever buzzfeed. And sometimes the rules of bad translation are broken when a new title ends up being better than the original. Why movie translations are the most important of all. For the sake of this question, ill talk about the language of the country i live in, finland. The greatest chinese film title translations telegraph. Nevertheless, its amazing what translators and marketers get from films and how they think it is best. They can be easy, literal, straightforward titanic or symbolic, dramatic, creative eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.
Funny foreign movie quote translations hollywood reporter. In navajo yes, star wars was the first movie ever dubbed into the native america. The problem is, theres already a littleknown action bfilm about a cop with a grudge called the glass jungle. Even if you search for good movie title translations try it you get things like. Many of the best mangled film titles come from china, where they are. Translation for film title in the free englishspanish dictionary and many other spanish translations. Screenwriters, directors and marketing teams all wreck their brains in search of a word or short phrase to encapsulate the years of work put into a film with hopes of attracting the wider public to go and see it. When american movies get sent abroad, foreign markets often have a difficult time with the cultural context, making the movie fit into their particular. The literal translation of date night is rendezvous amoureux yet the title which the french know the film date night by is crazy night. So much thought and effort is put into naming movies, and yet, when they strike mainstream. While its true that many movie title translations come from either machine translation which is often notoriously bad or from inexperienced translators who dont understand the cultural nuances of titles, the fact is that translating movie titles isnt. Uproarious movie title translations of major hollywood features are the hallmark of pirate dvds all over the developing world, available from any bootlegger you come across. Film title name classifications film titles are the brands for films with the function of. Given the magnitude of the film industry, this relatively small sector of translation is clearly of utmost importance.
Regardless, the objective of a movie title is to summarize in some way what that film is about, be it literal or otherwise. These hilarious subtitling errors are too good to be missed. The title in this case even helps us to walk away from this one as fast as possible. In this part, the paper discusses the different strategies in translating different film titles according to the different situations. Titles are a dynamic part of any creative work, especially when it comes to movies. Ten of the most horrible german movie title translations youll ever hear. The 10 most hilarious movie title translations taste of cinema. Film looks like a piece of mirror, which reflects all the respects of human society, including the material world and the spiritual world as well. In the beginning stages of your japanese language studies be they current or past, have you ever attempted to string together a sentence in japanese using only an english to japanese dictionary. Sadly, there are no funny alternative titles for lost in translation though it is called lost in tokyo in israel. And of course, what would a list about getting lost in translations be without the movie lost in translation. The task of translating a film title for overseas audiences would seem like a fairly simple one, handled by one of those fancy types who speaks more than one language. In the darkness, only a rough outline of his profile could be seen, as well as the light reflection from his glasses lens. American and uk films are very popular in norway, but every once in a while we can only wonder what is actually going on inside the translators head when heshe is working with a new title.
Sometimes no translation is better than a bad attempt. Celebrate the chinese release of marvels interplanetary unusual attacking team with these film titles that got lost in translation. And so sometimes translations prove strange and baffling. The best and worst of movie title translations day translations. How movie titles get lost in translation atlas obscura. Crazy is an english word the french understand well look closely at the next movie title which uses the word crazy also. The unbelievable trip in a crazy airplane german release of airplane.
Good vibrations sex from another world roughfree translation comment. The task of translating a film title for overseas audiences would seem like a fairly simple one. You shall see the movie prior the translate just the title in the air like that. Film title, as one of the most influential factors of a good film, has always been the general impression of the film for audience. Home language funny and weird film title translations. Today, a greaser is either a hitman for the mafia or someone gross. Ive decided to look for trends among bad translations by focusing on american film titles that are just really, really hard to convey in other.
The 15 funniest foreign translations of american movie. Ive transmigrated into this movie before chapter 1. Base on that point, we can see that film title plays an important role in the process of culture exchange. While some instances of movie title translation stay fairly close to the original, others can lead to confusing and often hilarious results. In spain most of them dont have titles which are half as. Good movie title translations quicksilver translate. The romantic comedy starring katherine heigl and seth rogen apparently came with an unexpected plot twist for the argentinians, because the movie was released under the title ligeramente. So an actor doesnt need to put in effort just because the film is bad.