13 June 2006

Translated movie titles

Sometimes titles of foreign movies are translated in France. It seems pretty random which ones makes the cut, and even more which ones get transformed in the process. Literal translations are not perfect but so not bad - ie War of the Worlds is la Guerre des mondes; Guess who's coming to dinner - Devine qui vient dîner ? .

Some confusing ones: Crash became Collision, The Hudsucker Proxy became Le Grand Saut (the big jump or idiot if using the homonym), Something about Mary became Marie à tout prix, The Sweetest Thing became Allumeuse, On Golden Pond became La Maison du Lac etc.

This one is the best though (original title = Office Space):


("Working 35 hours is already too much; work is lame": refers to the existing 35 work-week regulation in France)

[By the way, the US does the same thing (e.g. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain became Amélie Poulain).]

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