Comte Arnau
08-21-2011, 11:41 PM
Here's a list of weird translations of Hollywood film titles into European Spanish. I'm aware of many weird ones too in France, Italy and Germany, so feel free to add the ones you know. :thumb001:
I'm leaving my favourite three for the end:
http://media.salir-static.net/_images_/peliculas/6/2/7/5/cartel_con_la_muerte_en_los_talones_0.jpg
North by Northwest was titled in Spain as Con la muerte en los talones (With death chasing your heels). Action was needed already in the title, apparently.
The Sound of Music was translated as Sonrisas y lágrimas (Smiles and tears). Flower power. :thumb001:
Jingle all the way was translated as Un papá en apuros (A dad in trouble). Looks like in Spain all comedies have to be titled "something en apuros".
Cloverfield was translated as Monstruoso. A monstruous change.
Sleeping Dogs Lie was translated literally Los perros dormidos mienten (Asleep dogs tell lies), completely ignoring that it comes from an idiom and that it is not about telling lies.
The Blues Brothers became Granujas a todo ritmo (Rascals in full rythm). No comments.
Sunset Boulevard became El crepúsculo de los dioses (The Twilight of the Gods). The translation does deserve a Ragnarok.
After Hours was translated as Jo, ¡qué noche! (Geez, what a night!). Geez, what a translation. As if Spaniards didn't know what after hours means... :rolleyes:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind became ¡Olvídate de mí! (Forget me!). Apparently Spain was not prepared for such a delicate title.
Bridesmaids became La boda de mi mejor amiga (My best girl-friend's wedding). As there had recently been a successful My Best Friend's Wedding, why not simply change the gender?
Die Hard was translated as La jungla de cristal (The Crystal Jungle). Cute, probably since it took place at a skyscraper. Problem? The sequels are translated as La jungla de cristal 2, La jungla de cristal 3... And where are the skyscrapers in them? :D
http://pictures.todocoleccion.net/tc/2010/02/18/17661571.jpg
Avanti!, a Wilder's classic, was translated as ¿Qué ocurrió entre tu padre y tu madre? (What happened between your father and my mother?). Really, did Avanti! look too short for a title? Was it so difficult to leave such a nice understandable Italian word? :shrug:
Holiday, with Hepburn and Grant, became Vivir para gozar (Living to enjoy). Why translating it with one simple word when you can be creative?
Even more creative were those who translated John Ford's The Searchers as Centauros del desierto (The Desert Centaurs). Or perhaps those who made of the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dos hombres y un destino (Two men and one fate). Hey, that's even philosophical stuff!
http://carteles.astalaweb.net/Carteles/C/Con%20faldas%20y%20a%20lo%20loco.jpg
Some like it hot, another Wilder's classic, with a title of difficult translation, was a sentence from a dialogue in the movie and also part of a lullaby. In Spanish, it was translated as Con faldas y a lo loco (With skirts and crazily). I wonder how one can dare commit such translations and rest happily ever after. :rolleyes2:
(I remember, btw, there was a sort of contest for a translation of the title when it was dubbed into Catalan: it was eventually translated as Ningú no és perfecte 'Nobody is perfect', the sentence said at the very end of the movie, although not a "spoiler title" per se.)
The spoiler title par excellence is the one I put in my top three: Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, translated as La semilla del diablo (The devil's seed). Yes, one can hardly beat that. Makes you wonder where the point in watching it now is. :D
Here comes my 2nd one: Ice Princess. It became Soñando, soñando, triunfé patinando (Dreaming, dreaming, I succeeded skating). Possibly one of the WTFest translations of a title, even Disneyan films don't deserve it. The translator must still be laughing at his rhyming skills.
But to me, the number one will always be the translation of Kubrik's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, changed to ¿Teléfono rojo? Volamos hacia Moscú. (A red telephone? We're flying to Moscow). Simply priceless... :nod
I'm leaving my favourite three for the end:
http://media.salir-static.net/_images_/peliculas/6/2/7/5/cartel_con_la_muerte_en_los_talones_0.jpg
North by Northwest was titled in Spain as Con la muerte en los talones (With death chasing your heels). Action was needed already in the title, apparently.
The Sound of Music was translated as Sonrisas y lágrimas (Smiles and tears). Flower power. :thumb001:
Jingle all the way was translated as Un papá en apuros (A dad in trouble). Looks like in Spain all comedies have to be titled "something en apuros".
Cloverfield was translated as Monstruoso. A monstruous change.
Sleeping Dogs Lie was translated literally Los perros dormidos mienten (Asleep dogs tell lies), completely ignoring that it comes from an idiom and that it is not about telling lies.
The Blues Brothers became Granujas a todo ritmo (Rascals in full rythm). No comments.
Sunset Boulevard became El crepúsculo de los dioses (The Twilight of the Gods). The translation does deserve a Ragnarok.
After Hours was translated as Jo, ¡qué noche! (Geez, what a night!). Geez, what a translation. As if Spaniards didn't know what after hours means... :rolleyes:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind became ¡Olvídate de mí! (Forget me!). Apparently Spain was not prepared for such a delicate title.
Bridesmaids became La boda de mi mejor amiga (My best girl-friend's wedding). As there had recently been a successful My Best Friend's Wedding, why not simply change the gender?
Die Hard was translated as La jungla de cristal (The Crystal Jungle). Cute, probably since it took place at a skyscraper. Problem? The sequels are translated as La jungla de cristal 2, La jungla de cristal 3... And where are the skyscrapers in them? :D
http://pictures.todocoleccion.net/tc/2010/02/18/17661571.jpg
Avanti!, a Wilder's classic, was translated as ¿Qué ocurrió entre tu padre y tu madre? (What happened between your father and my mother?). Really, did Avanti! look too short for a title? Was it so difficult to leave such a nice understandable Italian word? :shrug:
Holiday, with Hepburn and Grant, became Vivir para gozar (Living to enjoy). Why translating it with one simple word when you can be creative?
Even more creative were those who translated John Ford's The Searchers as Centauros del desierto (The Desert Centaurs). Or perhaps those who made of the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dos hombres y un destino (Two men and one fate). Hey, that's even philosophical stuff!
http://carteles.astalaweb.net/Carteles/C/Con%20faldas%20y%20a%20lo%20loco.jpg
Some like it hot, another Wilder's classic, with a title of difficult translation, was a sentence from a dialogue in the movie and also part of a lullaby. In Spanish, it was translated as Con faldas y a lo loco (With skirts and crazily). I wonder how one can dare commit such translations and rest happily ever after. :rolleyes2:
(I remember, btw, there was a sort of contest for a translation of the title when it was dubbed into Catalan: it was eventually translated as Ningú no és perfecte 'Nobody is perfect', the sentence said at the very end of the movie, although not a "spoiler title" per se.)
The spoiler title par excellence is the one I put in my top three: Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, translated as La semilla del diablo (The devil's seed). Yes, one can hardly beat that. Makes you wonder where the point in watching it now is. :D
Here comes my 2nd one: Ice Princess. It became Soñando, soñando, triunfé patinando (Dreaming, dreaming, I succeeded skating). Possibly one of the WTFest translations of a title, even Disneyan films don't deserve it. The translator must still be laughing at his rhyming skills.
But to me, the number one will always be the translation of Kubrik's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, changed to ¿Teléfono rojo? Volamos hacia Moscú. (A red telephone? We're flying to Moscow). Simply priceless... :nod