Last Movie You Watched

[Madiel]

Examples...

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/american-movie-titles-weird-translations

https://k-international.com/blog/movie-title-translations/

Some overlap between the two lists. Romania does get a mention in the first one.

[Todd]

Bone Tomahawk.  S. Craig Zahler's first flick is low-budget western-cum-horror done right.  The job is made easier by having Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins in two key roles, but even Matthew Fox and Patrick Wilson do good work.  And who doesn't enjoy seeing Sean Young pop up on screen?  The story involves a sheriff and his small posse heading to the hills to rescue people from cannibalistic troglodytes.  It blends all of the same traits Zahler refined further in Dragged Across Concrete, though some of the camerawork here is (purposely) less stable.  A few of the static shots really pop out for their compositional excellence, too.  It appears that Zahler knows his X-Files ("Home", specifically) and his Cormac McCarthy.  Indeed, it seems like he could be the director who might be able to bring Blood Meridian to the screen.  Who would play Judge Holden now remains the key question for any such undertaking.

[Florestan]

Examples...

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/american-movie-titles-weird-translations

https://k-international.com/blog/movie-title-translations/

Some overlap between the two lists. Romania does get a mention in the first one.

Thanks. Funny. Romania's The Prison of Angels is actually The Shawshank Redemption. 

[71 dB]

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The Baby (Ted Post, 1973)

Despite of the weird premise this movie works surprisingly well and I liked it a lot.  0:)

[Wanderer]

Thanks. Funny. Romania's The Prison of Angels is actually The Shawshank Redemption. 

The Shawshank Redemption's Greek title is translated as (spoiler alert!) Last Exit: Rita Hayworth (Τελευταία Έξοδος: Ρίτα Χέιγουορθ).

[Madiel]

The Shawshank Redemption's Greek title is translated as (spoiler alert!) Last Exit: Rita Hayworth (Τελευταία Έξοδος: Ρίτα Χέιγουορθ).

Oh dear.

[Florestan]

Oh dear.

Otomh, I can't recall any allusion to Rita Hayworth in that movie. 

[Madiel]

Otomh, I can't recall any allusion to Rita Hayworth in that movie. 

A Rita Hayworth poster is the first of many. The original short story is actually called "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption".

[71 dB]

The Shawshank Redemption's Greek title is translated as (spoiler alert!) Last Exit: Rita Hayworth (Τελευταία Έξοδος: Ρίτα Χέιγουορθ).

Finnish title is "Rita Hayworth - Avain pakoon" which translates something like "Rita Hayworth - The Key to Escape". Not far from the Greek title semantically.

[71 dB]

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The Premonition (Robert Allen Schnitzer, 1976)

Parapsychological horror movie from mid 70's and I must say I had expectations which were not entirely met. Somehow I felt the thematic material of this movie to be disjointed as if the makers of this movie didn't know how to put all the ideas together in a coherent way. The movie expects the viewer to understand the motivations, but gives very little background about the characters: Who are Andrea and Jude exactly? Okay they met in mental hospital, but what else? What's the backstory? Why did Andrea loose her mind five years ago? How does the Parapsychological visions fit to everything? Why does Sheri have her visions? The movie avoids giving answers and when the movie ended I felt confused. What was this about? Was this about guilt of abandoning your child? Was this about the fear of losing your adopted child? Was this about science not giving all the answers? This movie had all these themes, but it all was incoherent. Schnitzer was very young when he directed this and it shows. Music by Henry Mollicone is very good. Not a bad movie, but not a good one either. I expected more.

[Madiel]

Finnish title is "Rita Hayworth - Avain pakoon" which translates something like "Rita Hayworth - The Key to Escape". Not far from the Greek title semantically.

The box office takings in Greece and Finland must have been terrible.

[Florestan]

A Rita Hayworth poster is the first of many. The original short story is actually called "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption".

Frankly, all I remember of this movie otomh is that it features Tom Hanks Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in a sort of treasure hunting which starts in a prison and Mr. Freeman eventually going to Mexico with the treasure. And Tom Hanks broadcasting classical music over the prison's stereo system. Plus Morgan Freeman keeping the old habits of a life convict even when released on parole for good. I remember liking it (saw it twice or thrice, I think --- each time on TV).

[71 dB]

The box office takings in Greece and Finland must have been terrible.

As a matter of fact the box office takings were lacklustre everywhere outside the US and not very good even in the US. The movie earned it's cult status slowly later. It made about $29 million worldwide and had a budget of $25 million. The Rita Hayworth poster covering the tunnel is hardly the "plot point" of the movie. It is a movie about prison life and the will to be free. The details of escape are secondary and having Rita Hayworth in the title hardly spoils the movie for anyone.

For people living in English speaking countries it may seem odd to have English titles translated so that the result is far from the original title, but for us living in non-English countries it's very common. For example Laurel & Hardy:

Finnish: Ohukainen ja Paksukainen (Pancake and Blimp) ---> ohut = thin, paksu = thick
Swedish/Norwegian: Helan och/og Halvan (Whole and Half)
Danish: Gøg og Gokke (Cuckoo and ?)
German: Dick und Dorf (Lardy and Dumb)
Polish: Flip i Flap (Flip and Flap ?)

I have to say the Swedish name "Helan och Halvan" is my favorite.

How about these Finnish translations for English titles:

The Sugarland Express --> Kovat ratsastajat (Rough Riders)
American Graffiti --> Svengijengi '62 (Swing Gang '62)
Out Of Sight --> Mieletön juttu (A Frantic thing)
The Rock --> Paluu helvettiin (Return to the hell)
Bringing Down the House --> Elämä on laiffii (Life is life) spoken Finnish (slang) based on English
Jingle All the Way --> Isäni on turbomies (My dad is a turbo man)
Thrill seekers --> Paholaisen kuriirit (Couriers of the devil)
Once Upon a Time in America --> Suuri Gangsterisota (The great gangster war)
Once upon time in the west --> Huuliharppukostaja (Harmonica Avenger)
Braveheart --> Taipumaton (unyensible)
Clear And Present Danger --> Isku Kolumbiaan (Military Strike against Columbia)
Citizen Kane --> Himo (Craving)

One of the craziest ever is this:

Captain Ron --> Takkuaivot takilassa (almost impossible to translate, but something like "tangled brains in the rigging") 

[Florestan]

For example Laurel & Hardy:

Finnish: Ohukainen ja Paksukainen (Pancake and Blimp) ---> ohut = thin, paksu = thick
Swedish/Norwegian: Helan och/og Halvan (Whole and Half)
Danish: Gøg og Gokke (Cuckoo and ?)
German: Dick und Dorf (Lardy and Dumb)
Polish: Flip i Flap (Flip and Flap ?)

Romanian: Stan și Bran (Stan and Bran --- just funny, meaningless names).

At least we got one right: Stan.

[Wanderer]

For example Laurel & Hardy:

Finnish: Ohukainen ja Paksukainen (Pancake and Blimp) ---> ohut = thin, paksu = thick

Greek: Χοντρός και Λιγνός (The fat one and the thin one)

And one that might be considered playful is the title for the Return of the Living Dead film series: Τα Ζόμπι Δεν Είναι Χορτοφάγα (Zombies Are Not Vegetarian). 

[aligreto]

The Guilty





In Danish with English subtitles, the film is focused around one policeman [with a history] in a dispatch room. This is one of the most intense films that I have watched.

[Madiel]

There's zero reason to translate Laurel and Hardy! They're just names.

Also, it's not having "Rita Hayworth" in the title that's the issue. It's having something like "Rita Hayworth - The Key to Escape"!!

You might personally claim that the escape is not the point of the movie, but when we get actually highlighting the escape in the title, the marketing is saying otherwise.

[Madiel]

The Guilty





In Danish with English subtitles, the film is focused around one policeman [with a history] in a dispatch room. This is one of the most intense films that I have watched.

As I noted when I watched this a few months ago, I didn't find it that gripping. Ah well. My loss.

[71 dB]

There's zero reason to translate Laurel and Hardy! They're just names.

Yeah, just names, but English names. Surely you understand some people are simpletons and are put off by names in foreign language and many people can't even pronounce the names correctly! Would you get excited by a movie named "Uuno Turhapuro" ? If that 1973 Finnish movie was shown in Australia, do you think it would have been marketed by it's original name? Uuno Turhapuro is the name of the main character of the film so by your own logic there's zero reason to "translate" it to for example "Onslow Wasteland" ? (turhapuro means "useless arroyo" and is a fictional comic surname for a comic character. Wasteland would be a proper translation in the spirit of the original name).

In the past Laurel and Hardy movies where considered kid's movies so it's not a wonder they thought "Pancake and Blimp" type of Finnish name is more attractive to kids than foreign names. Again, how attractive is "Ketonen ja Myllyrinne" to you?

Also, it's not having "Rita Hayworth" in the title that's the issue. It's having something like "Rita Hayworth - The Key to Escape"!!

You might personally claim that the escape is not the point of the movie, but when we get actually highlighting the escape in the title, the marketing is saying otherwise.

I'm not claiming anything. I am just trying to make you understand why the movie got the name it got in Finnish market. I'm trying to expand your understanding and to realize how non-English countries need to come up with suitable names for anglo-American products of culture. Something a native English speaker living in an English speaking country may not be aware of. The translated names may not be great always, but that's something we need to do in our non-English market.

Maybe they thought the movie would do better if it was marketed as a prison escape movie even when it's actually about other things.

[71 dB]

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Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (Guy Hamilton, 1985)

Bond veteran Guy Hamilton directs well this silly, but quite entertaining, warmhearted and even "bullet dodging" action-adventure from the 80's. I liked the slow pace of this movie and how it develops gradually.

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Before We Vanish - Sanpo Suru Shinryakusha (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2017)

"Pulse" -director studies the worth of humanity in his take on the theme of aliens taking over human bodies to invade the Earth. Darkly comedic sci-fi is combined with edgy action. This is great filmmaking. Mostly very slow paced with occational well executed action scenes spiced with ideas. Good music. Very good camerawork. The best movie I have seen since Gaspar Noé's awesome "Climax" in May.