Title Translations
in Movies ·
Amanda Lopez50 said:First off, Maria Peterson is right—professional translations aren't cheap, and you're basically asking us to do all that work for you here for free. 😉
...and now, let's set the salt aside. 🙂 That question was phrased a bit poorly...
Basically, movie titles need to be translated based on the actual content. If you don't do that, you end up with translations that just don't make any sense. For instance, if I were... Keeping Up with the Kardashians Literally translated. Down with the SteinsThe title is basically just a play on words that doesn't really connect to the content. Since I don't quite get the joke, a literal translation probably won't make any sense in relation to the movie either. 🙂 And that’s where things start to get complicated.
Some of these titles aren't actually problematic. I don't see why Confetti couldn't just be Confetti, especially since I assume the title carries some specific weight within the context of the movie. 🙂 It’s the same deal with Something New—sometimes a simple title really is the best way to go. Some titles can be tricky, though. Take Waist Deep; you could just take it literally and end up with something totally bland like "Up to the waist," or you could go for a metaphorical angle that might feel out of place, like an allusion to wasting away. I’m still not quite following the logic behind Fried Worms, either. If that’s considered a mistake, then a literal translation is probably fine. You aren't the one to blame if the filmmakers decided on a stupid title. 😁 If it’s actually part of the title, it might be a subtle nod to a character's poor grasp of English. That kind of nuance can sometimes get lost in translation, but it works beautifully when done right. Take Adam Abel, for example—one of the characters there isn't a native speaker, so his cursing is all messed up. Because of that, the translator keeps using "For the sake of f**k" instead of the grammatically correct "For f**k's sake." It feels wrong, but it perfectly captures the character's struggle. You see similar cleverness in how they handled the translation for All to be enlightened by Jonathan Safran Foer, where the protagonist also struggles with his English. 👍Looking at these titles, though... why even bother making movies like this in the first place? 😉
🙂
Look, it’s one thing to slap a title on a massive cinematic hit like Eragon, Little Miss Sunshine, or Deja Vu. No one complains about that. But when you start doing it for the home video market, that’s where things actually get complicated, because...
Most of these headlines are absolute garbage.
Nobody actually wants to sit through those movies just to translate them. If you want to make money, the translation has to be engaging enough to actually sell. Watching the same stuff over and over again is just a waste of time.
So far, I’ve realized that everyone here seems to be tripping up over translations—not when it comes to major theatrical releases, but specifically with those straight-to-video titles. I’ll throw out a few examples, and honestly, I think most of you are completely clueless.
That’s exactly why IMDb exists. You just head over to the site, type in the movie title, read the synopsis, and you're done. There's really no need to actually sit through the film when the plot summary already tells you exactly how much garbage you're dealing with. 😉 At the end of the day, you have to sell movies too, which is why catchy titles play such a massive role in the business.
Don't act surprised when a movie like *The Football Factory* gets titled *Fanaticism*, or when *Intermission* is renamed *Bloody Break*. It’s just how things work. 😁
