MovieChat Forums > Pierrot le fou (1969) Discussion > Doesn't translate well

Doesn't translate well

posted 15 years ago by chris_moore2004
4 replies | jump to latest

Films like this don't seem to translate well to english. Or to any language really. Take the sequence right after they leave the apartment. There is dubbed in dialogue overtop the action, with phrases like "a story." "all mixed up" "leave in a hurry" "escape from a bad dream." Now in context, this MIGHT work. But seeing the subtitles as apart of the screen totally throws off the subtle nuance required to make a film like this work, IF it works at all. So basically, I'm pissed. And I want to learn French.

[–] laikaisdead 14 years ago

Not just that, but the subtitles change the actual meaning. I'm not sure if this is in Pierrot le fou or Vivre sa vie, but a paper is being held up reading "Va te faire foutre!" and the subtitles reads "Go to hell" when it really means "Go *beep* yourself." French to english subtitles basically gets the point across, but it's never accurate. You should learn french! Being french and having to see these horrible english translations is terrible! lol

And do you know what my very first words were? New York Herald Tribune!

[–] CadenGodard 12 years ago

The final scene of Pierrot Le Fou suffers from mistranslation. I've seen various different versions of what Belmondo says when he has the dynamite wrapped round his head.

I like to think that he says 'What's the point?' but I don't know for sure

Same goes with the end of A bout de Soufflé - there are various translations of that Belmondo (again) says to his girlfriend (totally forgotten her name at the moment)

[–] savanna-2 9 years ago

What I got at the end of the film (from the translation) is that he was all set to do it, until the fuse was lit and now he's changed his mind. Showed him scrambling on the ground with the lit fuse. Then, boom, too late. So, I ended up feeling like, he didn't want to end it all, afterall. Maybe even wanted to go back to the life he was initially running away from.

This being, him hearing the other man freaking out over Anna being dead and Ferdinand, thinking "ah that's her true love, why am I ending it all?"

When I saw the dynamite explode from the distance, I was just left disquieted that he wasn't able to stop it in time.

Perhaps I misunderstood the whole ending because of the translation I saw.

[–] kenny-164 9 years ago

savanna,

That was my take on the ending as well. I don't think there was a problem with the translation.