MovieChat Forums > Crna machka, beli machor (1998) Discussion > Translation on UK DVD ruins some scenes....

Translation on UK DVD ruins some scenes..

posted 15 years ago by IEatWords
7 replies | jump to latest

I initially watched this on youtube and since there's no American release I ordered a copy from the UK and low and behold some of the translations were regionalized and less funny for me, a non UK resident.

For example, instead of referring to the short girl as smurfette, she's just called a munchkin. I wonder which is correct? Smurfette was more effective - munchkin seems out of place when it's used.

Another time, referring to the height of the girl, Matko goes "she's 3ft tall" as he quickly puts out his hand as if measuring her height to the ground. It's funny cause it's quick and to the point. In the UK version it gets changed to "she's a gillette blade and a meter tall". First of all, comparing a girl's height to a razorblade??? How is that funny? And secondly, that version is trying way too hard to be funny and the statement is too long you don't even catch the hand motion that's supposed to go with it. And lastly, how does a gillette razor even fit in with the movie's setting? Good lord..

And a bit later when Daden's in the woods, instead of murmering "a$$holes" he says "$hitheads" instead. I guess it's just up to whoever's making the translations for whichever region but to me, the youtube version works better and seems more genuine.

RetardoArona-gone but not forgotten. Nvr4get. Send me your thoughts on this unjust tragedy.

[–] Aidy 14 years ago

And those things ruined the scenes did they? Seriously? Saying "munchkin" instead of "smurfette" ruined that scene? Saying "****heads" instead of "***holes" ruined the scene?

*rolls eyes*

So you speak foreign languages and you want to come here and show how clever you are...yes, well done.

[–] IEatWords 14 years ago

Yeah, it stuck out too much to me and the joke about the gillette blade was absolutely dumb and tried too hard to be randomly funny, or in other words, the translation was just too regionalized. I mean, you've got these Bulgarian gypsies speaking English slang, do all movies translated over in the UK get translated like this or is it moreso comedies?

And no I don't speak the language that's spoken in the movie but it doesn't take someone speaking the language to know what's being said and what's being passed off in translation aren't matching up.

RetardoArona-gone but not forgotten. Nvr4get. Send me your thoughts on this unjust tragedy.

[–] mikexx 10 years ago

This highlights the problem of literal translations (i.e., using exact word translations) as opposed to figurative ones (choosing the best words to convey the concept). An example is when the boy and the girl are eavesdropping while gangster Dadan and the old lady are bartering the girl's arranged marriage. -- I changed the subtitles to read "Your grandma is selling you like a cow!" to reflect the boy's quip.

[–] co_marko 14 years ago

I guess somebody used google translation for the subs :D

If someone is short, in serbia we jokingly say he's "meter and a razor blade" tall (referring to those old, double edged razors). You can replace razor blade with anything equally thin or small ('meter and a wild strawberry' is my favorite)..

The joke doesn't work at all literally translated. And it's a shame, since all the jokes you probably didn't understand, or thought were odd or out of place were just bad translations..

[–] IEatWords 14 years ago

Ah ok, so it was more literally correct then but comes off a bit too wordy in English. So unfortunately, the translator has to make a sacrifice somewhere or the viewer can learn the language(maybe asking a bit much there) but thanks for clarifying.

RetardoArona-gone but not forgotten. Nvr4get. Send me your thoughts on this unjust tragedy.

[–] co_marko 14 years ago

de nada ;)

English language is equally rich with colloquialisms; movie just needed a better-than-average translator.
The characters could have sounded more like characters from 'Only fools and horses' - It'd be more closer to the truth, and would be funnier :)

[–] PsychoDingo 13 years ago

I'm an American who watched the UK DVD of this film, and I got the joke right away. It worked just fine for me, because it came off like a joking slang saying, especially since it was repeated.