MovieChat Forums > Amores perros (2001) Discussion > Some Poor Translations In The English Su...

Some Poor Translations In The English Subtitles

posted 18 years ago by devilsavocado
36 replies | jump to latest

Here are some errors I picked up in the VHS version's subtitles. I'd love it if some of you bilingual folks could let me know if you noticed any others or have a better explination. Some of these seem pretty important.

-Gustavo calls Luis his "partner" when he explains the situation to El Chivo, and says "He's cheating." In Spanish, the word he uses clearly means business partner and implies financial cheating, but in English it sounds ambiguously like a reference to an unfaithful lover. (Couldn't they at least have said "he's cheating me?")

-El Chivo jokingly says "Some blue-collar guy!" in reference to the picture of Luis, but in Spanish the word is like "Some proletariat!" which is sort of the same meaning, but the latter would have been a more interesting translation, because without it one of the very few connections we have to El Chivo's revolutionary past is lost.

-In an earlier scene in the kitchen, Octavio's mother tells him Ramiro and Sussana are gone, Octavio says "What?" and then she says something else (different) that they didn't subtitle at all. It seems like an important line but the Spanish went too fast for me to catch. What does she say?

[–] hugo-guerra 18 years ago

The mother of Octavio says something like:

"and they will never come back, Do you hear me?

I'm not sure of this, since I watched this movioe 5 years ago.

I hope this help you.

[–] dafuzzbudd 18 years ago

but the homeless guy keeps calling them gays in a later scene. either your wrong, or for the translation, it was purposely done.

[–] devilsavocado 18 years ago

Huh. I could be wrong, anyone else want to weigh in?

[–] eldesistemas 16 years ago

He kept saying to them "puto" or "putos" but not as gay but as just an insult to someone that doesnt have courage...like when you say fag**t to insult somenone it doesnt mean its a gay person...

[–] tampaMr 16 years ago

Actually, Chivo was saying MARICON, which is Spanish for *beep* while PUTO means bitch (it can be used as little bitch, or incorporated with another word to mean slut).
It was weird to hear certain phrases and see how they were taken differently once translated, but if what was said were to be translated LITERALLY, some of it would not make sense.
A lot is lost in translation because some things can never be articulated for the other side.

http://www.matchflick.com/member/3739

[–] swissarmysquirrl 18 years ago

In the copy I have the subtitles say "he's cheating me" so i don't think you're wrong. I also don't think El Chivo literally meant that they were gay. I think it was meant more as an insult.

[–] lw12345 18 years ago

The two men were not gay, they were actually brothers (step) and business partners.

[–] the_unusual_suspect_soze 18 years ago

I find this all very interesting. I say now I can not help you out because I have a terrible knowledge of languages, but I am always curious when watching subtitled movies as to how accurate the translation is. I know obviously not all words exist in different languages, so it must be hard, but are you aware if this type thing happens alot?

is that you John Wayne?...is this me?

[–] HyperActiveSpaceMonkey 16 years ago

Half-brothers, actually. At least that's what my subtitles said, maybe in Spanish it was stepbrothers.

[–] rickymontse 7 years ago

Clearly half-brothers, not stepbrothers. Native speaker of Spanish here.
In the same scene, there was an exchange between El Chivo and the kidnapped brother mentioning their surnames and there was some sort of swap, most likely due to the half-brothers only having a common parent. [Remember that in Mexico (and also in Spain), people carry the father's first surname followed by the mother's first surname.]

[–] great-big-ben 18 years ago

Hey, I can't say much about the movie, but when I read your comment the thing I liked most is your final sign

"Religion is as useful as the Pope's testicles"

I think it's great, because it's so true, but not many people realise about it.

Sorry for getting out of the point.

"Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me" - Basket Case - Green Day

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] boogyboy 18 years ago

When El Chivo calls them Putos it really just means Pussies not gay.
And I think The spanish if your cheating on your lover would be Engañar.

Fork It!

[–] b_willmx 18 years ago

The momma said:
"And may the force be with you"

[–] pdmytrewycz 18 years ago

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I often have to rely on the subtitles. My Spanish is a little rusty, but I do get a kick out of watching the occasional subtitled film and analyzing the disconnect between the actual dialogue and the subtitles.

That said, I never got the impression that the word "cheating" was meant in an "unfaithful lover" sense. It had already been established that it was his "business partner". There is also the subtle, but all-important omission of the word "on".

To wit:

"he is cheating me"
vs.
"he is cheating on me"

The former is usually a reference to a business deal, or a game (such as gambling). It implies something that is rightfully yours being taken from you.

The latter implies a romantic relationship and infidelity.

You make an interesting point on the "proletariat" comment. That would indeed have been a much better translation given the fact that the character had a revolutionary past.

I'm not current on Spanish slang and insults. But it seemed to me that words like "pinche" seemed to have multiple translations depending on the situation. I know the same is true for many English words, but can anyone clarify the various Spanish swear words and their appropriate uses?

[–] liliana_rhasoc 18 years ago

I am always disappointed when reading subtitles, English or Spanish, there is no quality control. It seems that they just rely on the translator's knowledge / criteria and no one takes care of subtleties or details. And dubbing errors are even worse.

I'd LOVE to give you (pdmytrewycz) a whole explanation / breakdown of the different uses of swear words in Spanish (it is really amusing and even surprising) buy I am sure my post would be deleted in a couple of minutes!!! Mexicans have this witty unimaginable way of using, combining, and conjugating words, just hilarious!

[–] latin_buddy 9 years ago

"Pinche" is pretty much a sign of punctuation in Mexican Spanish. Same as the f* or the s* in English.

[–] NumberOnePhantomFan 17 years ago

in the dvd it does subtitle "He's Cheating" as "He's Cheating Me". I watched this is Spanish class and my teacher said that quite a few lines were vaguely translated, but most of it wouldn't make sense if translated to the T in english, because they use different words to express things than we do.