Finding a good or great movie title is hard work in the movie industry especially in germany, as my post about stupid german movie titles and its follow up post have already proven. Even if you search for good movie title translations try it you get things like. Watching a movie in a foreign language is a fun and helpful way to help you learn the language. Jan 30, 2019 in most cases, the films listed are available on dvd in the american ntsc, region 1 video standard with english subtitles. Learn more in the cambridge englishspanish dictionary. Its the german way of the marketing gurus to add additional titles nobody ever needs. Translators and localizers must take into account a variety of conditions to determine how to present a film title to foreign language audiences. Nevertheless none of them is close to the original at all. Englishgerman online dictionary developed to help you share your knowledge with others. The translation of movie title should be concise, condensed and compact.
Titles in translation trivia and quizzes movie trivia. With nounverb tables for the different cases and tenses links to audio pronunciation and relevant forum discussions free vocabulary trainer. There seem to be several strategies when translating the name of a film into another language, and none of them work perfectly. Translation for title in the free englishgerman dictionary and many other german translations. Miller gives him the finger and this sets the german soldier off again. How movie titles get lost in translation atlas obscura. In other cases of german titles its quite difficult to say what was meant.
If you go from english to, say, german or russian, the text that has to be squeezed into that same segment of a movie has to really be jammed in there, says remy. Caligari follows the titular doctor werner krauss, a deranged hypnotist who uses a troubled sleepwalker named cesare conrad veidt to commit a series of murders. Why movie translations are the most important of all. Less than forty years ago, it was mandatory for foreign films that were distributed in germany to adopt a german title. More information contains translations by tu chemnitz and mr honeys business dictionary germanenglish. There have already been wackiest spanish translation of a movie title, weirdest italian title translation and sacrebleu. You can go for a literal wordforword translation, try to describe. The translation of the film titles is a special process of recreation, but it always based on four principles. On the translation of english movie titles yin asian. I have to tell you i have seen some translation masterworks at the movies for instance the dubbing of disneypixar movies into european spanish is just delightful. Aug 03, 2017 movie title translations are a significant intersection of the film and translation industries, and translating movie and tv titles properly is a complex process. English german online dictionary developed to help you share your knowledge with others. Described by critic roger ebert as the first true horror film, weines masterwork of german expressionist cinema also features the first true horror movie. Over 100,000 german translations of english words and phrases.
If you cant find a good translation, because for example a joke doesnt make any sense they have to come up with a new title. Check out our popular trivia games like movie titles in spanish, and movie titles in french. The plot is about the monitoring of east berlin residents by agents of the stasi, east germanys secret police. Good movie title translations quicksilver translate. Mar 16, 2011 movie title translations can have amusing results, as studios juggle linguistic and cultural details to create locallyappropriate titles. Translators and localizers must take into account a variety of conditions to determine how to present a. Nov 21, 2008 on their journey around the international film markets, films have a habit of changing names, as local distributors target the flicks at their audiences. We translated them back to english and this is what the movies are now titled.
Funny german movie titles english vs german comparison. Is there enough german spoken in the suspiria remake to need subtitles for it. On their journey around the international film markets, films have a habit of changing names, as local distributors target the flicks at their audiences. Apr 08, 2017 some movies have english subtitles embedded within the movie itself.
With nounverb tables for the different cases and tenses links to audio pronunciation and. For its german and polish counterparts there were created two different titles separately one for a book, and another for a movie. German translation of director the official collins englishgerman dictionary online. Generally the technologies of english movie translation can be categorized as transliteration, literal translation, and free translation. On the translation of english movie titles the film, a popular art with both artistic and commercial values, is one of the most influential mass media. The title in this case even helps us to walk away from this one as fast as possible. Germans decided against direct translation with these film titles with some ridiculous results.
Which of these german translations, even if far from the original, works best as a movie title. Film looks like a piece of mirror, which reflects all the respects of human society, including the material world and the spiritual world as well. German translation of title the official collins englishgerman dictionary online. However, movie makers are not so lucky and here are 10 of the worst translated movie titles. There have already been wackiest spanish translation of a movie. Ten of the most horrible german movie title translations youll ever hear. Miller takes a hand cart from a german soldier and the soldier tells him off in german. We also have a list of the best films in english for german learners, plus a full german movie index by title. The 28 funniest englishspanish movie title translations. Later on it was more common to keep the english title but add a second german title e. It meant nothing new in the west, which aside from the daily report of nothing new to add to the usual butchery also meant a neverending story of war in western europe. Often the german title simply reflected the films story, as with the caine mutiny 1954, which starred humphrey bogart voiced in german by o. The 10 worst translated movie titles bluffcharging. Sometimes titles are simply changed for release in different countries.
Good vibrations sex from another world roughfree translation comment. Can you translete these movie titles from german to english. Editing internet textstitles in translation wikiversity. Sometimes the translation of a movie title to another language and then back again into english doesnt always capture the same flavor as the hollywood release. Ill give you the title of a movie, youll have to guess how our german producers named it. Movie translated from english to german including synonyms, definitions, and related words.
Foreign film names are often much better and more honest than the originals. Some movies have english subtitles embedded within the movie itself. Worst german titles for english language movies thetoptens. Movie title translations in portuguese transparent language.
Discussion screenwriters, directors and marketing teams all wreck their brains in search of a word or short phrase to encapsulate the years of work put into a film with hopes of attracting the wider public to go and see it. Where can i find german movies with both german subtitles and. All in all i got all but 2 and i almost thought i could speak german lol, no way. Sep 02, 2015 if you go from english to, say, german or russian, the text that has to be squeezed into that same segment of a movie has to really be jammed in there, says remy. Movies in latin america get translated to what some consider a more accurate version of the title. The task of translating a film title for overseas audiences would seem like a fairly simple one, handled by one of those fancy types who speaks more than one language. Learn german by watching movies with german subtitles. I saw the first 20 minutes or so until there was german voiceover and radio. Movie title translations are a significant intersection of the film and translation industries, and translating movie and tv titles properly is a complex process. Sometimes they translated the title, or they didnt change it at all or they gave the movie a completely different name. About 34 the way through the movie theres a scene where major mallory robert shaw and sgt miller edward fox are appropriating some explosives from a german warehouse. Funny english to spanish movie title translations posted on april 25, 2012 by living language a few days ago, i was discussing with a student how movie subtitles arent usually very accurate.
Translate texts with the worlds best machine translation technology, developed by the creators of linguee. Many translated example sentences containing movie germanenglish dictionary and search engine for. Translate srt subtitles for free subtitle translator. A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in tokyo. With bill murray, scarlett johansson, giovanni ribisi, anna faris. Im a little obsessed with bad translations of movie titles so much so i named my book after one of them. Anyway, this was a really fun song to translate but not that easy. If you see a little sign near the movie title, that means that this movie has a vocabulary list compiled by one of our users. The paper also discusses the film title translation principles and the different techniques. Dec 11, 2019 i nominate im westen nichts neues, the original german title for all quiet on the western front. We look at movie titles differences in german and english. Please, if you are using this option, the maximum size of the file you want to translate does not exceed 50kb this option will be improved in the future. My reasoning for ending up here was that, i was searching for a particular movie titled dear john by channing tatum. More information contains translations by tu chemnitz and mr honeys business dictionary german english.
Movies that got different english titles in germany. Dec 30, 2011 the translation of movie title should be concise, condensed and compact. While some instances of movie title translation stay fairly close to the original, others can lead to confusing and often hilarious results. Its was pretty surprising how different the movie title translations could be. Yet, there is a sometimes even better way of movie titling.
I nominate im westen nichts neues, the original german title for all quiet on the western front. Jun 22, 2016 when film titles get translated into other languages, the results can get downright weird. By the way, speaking of title translations, here is an example that worked out well for me. Feb 17, 2017 according to spanish, french, portuguese and german speakers, the translated titles phrase the term jedi as plural, hinting that the movie isnt about luke skywalker being the last jedi as some. Movie title translations can have amusing results, as studios juggle linguistic and cultural details to create locallyappropriate titles. Title translation is usually a decision of the distributor of the movie in the target market, much to the dismay of the translators. For some films you can click on the title to learn more. Here are some of the funniest and most surreal examples. This list is a compilation of german titles for movies made in a foreign language. German movie titles trivia quiz titles in translation. When film titles get translated into other languages, the results can get downright weird. Googles free service instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between english and over 100 other languages. If youre at the beginning of your languagelearning journey, look for films with subtitles, either in german or english translations, depending on your level of ability. When american movies get sent abroad, foreign markets often have a difficult time with the cultural context, making the movie fit into their particular.