MovieChat Forums > La nuit américaine (1973) Discussion > Changes in meaning between different tra...

Changes in meaning between different translations

posted 18 years ago by krasnegar
5 replies | jump to latest

When i watched this DVD on its first issuance, i was both annoyued and amused to discover that one of my favourite throwaway lines had disappeared from the subtitles.

In this version's subtitles, when Joelle, the Production Secretary (Nathalie Baye) and Bernard, the props guy, arrive at the location shoot late, delayed by changing a tire and an impromptu romp in the woods when she had to change out of her dirty shirt, the script girl says "Hey - you changed your top!", which makes her sound like an airhead.

Maybe they thought that the audience wouldn't understand that an important part of the script girl's job is to make sure that things match from take to take, and wouldn't get the original gag that was in the original 70's release version's subtitles, where the girl takes a look and says "Wrong continuity, girl!", which lets us know she knows exactly why the two are late on location...

(This isn't the first film i've caught with altered lines in the subtitles between theatrical and home releases - Diva's subtitles have a changed character name and some dialog changes for Political Correctness reasons, and Yojimbo's change the line when he's trying to get the sellswords to atack him {the scene that turned into the "My mule's feelings are hurt" bit in Fistful of Dollars}; the latest DVD has him say something totally unmemorable but insulting. The theatrical version i first saw in the 80's had him say "Are you sure you want me to kill you? It'll hurt, you know...")

[–] Blueghost 16 years ago

I think it's still in there.

[–] NewID 14 years ago

I hate these subtitle mistakes.

[–] chuckmeister03 14 years ago

I just watched a VHS copy today and she said something like "That's not the blouse you were wearing".

[–] whereismikeyfl 9 years ago

On the Criterion DVD she says, "Continuity slip. You changed." This is while she gestures to Nathalie Baye's top which makes it all clear.

[–] scscott45 9 years ago

My French is rusty, but I know enough to be able to tell that the English subtitles are not exactly accurate. There is a whole lot of the dialogue left out and not translated into the subtitles. It's a pity, because it's hard to practice my rusty French unless the subtitles are accurate. Quel domage!!