Translating Titles

There are American influences everywhere in Paris. I don't mean "everywhere" in the sense that France has lost its unique cultural identity, far from it. What I mean is that American life has wedged its way into the day to day life of the French. This is evidenced somewhat constructively in the current events coverage (I'm constantly asked for my thoughts on the Presidential race) though less so in the baser realm of pop culture, particularly movies.

Films that are chosen for wide screen release here have a variety of tasks to complete before their debut. Perhaps the most obvious is the subtitling and/or dubbing work necessary before release. If they are of the giant blockbuster kind (National Treasure) or inane comedy (Wild Hogs) then a dubbed version must be created to accompany (or in many cases, replace) the original version. This is more a financial decision than anything else. Unless the movie is expected to appeal to the broadest base of the population then the expense of employing voice actors won't occur.

To me, the true art within the release process is the film's title. There are two broad categories of titles--altered and unaltered. On the occasions a film doesn't warrant a title change it is always a result of its simplicity. If a title is easy for the French to pronounce themselves then the name stays (ex: Gone Baby Gone, This is England). I find these to be the most interesting because even though they are "easy" to pronounce for French speakers the words generally sound quite different than when they fall out of my mouth. (Though not films this was made clear the other day when I went to the tabac to buy cigarettes for two of Morgane's friends. I ended up having to just point at the packs of American Spirits and "Fee-Leep More-ees" --Phillip Morris).

Of the altered titles there are three kinds. First is the direct translation, which is perhaps the most common (Be Kind Rewind/Soyez Sympas Rebombinez). Next is a complete title change. This is supposed to make the film more appealing and approachable for the French market. As such, upon French release, The Good Shepard is transformed into Raisons D'Etat (Reasons of State) and The Other Boleyn Girl is morphed into Deux Soeurs Pour un Roi (Two sisters for one king).

Lastly, the most peculiar naming method has to be the rare movie that retains an English language title but is different than the original. What first caught my attention to this particular category were posters I've seen plastered across the city advertising Sexy Dance 2. Apart from the amusement I derived from seeing a movie called Sexy Dance 2 on the market, I was eventually prodded into some investigatory work on the internet. This causality occurred when I saw an advertisement for another equally intellectual offering, Never Back Down, which was billed as "Par Les Réalisateurs de Sexy Dance" (from the directors of Sexy Dance). I figured if this "Sexy Dance" was big enough to spawn not only a sequel but cross advertisements, I needed to get some answers. What I found out was that I'm more out of touch than I realized. The original title, Step Up didn't ring any bells either.
I never expected to keep up with adolescent tastes, I'm just shocked that it has already happened. Perhaps I should start spending more time at the mall.