In Amélie, there's a scene at the beginning, where Amelie knocks on Mme Wallace's door and asks about a boy who lived in her flat in the fifties.
(Scénario français. Ma traduction.)
Mme Walace: Ah! La petite du 5e.Ce n'est pas souvent qu'on vous voit.
Ah, the petite from the fifth floor. It is not often that we see you.Amélie: Excusez-moi. Un garçon habitait chez moi dans les années 50 ?
Excuse me. (Do you know) a boy (who) lived at my flat in the fifties?Mme Walace: Venez boire un verre de porto. [“port” is a sweet wine]
Come drink a glass of port.Amélie: Non, merci.
No, thanks.Mme Walace: Si, venez. Fermez la porte. Oh, des gamins [kids]. J'en ai connu tellement ! Au début, c'est mignon et après, c'est les boules de neige, croyez-moi.
Yes, come. Close the door. Oh, boys. I have known many! At first, they are cute, and after, they are snowballs, believe me.
I wanted to know whether "c'est les boules de neige" is a common metaphor. I imagine it means that boys don't stay with a girl all that long (the way a snowball melts in your hand). But I am not sure I understand it correctly.
What makes this line of dialogue even more interesting is that the English subtitles change it substantially. On Netflix, the subtitles give us:
(English subtitles.)
Au début, c'est mignon et après, c'est les boules de neige, croyez-moi.
They're cute... until they discover snowballs and chestnuts.
This seems to give it a different meaning. In fact, I don't even know what they are getting at. The original French makes sense as a metaphor, but I don't understand the subtitles.
This leads me to ask two questions.
1. Do I understand the French correctly (Au début, c'est mignon et après, c'est les boules de neige, croyez-moi) as a metaphor about how quickly a man will abandon a woman?
2. Do the English subtitles capture this meaning, or do they not translate the figure of speech correctly?
I appreciate any feedback. You can check it out for yourself if you have a Netflix account in the States (audio -> French, subtitles -> English).