24
votes
Why does everyone in The Lord of the Rings use "vous" ?
(French native here)
You probably have been taught, as a simplifed rule, that 'vous' should be used for plural or to emphasize politeness, and 'tu' for singular/close relationship.
As already answered ...
- 241
14
votes
Why does everyone in The Lord of the Rings use "vous" ?
One possible reason is that the film is translated from English, which does not make distinction between tu and vous. This is however not very likely (at least, if we are dealing with the official ...
- 3,049
10
votes
Accepted
"From Russia with Love" versus "Bons Baisers de Russie"
The most obvious literal translation would have been de Russie avec amour. This translation, however, makes no sense in French when taken in isolation and is not idiomatic.
The title from Russia ...
- 17.3k
8
votes
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French movies/videos with French subtitles
There is an amazing site called Les films français avec
sous-titres where one may find a plethora of films to watch of different genres (comedies, dramas, adventures and the like).
Very useful: TEDx ...
- 28.6k
7
votes
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Monty Python's Life of Brian: "Biggus Dickus" translated as "Enormus Vergus"
My best bet is that the spoken French dialog has Bitus Grossus because it better matches the movements of the lips when Biggus Dickus is pronounced.
The subtitles haven't this constraint and use ...
- 154k
7
votes
Accepted
Is there a term for fluctuating between vouvoiement and tutoiement in literature / film?
À ma connaissance il n'y a pas de mot spécifique. La façon la plus habituelle que je connaisse est de dire qu'on passe du tutoiement au vouvoiement. Ainsi je dirais que, dans Une vie, Maupassant fait ...
- 63.5k
6
votes
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Conveying the idea of "the biggest travesty"
In judicial matters "travesty" is rendered in French by parodie:
A travesty of justice, une parodie de justice.
simulacre de justice can also be used but it is less frequent in the press and ...
- 63.5k
6
votes
French movies/videos with French subtitles
You have also really nice Youtube channels to learn (or improve) french for free among which:
Learn French with Vincent
Vincent is a French teacher with his own YouTube channel, and he will teach ...
- 2,239
6
votes
Accepted
Is “créneau théâtral” an accurate translation of “theatrical window”?
In the field of theatrical movie release, a specific terminology is used in France.
"Window," in the sense of a time period during which the movie is released to a certain channel, is usually ...
- 6,736
6
votes
Accepted
A dialogue in "La Femme et le TGV"
She says « Vous devriez avoir honte ! » which means "You should be ashamed!"
This is a good example of an avoir + [noun] phrase. Many expressions that are be + [adjective] in English are ...
- 19.7k
6
votes
Accepted
What is said in this film for the subtitles to use an expression about candles and annoyance? Is it an idiom?
I can clearly hear: "messieurs, votre lumière me gêne" ("guys, your light is bothering me"), which is followed by the lights dimming. It seems the character by the door in the back ...
- 9,835
6
votes
Accepted
Is there a sketch in French similar to Abbott and Costello's who's on first
Un sketch de Raymond Devos, sur où est Caen... Where is when (Caen - a french city - sounds like quand - when in french) et d'autres jeux de mot avec des villes : Troyes (sounds likes trois, three) ...
- 76
5
votes
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Films : Version doublée vs originale sous-titrée
La raison est économique (et aussi en partie politique). Diffuser un film dans la langue du pays permet d'augmenter son audience potentielle. Le coût d'un doublage étant relativement fixe, plus la ...
- 154k
5
votes
Conveying the idea of "the biggest travesty"
Travesti en français, veut dire déguisé, dissimulé ou masqué. Mais souvent, ce mot est employé pour définir un homme qui s'habille comme les femmes (ou l'inverse).
Pour répondre à ta question, «...
- 51
5
votes
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Conveying 'So bad it's good' talking about movies, TV shows
French taste in culture tends to be more elitist and judgmental than the average, so I'm not sure the feeling happens that much or the phrase will go without head scratches if you translate it ...
- 3,918
5
votes
Is there a sketch in French similar to Abbott and Costello's who's on first
I'm not sure if there is a full on sketch based around that idea in French, but the closest that comes to mind is a movie scene in "Le diner de cons" (The Dinner Game) where a character's ...
- 3,918
4
votes
Accepted
Pourquoi les Français déforment autant les titres de films en les traduisant ?
C'est de la mercatique !
Qu'on se le dise les Français ne sont pas très doués en anglais, mais ils reconnaissent tout de même de nombreux mots. Par exemple dans Kill Bill : kill est mot quasi connu ...
- 285
4
votes
Accepted
Des dialogues « au cordeau » : détails ?
Cette expression est tout sauf populaire et encore moins péjorante, au contraire.
Elle est usuelle... d'abord dans le milieu... du théatre puis dans celui du cinéma.
Son sens est absolument calqué ...
- 9,040
4
votes
Why does everyone in The Lord of the Rings use "vous" ?
As a short answer and addition to the other answers:
Is this some kind of archaism that is supposed to give me medieval courtesy vibes?
Yes, mostly. It would feel weird, too casual and anachronistic ...
- 12.6k
3
votes
What movies or TV series can I use to improve my French?
Try News in Slow French.... https://www.newsinslowfrench.com/.
- 533
3
votes
Accepted
Quelle est l'étymologie de « à vous laisser baba » ? Relation avec « jaw-dropping »
Le TLFi indique une origine onomatopéïque. Sinon, la proximité avec ébahi, (bouche) bée et abasourdi a peut-être joué.
C'est une locution familière relativement répandue.
Sa signification est ...
- 154k
3
votes
Why does everyone in The Lord of the Rings use "vous" ?
The movie is mistranslated. This is proven by the interactions involving the hobbits.
In the English book version of The Return of the King, Appendix F, section II, paragraph 3, Tolkien states that ...
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3
votes
Why does everyone in The Lord of the Rings use "vous" ?
The Appendix F, section II, paragraph 3 of The Return of the King has already been mentioned by others.
There's an interesting note from Daniel Lauzon, the translator of the most recent French edition ...
- 261
3
votes
Conveying 'So bad it's good' talking about movies, TV shows
One way of saying this that you sometimes see on forums is “tellement mauvais qu'il en est bon”, as in the below comment from a user on allocine.fr.
Chez Sushi Typhoon ils ont réussi à nous sortir de ...
- 1,296
3
votes
Conveying 'So bad it's good' talking about movies, TV shows
It‘s not an adjective but a noun, but the word nanar is commonly used to refer specifically to a film that is so bad it's good.
Further watching ;)
As user @Vallahga points out in the comments, the ...
2
votes
Films : Version doublée vs originale sous-titrée
I would contest the facts as presented in the original post. In France, the ratio of sub-titled vs. dubbed depends on where you are. In Paris, back when I lived there, both were typically shown, and ...
- 89
2
votes
Accepted
Yves Montand : "Télégramme" (pourquoi « mon chéri » au lieu de « ma chérie » ?)
Peut-être pour faire rire le public ?
Ou peut-être une faute d'inattention parce qu'il avait prévu de commencer par mon amour puis il a changé d'avis ?
Ou simplement parce que c'était un tic de ...
- 154k
2
votes
Pourquoi les Français déforment autant les titres de films en les traduisant ?
Two things :
If the film is American and happening in America, it is common practice to signal it by "sounding American".
If the words are slightly less known than the bare minimum, most people won'...
- 12.6k
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