Film titles – like humour – don’t travel well. Local distributors have a long history of renaming films to suit their market. For example, the June issue of Word lists a dozen or so, my two favourite translations being Alien and Jaws: known as The Eighth Passenger in Yugoslavia, and The Teeth of the Sea in France, respectively.
Two other choice examples are: Please Don’t Touch The Old Women (The Producers in Italy) and Just Send Him To University Unqualified (Risky Business in China).
Japan offers some classics: Icy Smile (Basic Instinct) and Shooting Towards Tomorrow (Butch and Sundance).
That Japanese tradition continues with the Bond movies:
• Dr No = 007 is the killing number
• From Russia With Love = 007 at a critical moment
• Thunderball = Thunderball Fighting
• You Only Live Twice = 007 Dies Twice
• OHMSS = The Queen’s 007
• Live And Let Die = The Dead Slave
• A View To A Kill = The Beautiful Prey
In recent years, thanks to the globalisation of cinema and Western culture, the Bond movies (and most major event movies) rarely have their names changed. But rest assured, even now an oddity can slip through the nets: The Dukes of Hazzard movie was unable to trade o the legacy of its TV origins when it arrived in Spain, and thus the local distributor cut simply and eloquently to the chase: Two Crazy Guys And A Lot Of Curves. Pretty much does what it says on the tin, right?
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I love 'Just Send Him To University Unqualified' - best film name ever! 'Oh just get on with it', basically.
Great post - but of course you know what you missed? Girl with a Dragon Tattoo...
(And yes, it's me, Denise. I have about 9 million google logins and and can currently remember none of them, and thus, my secret identity is revealed.)
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