And Debra Winger was so young, too! But my favorite Richard Gere film is Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven, four years earlier, so Gere was even younger! This one’s Japanese title is exactly the same— 天候の日々.
Thank you for the detailed article that touched a nerve. I absolutely abhor this practice and wish that the names of Western movies would remain as the original title, simply translated into katakana.
Thanks Mark! I didn’t have time/space to include more than one example, but the opposite (Japanese-English) retitling practice can result in some duds, but also dare I say some improvements?
E.g. I much prefer Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD to what the literal translation would be, SPIDER’S WEB CASTLE…
In Italy, the American film "Fame" was retitled "Saranno famosi" (They will be famous) to prevent audiences from mistaking it with the Italian word "fame" (hunger).
Malkovich’s Hole gave me a good laugh!
Yes, that's not a very artful retitle is it :)
Thanks for the comment!
An Officer and a Gentleman
Departure of Youth aka An Officer and a Gentleman!
Nice one Kate! A quick calculation later, and it looks like Richard Gere was 33 when it was made, so certain the youth departed a little late!
And Debra Winger was so young, too! But my favorite Richard Gere film is Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven, four years earlier, so Gere was even younger! This one’s Japanese title is exactly the same— 天候の日々.
Thank you for the detailed article that touched a nerve. I absolutely abhor this practice and wish that the names of Western movies would remain as the original title, simply translated into katakana.
Thanks Mark! I didn’t have time/space to include more than one example, but the opposite (Japanese-English) retitling practice can result in some duds, but also dare I say some improvements?
E.g. I much prefer Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD to what the literal translation would be, SPIDER’S WEB CASTLE…
In Italy, the American film "Fame" was retitled "Saranno famosi" (They will be famous) to prevent audiences from mistaking it with the Italian word "fame" (hunger).