I’ve always loved to see how American movie titles are translated into Russian. The translations reveal tidbits about the Russian culture and language, and you can usually learn a new word or two. And I love seeing how the translator solves linguistic problems, like a play on words.
Since it’s the holiday season, I thought I’d start us off with a few holiday movies.
First, one of my favorite movies of all time: “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The Russian version is pretty much a direct translation from English: “Эта замечательная жизнь”.
The next one is also pretty straightforward: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is translated as “Гринч – похититель Рождества”. This (loosely) translates back into English as “The Grinch – Thief of Christmas”. I’d never seen the word похититель before. The online dictionary I mentioned in a previous post gives the definition, thief; kidnapper; abductor; hijacker.
“Shrek the Halls” poses one of the translation problems I mentioned early. But I love how they handle it.
If you’re familiar with Russian culture, you know that Дед Мороз (Father Frost) brings the gifts, not Santa. So they’ve combined Дед Мороз with Shrek to come up with Шрек Мороз, then added Зеленый Нос (green nose) for a little rhyming action: “Шрек Мороз Зеленый Нос” – I love it!
What’s your favorite holiday movie??
