I watch a lot of foreign language films, and read a lot of translated literature and I always try to imagine what I’m missing out on by not reading or taking in media in it’s original language.

In film, are there some significant mistranslations that has led non-native speakers of the language to interpret something different from the movie?

Thanks!

  • mymanchris@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    In John Wick, when he interrogates Francis the bouncer outside the Russian nightclub, John asks him if he’s lost weight. Francis responds, in Russian, “yes, 23 kilograms,” but the subtitle converts it to “over 60 pounds.” This completely destroys the fact that Francis was using code to tell John there were 23 guards inside.