Some of the title changes between languages can be an improvement, the one
that springs to mind is "Wings of Desire", the english language title for
Wim Wenders "Der Himmel uber Berlin" (translates as "The sky over Berlin")
The english titles seems more evocative of the feel of the film though I
assume there may be some complexity to the german title, i.e. the reference
to Berlin signifying the political symbolism in the film, and am I right in
thinking that 'himmel' means sky and heaven?

Kate

Leo wrote

>No, and some of the ones they come up with seem to me devoid of any reason.
>For example, RIEN NE VA PLUS (literally, "nothing more to come", a phrase used
>by casino croupiers to indicate that they will accept no further bets before
>spinning a roulette) was released in the UK as HE SCREWED US ALL.  DAS LEBEN
>IST EINE BAUSTELLE - "Life is a Building Site" - was released as LIFE IS ALL
>YOU GET.  RIEN NE VA PLUS opens with a scene in a casino.  Given that DAS
>LEBEN
>was set on and around building sites, changing the title weakened a central
>idea of the film.  Why these distributors felt the need to change the titles I
>have no idea.
>
>L
>__________________________________
>Leo Enticknap
>Postgraduate Common Room
>School of English
>University of Exeter
>Queen's Building, The Queen's Drive
>Exeter
>Devon EX4 4QH
>United Kingdom
>email: [log in to unmask]
>
>----
>Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
>University of Alabama.


_____________________________________________________
Kate Butler
Department of Visual Communication
RMIT University, Australia
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