MovieChat Forums > Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1977) Discussion > Didn't hurt as much...

Didn't hurt as much...

posted 14 years ago by lonelybirthday
15 replies | jump to latest

There's a very strange shot (surprise, surprise) near the end of a member of the crew getting hit with a long spear. On the english dubber version, he says something like, "That didn't hurt as much as I'd thought." It's uncharacteristically silly, straight out of Monty Python. And as if that's not strange enough, if you watch it with english subtitles it translates to, "These spears are getting fashionably long."

What?!? Anyone know the real German translation...Although, he may've actually spoken english on the set, who knows..? So bizarre.

[–] kkhsiivonen 14 years ago

I've heard the German version meant "Spears are becoming a trend these days"

Anyway the point was that, like in most Herzog movies, death doesn't matter. In the point of dying he only had something meaningless to say. Also this "death has no meaning" theme reoccurs in the movie, like when Aguirre's daughter dies, she doesn't care about her father mourning for her.

[–] lonelybirthday 14 years ago

But what's the literal translation?

[–] kkhsiivonen 14 years ago

That I don't know.

[–] toseektheholygrail 14 years ago

"Die lange Pfeilen kommen im Mode"

It's as kkh said, "The long arrows are becoming a trend"

And yes, quite Monthy Python like. Reminds me of "Message for you sir!"

Besides, those dubbers must be the dumbest people around, translating it like that. If you're dubbing, at least translate properly. Dubbing is silly, but dubbing incorrectly even more so.

[–] Joebody 14 years ago

Recently watched the film, and watched it all in German with the subtitles.

The line "These longer arrows are getting trendy" or whatever relates to a line earlier in the film, in which one of the crew members finds a dart in someones neck and says something along the lines of "How tiny must these people be with arrows this short"

[–] capeyson 14 years ago

Thanks for the info.

By the way, this was the single scene that I really felt was out of place. I watched it a few days ago for like the fiftieth time, and it still seems not quite appropriate to me, a little too off. I guess it's just the silliness of it; and it's also kind of redundant with the later scene where Okello takes the arrow in the leg. I thought that scene was effective; it had the humor and the horror. The former scene was just... well, it always rips me out of the film for a moment, and I wish it didn't.

But maybe that's just me.

(I've found that there is usually one oafish scene like that in most of Herzog's films - e.g. the awkward cut to the oddly filmed scene in Woyzeck where Marie gets felt up by the drum-major - and my guess is that it's the price of being as roguish and independent as he is. Of course, it's eminently worth it. Someone said on another thread that one of the charms of Herzog's films is that he doesn't know how to make them. Perhaps overstated, but somehow apt - kind of like a Herzog film!).

[–] burthelukyman 13 years ago

Even in french it's very weird. They did translate the english dubbing of that scene so he says: Çe ne fait pas aussi mal que je pensais. Or something like that. Anyway... They seem to have use the english dub to translate the movie in french.

[–] pachrick 12 years ago

Perhaps my DVD had different subtitles, because it was 'translated' as 'These long arrrows are getting fashionable...'

[–] brostman 12 years ago

I loved it. Even the literal translation is funny. It's absurd that such a serious movie would take levity at one of the worst opportunities for a character in it. Which made it even better, in my opinion.

[–] Grethiwha 12 years ago

All Herzog films have this kind of underlying absurdist humour and I think if you watch them completely straight-faced, you're doing Herzog wrong. ;)

My Top 50 Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/Bw65XZIpkH8/

[–] kmaster_man 12 years ago

Like in Nosferatu as Nosferatu is carrying the coffins to his new German residence. It's absurd and kind of funny him scuffling along with these huge coffins(apparently full of dirt), especially with him being so slow moving up to that point.

[–] brostman 12 years ago

Funny you mention that, Kmaster; I was watching that one last week and that part got to me this time for some reason and I couldn't help but laugh.

[–] ashnazg792 11 years ago

Old board, I know - but I didn't think it was strange at all. All of the men are becoming delirious and losing their minds at the end. It totally makes sense to me that the things coming out of people's mouths are odd or nonsensical. People don't make sense when starving to death.

[–] tobias_681 11 years ago

He says "Die langen Pfeile kommen in Mode". I don't know what he said in the original recorded version (which is in english).

Translated it would be somethig like: "long spears come into vogue".

You see things; and you say Why? But I dream things that never were and I say Why not?

[–] sunheadbowed 8 years ago

Why must people take everything so literally in film?

The characters were starting to lose their minds, delirious with fever, they were probably longing for death by this point, and there are Surreal aspects to the film. There's really nothing especially bizarre or atypical about that one line, because everything in the film is bizarre.