Ozu title changes

Randy Man ranman at csf.edu
Wed Aug 30 14:24:05 EDT 2000


I would say that this is not a "goof" in translation but rather obviously an
attempt on the part of the US distributor to give the film a title that
would appeal to whomever they saw as its most likely audience. Nobody in
their right mind was ever going to try to distribute a film in the US under
the title "Taste of Mackerel"(!) I mean REALLY!!

This is not to say that such title changes always worked. I've always
wondered why anybody would prefer the insipid sounding THE GIRL WAS YOUNG to
Hitchcock's much more, um, evocative YOUNG AND INNOCENT.

Randolph Man
College of Santa Fe

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael E. Kerpan <kerpan at attglobal.net>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 5:49 PM
Subject: Ozu questions


> In reading Bordwell, I discovered that the "importers" of Ozu's late films
> really messed up on the names of the last two films. "Summer's End" is
really
> "Autumn of the Kohayakawa Family" and "Autumn Afternoon" is really "Taste
of
> Mackerel" (more or less -- the fish in question is apparently a treat
> available in late summer. Does anyone have any idea how the
title-translators
> goofed this up. Would Shochiku and  Toho have been responsible?  Or did
this
> happen after the films "left their hands"?
>
> BTW, does anyone know if Toho has ever released even a Japanese video
version of
> Kohayakawa-ke no Aki / Summer's End?  If so is it still available?  If so
> (again), can it be ordered by someone who is not literate in Japanese? <g>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Michael Kerpan
> Boston, MA
>



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