Movie Moments 2 - A World Without Thieves （天下无贼）

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This scene is from the Massively popular Feng Xiaogang （冯小刚） movie A World Without Thieves (天下无贼), starring Andy Lau (刘德华) and Rene Liu (刘若英) as a pair of con-artists.

Lau's character 王薄 has just secretly filmed his girlfriend 王丽 (Liu) being sexually harrassed by an old guy who she is giving English lessons to. The couple then proceed to use the footage to blackmail the guy, who is prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent his wife discovering what he's been up to!


Rene Liu (Wang Li) and Andy Lau (Wang Bo)


王薄：从艺术片的角度来讲，没错，这段录像真的不值什么钱。
From an artistic point of view, you're right, it really has no value.

但是，从写实的纪录片来讲无论它的清晰度还是它反映出来的内容足够震撼你老婆脆弱的神经。
But as a documentary, in terms of clarity and content, it's more than enough to shock your wife's fragile nerves.

王丽：你应该把它给买下来
You should purchase it.

Old man:你们这是敲诈
This is extortion

王丽：别气，别气
Take it easy

王薄：敲诈。 对，是敲诈
Extortion . . . you're right, it is extortion.

Old man:你们到底想要什么呀？我这又没现金。
What the hell do you want. I have no cash here.

王丽：来,人家就想要那台车嘛
cmon, cmon. All he wants is that car.

王薄：本人因欠王薄先生跟王丽小姐人民币一百万经双方友好协商同意用宝马汽车一部以物抵债, 决不反悔。来,按个手印
The undersigned owes Mr. Wang and Ms. Wang 1,000,000 RMB. After mutually amicable negotiations, I irrevocably agree to repay said debt with one BMW. C'mon, give us a fingerprint signature. (The old man struggles against Wang Bo)
按一下, 来嘛
Press down here, c'mon (The ink falls to the floor)
哎呦
Oh (Wang Li slaps the man across the face and storms away)

王薄 (to Wang Li)：你给我站住
Come back here
你打人, 不像话
You hit him. So out of line
哎呦, 哇
Oh wow (looking at the man's face)
红到这个程度啦。 疼吗？
Look how red it is. Does it hurt?


So what have we learned from this dialogue?
Extortion - 敲诈 - something you may well come across in China from time to time.
Fragile nerves - 脆弱的神经 - something you may end up with if you live in China
Irrevocable - 决不反悔 - Any verbal agreement to teach your Ayi's son English.
So out of line - 不像话 - What your girlfriend might say if you suggest reenacting this scene with your elderly neighbour!

Tags: Chinese, Mandarin, A World Without Thieves, Andy Lau, Rene Liu, 天下无贼, 刘德华, 刘若英

Cultural Insight through Chinese sit-com

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I've been looking for a clip from my favourite Chinese TV show 马大帅 for ages, with little success on YouTube, but I finally found some on one of the Chinese versions of YouTube, tv.mofile.com

If you live or have lived in China, you'll recognise the setting as a KTV room, the number one recreational location for Chinese people. The man sitting down is the owner of the establishment, and he's asked the other guy to set him up with his niece, by arranging for them to sing karaoke together. Only neither of them is very outgoing, so the girl's uncle takes it upon himself to set the atmosphere.




At the end, he says:

唱得不好,请多多指教,给点掌声。
I sing badly, please advise me, give me a little applause.

This show is full of classic moments, I'll try to transcribe some if I can find any more good ones.

Tags: Chinese, Mandarin, Karaoke, KTV, 马大帅, 范伟, Chinese culture

English Movie Titles in Chinese

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Many times during my 3 years in China, I've found myself in the DVD shop, wanting to ask for a certain film, but not knowing the Chinese name for it. Some of the translations are a far cry from what you would expect. I find a good way to find out the Chinese title is to do a Google search for "Movie Title 电影" (e.g - Star Wars 电影). You'll know which is the movie title because they are always enclosed in 《》 signs - 《星球大战》 (Star Wars).

Here's a random selection of movie titles in Chinese. Some are more bizzare than others:

Spiderman 《蜘蛛侠》 - (Spider Hero)
Dodgeball 《疯狂躲避求》 - (Crazy Dodge Ball)
Lord of the Rings 《魔戒》 - (Evil Ring)
Misery 《危情十日》 - (Perilous 10 Days)
Old School 《男子单身俱乐部》 - (Men's Singles Club)
The Matrix 《黑客帝国》 - (Hacker's Empire)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 《飞越疯人院》 - (Fly Over the Mental Institution)
Snakes on a Plane 《空中蛇灾》 - (Midair Snake Disaster)
Donnie Darko 《死亡幻觉》 - (Death Hallucinations)
Finding Neverland 《寻找梦幻岛》 - (Looking for Illusion Island)
Gone with the Wind 《乱世佳人》 - (Turbulent Times Beautiful Woman)

Interesting, no?

Some films have a second title, when the translation is ambiguous. This will be written under the main title, with the words 又名：(another name)



Hope you enjoy looking for interesting film titles. Let me know if you've seen any good ones.

Tags: learn Chinese, Learn Mandarin, Movies, Films, Movie titles, translation

Movie Moments 1 - 求求你，表扬我

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I'm starting this new section, transcribing memorable scenes from Chinese movies. Here's the first one from 求求你，表扬我 （Gimme Kudos). Newspaper reporter 古国歌 (played by 王志文) is interviewing country bumpkin 杨红旗 （范伟）：

古：什么叫幸福？ - What is happiness?
杨：幸福啊？ - Happiness?
古：嗯，你怎么看？ - Mmm, in your opinion.
杨：幸福……那就是……我饿了 - Happiness . . . is . . . if I'm hungry . . .
看别人手里拿个肉包子 - and I see someone holding a meat bun . . .
那他就比我幸福。 - then he is happier than me.
我冷了 - I'm cold . . .
看别人穿了一件厚棉袄 - and I see someone wearing a thick coat . . .
他就比我幸福 - he's happier than me.
我想上茅房 - I need the toilet . . .
就一个坑 - but there's only one . . .
你蹲那了 - and you're squatting there . . .
你就比我幸福 - then you're happier than me.

(some girls behind him snigger)

杨：可笑吗？ - what's so funny?
没上过茅房啊 - you've never been to the toilet?



There are many words for toilet in Chinese, but this was a new one for me when I first saw this film - 茅房 - literally means "straw room" and it's most commonly used in rural areas, which is probably why the city girls in the office were sniggering at him.

坑 means hole or pit, and if you've seen a toilet in rural China you'll know why he used this word. It's often nothing more than a trough dug into the ground, sometimes with a brick on each side for you to put your feet on while you squat!

I love Yang's simple but pessimistic definition of happiness, someone is always happier than him. I think I've mentioned 范伟 before. If you haven't seen any of his movies or TV shows, you should definitely check them out!

Tags: learn mandarin, learn chinese, chinese movies, 求求你，表扬我, 范伟, 王志文, gimme kudos