Lisbela and the Prisoner Translation Notes
Translation notes for “Lisbela and the Prisoner”
Accents - This movie is set in Northeastern Brazil, therefore almost all of the characters have Northeastern accents. The exceptions are Douglas, who speaks in an exaggerated Rio de Janeiro accent, to pretend he’s not a hick, and sounds like a douchebag; Leléu when he is advertising the Ramon Gonzales show, speaks in a mix of Portuguese and Spanish with a fake Argentinian accent; and the actors from the movies Lisbela watches, who are clearly dubbed over and speak in a stilted, overly formal manner. (The Nazi doctor in one of the movies speaks with a German accent, but that should be obvious.)
Slang - going with the above, the characters use a ton of slang and idioms which was damn near impossible to translate. I did the best that I could.
Antidoty - The word for “antidote” in Portuguese is “antídoto”. When Lisbela explains this to Douglas, she mispronounces the English word as “antidoty”.
Corno - “Cuckold” is probably the most used word in this movie. If you don’t know what it means, it’s a term for a man whose wife has cheated on him. Cuckolds are referred to as having horns, because everyone can see it except for them.
“As the poet says…” - The poet Leléu refers to is the Portuguese author Luís Vaz de Camões. Original poem, for those interested: http://pt.wikisource.org/wiki/Transforma-se_o_amador_na_cousa_amada
Cabra - Another word used many times in this move. This is a typically northeastern word that I translated as “bloke” to get across the meaning and informality/regionality of the word. It’s not perfect, but good enough.
Cela/Sela/Çela - “Cela” is a jail cell. “Sela” is a horse saddle. “Çela” does not exist, Corporal Citonho is just bad at spelling.
Words for “you” - Many times where the subs say “you”, the character actually uses words like “o senhor” or “a senhora” which are more formal and polite ways to refer to other people, rather than the more personal “você”. This is how Leléu addresses Lisbela, and how Lisbela addresses her father, for example. Later, Leléu tells Lisbela that using “você” to address her would be inappropriate. Soon after that, Lisbela’s father calls Frederico “você” and is corrected to use “senhor”. Douglas also switches from “você” to “senhor” when talking to Frederico. The closest I can get to translating this is by using words like “miss” and “sir”.
“My flag… of Pernambuco!” - Pernambuco is the State where the movie is set. Therefore, the State flag of Pernambuco as opposed to the National flag of Brazil.