Not addressing the entirety of your comments, but I agree with those differences. I think part of the reason for the lesser amount of quarreling in the American movie was the relationship the movie gave the guys. In the French movie, the guys threaten leaving, and are less considerate to one another. In the American movie, it?s the typical ?ideal? grown men relationship; masculine, yet emotional and caring, and woven watertight. I am wondering if the French culture has this social ?ideal? also. Not a complete thought here.
In the French movie in this scene men left the room to yell at Jacques. They did not express their negative emotions near the baby. Does this mean that in France parents are trying to avoid quarell and debates near their children?
The geometry of this scene is very interesting. In the French version, first Pierre and Michel are sitting with the Baby and Jacques is up, and then Jacques is sitting while the other two are standing:
|_ |_ | --> |_ | |
In the American - all of them are on the floor and then all are standing + the baby:
___
___ ___ --> | || |
The French scene suggests authority, while the American - equality. In the American version there is also much more physical contact between the three men (and with the baby). In addition, the idea of cruelty is expressed differently - the French leave their friend ignorant and prefer to express their anger, while the Americans tell the facts and leave their friend take care of the situation. Thus, while Jacques is left alone facing a mental responsibility (no contact with his daughter), Jack seems to deal with this quickly and instead is facing a "physical" responsibilty. Is the American film more literal again?
In American version men were more calm in this scene, whereas in French movie men were constantly heating the situation up (yelling etc.). Does this support the conclusion that Americans try to avoid conflicts (e.g. smoker in restaraunt) in public, whereas French are trying to deal directly with the situation?
Another interesting difference was the structure of the verbal communication. The number of times the character speaking changed was around 10 in the French version of the scene, but over 30 in the American. This is a difference in monologue vs. dialogue. It seems to me that the dialogue form of communication is more direct. For example, Jack asks a question and it is answered immediately. On the other hand, Pierre and Michel made Jacques wait till the end to find out what exactly happened. Is this a manifestation of the French conversation/phrases being more indirect? Perhaps there's a similarity to "pas mal" meaning ok, "pas ennuyeux" for interesting, etc?
I've noticed that in the French film the men are very emotional, but they hide their "deep" feelings (Pierre stops Michel when he begins to tell about the condition of Pierre who found Marie in "messed-up" appartment).
Is it true that French are more emotional, but less direct in speaking about their feelings?
Dans la version française le retour de Jacques est encore une fois beaucoup plus drôle. Quand on voit la tête de Boujenah et Giraud qui ne disent pas un mot mais qui n'en pensent pas moins...et après quand ils racontent toute l'histoire dans le désordre à un pauvre stewart qui n'y comprend absolument rien...trop marrant!
Ceci n'est absolument pas retranscrit dans la version américaine et je trouve ça dommage. Quitte à reprendre nos idées autant essayer de bien les restituer!
Pour répondre à Krzysztof et Eugénie, effectivement, le mode de dialogue américain est beaucoup plus direct, les phrases plus courtes...Je crois que c'est beaucoup lié à la culture française: les français aiment bien disserter pendant des heures, sans vraiment trouver de solutions, alors que les américains sont beaucoup plus pragmatiques.
Ca tient sans doute aussi à la langue anglaise, qui est aussi très directe je pense, alors que la langue française est sans doute plus poétique, mais du même coup moins directe (mots plus longs, tournures de phrases compliquées...)
Discussion
Not addressing the entirety of your comments, but I agree with those differences. I think part of the reason for the lesser amount of quarreling in the American movie was the relationship the movie gave the guys. In the French movie, the guys threaten leaving, and are less considerate to one another. In the American movie, it?s the typical ?ideal? grown men relationship; masculine, yet emotional and caring, and woven watertight. I am wondering if the French culture has this social ?ideal? also. Not a complete thought here.
In the French movie in this scene men left the room to yell at Jacques. They did not express their negative emotions near the baby. Does this mean that in France parents are trying to avoid quarell and debates near their children?
The geometry of this scene is very interesting. In the French version, first Pierre and Michel are sitting with the Baby and Jacques is up, and then Jacques is sitting while the other two are standing:
|_ |_ | --> |_ | |
In the American - all of them are on the floor and then all are standing + the baby:
___
___ ___ --> | || |
The French scene suggests authority, while the American - equality. In the American version there is also much more physical contact between the three men (and with the baby). In addition, the idea of cruelty is expressed differently - the French leave their friend ignorant and prefer to express their anger, while the Americans tell the facts and leave their friend take care of the situation. Thus, while Jacques is left alone facing a mental responsibility (no contact with his daughter), Jack seems to deal with this quickly and instead is facing a "physical" responsibilty. Is the American film more literal again?
In American version men were more calm in this scene, whereas in French movie men were constantly heating the situation up (yelling etc.). Does this support the conclusion that Americans try to avoid conflicts (e.g. smoker in restaraunt) in public, whereas French are trying to deal directly with the situation?
Another interesting difference was the structure of the verbal communication. The number of times the character speaking changed was around 10 in the French version of the scene, but over 30 in the American. This is a difference in monologue vs. dialogue. It seems to me that the dialogue form of communication is more direct. For example, Jack asks a question and it is answered immediately. On the other hand, Pierre and Michel made Jacques wait till the end to find out what exactly happened. Is this a manifestation of the French conversation/phrases being more indirect? Perhaps there's a similarity to "pas mal" meaning ok, "pas ennuyeux" for interesting, etc?
I've noticed that in the French film the men are very emotional, but they hide their "deep" feelings (Pierre stops Michel when he begins to tell about the condition of Pierre who found Marie in "messed-up" appartment).
Is it true that French are more emotional, but less direct in speaking about their feelings?
Dans la version française le retour de Jacques est encore une fois beaucoup plus drôle. Quand on voit la tête de Boujenah et Giraud qui ne disent pas un mot mais qui n'en pensent pas moins...et après quand ils racontent toute l'histoire dans le désordre à un pauvre stewart qui n'y comprend absolument rien...trop marrant!
Ceci n'est absolument pas retranscrit dans la version américaine et je trouve ça dommage. Quitte à reprendre nos idées autant essayer de bien les restituer!
Pour répondre à Krzysztof et Eugénie, effectivement, le mode de dialogue américain est beaucoup plus direct, les phrases plus courtes...Je crois que c'est beaucoup lié à la culture française: les français aiment bien disserter pendant des heures, sans vraiment trouver de solutions, alors que les américains sont beaucoup plus pragmatiques.
Ca tient sans doute aussi à la langue anglaise, qui est aussi très directe je pense, alors que la langue française est sans doute plus poétique, mais du même coup moins directe (mots plus longs, tournures de phrases compliquées...)