"They're going to destroy Xi'an," one of the characters in our clip this week says, sparking exclamations of disbelief from fellow actors and audience alike. What if anything does this week's film have to do with that ancient Chinese capital? If you think you know, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win free premium access to Popup Chinese.
maxiewawa
 said on
December 27, 2008
I didn't get this one either... And what's strange about naming a city Xi'An? I think it's quite an old name, and the name of an actual city, so not sure what that was all about.
kimik
 said on
December 29, 2008
Maxiewawa,

Even if it has the same prononciation, I don't think it's written like the city Xi'An (西安) but more like Xi'An (锡安) in Zion National Park (锡安国家公园).

Kimik
trevelyan
 said on
December 29, 2008
That's interesting Kimik. I guess it makes much more sense if that is the actual translation of the word. I was wondering if the translator might have been aiming for something with connotations of ancient imperial power given the overtones of the original film. I guess not.

ktjiejie
 said on
December 29, 2008
Is the pdf suppose to have the transcript of the lesson, b/c I don't see it, mine only comes up as 1 page - the english introduction...
trevelyan
 said on
December 29, 2008
No transcript in the pdf for Film Friday.... rationale being that it would usually give the movie away.

ktjiejie
 said on
December 29, 2008
最后那句是不是，“阴言是谎言”？

谢谢！
Echo
 said on
December 29, 2008
@ktjiejie,

"预言是谎言" :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
kimik
 said on
December 29, 2008
Actually, you guys seems to have a different dubbed version. For the "sake of education", I've just checked the version I have here and the name of the city is not Xi'An but 郇山 (with XunShan pronunciation).

I'm quite confused now ...

Kimik
Echo
 said on
December 29, 2008
@kimik,

应该是有不同的翻译版本，地名或者人名一般按照发音翻译，经常会有这样的情况。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
maxiewawa
 said on
December 31, 2008
到底是什么电影呀。
trevelyan
 said on
December 31, 2008
we'll tell you on Friday, ok?

There's a really obvious hint in the dialogue if you listen for proper names, by the way. There are two names mentioned. We bleeped out the more obvious of the two....
Film Friday
 said on
January 2, 2009
Answer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242653/

kimik
 said on
January 2, 2009
It's interesting to notice that in the first episode the city is called 郇山 but in the second and third episodes it's called 锡安.

trevelyan
 said on
January 2, 2009
@kimik - yeah, it's curious. funny to see so many major productions fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to handling the Chinese translation. Still surprising that whoever translated #2 didn't go back and build a list of proper names from #1.
kimik
 said on
January 3, 2009
@Dave (Trevelyan),

Obviously, when they saw what Zion looked like in the second episode then 郇山 was inappropriate and couldn't be used. Of course, they didn't know about this underground Zion (and the rave party : 锐舞) when they dubbed the first episode.
trevelyan
 said on
January 3, 2009
I'd forgotten about the rave! I think that was in the third film. I remember seeing it with some friends in the theater in Wangfujing. It tipped me into rooting for the machines.
toneandcolor
 said on
January 22, 2009
生词总结 Vocabulary from this lesson:

一定 [yídìng] (adj.) certain; definite

规[guī] rule

一定之规 [yídìngzhīguī] a fixed pattern; a set of rules

我有千言万语，你有一定之规。“No matter what I say you never change."

采 取 [cǎiqǔ] adopt

措施 [cuòshī] measures

采取措施 to take measures

一旦 [yídàn] once; in case of; in a day

原代码 [yuándàimǎ] source code

预言 [yùyán] prophesy

谎言 [huǎngyán] (n.) lie

预言是谎言 "The prophesy is a lie."
gnotella100
 said on
January 30, 2009
Probably that was 採取措施 [採取 cáiqǔ adopt, take), instead of 裁处]
Echo
 said on
January 30, 2009
@gnotella100,

Yeah, 采取措施 cǎiqǔ.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com