I WATCHED GOOD OMENS IN FRENCH SO YOU DONâT HAVE TO
and it wasnât that bad. Here are my thoughts, barely edited as I wrote most of them while watching the show.
EP 1
OK i like godâs voice so far
possibilitĂ© dâembarras gastrique is a good formulation, I wonder if itâs the same in the book ( I think I kinda need to read it in french now...)
aghghdhgs « primo-délinquants »
of course subtitles donât match the audio for a variety of technical reasons but when you get things that have very different underlying meanings i find it⊠not good
This one about Crowley being evil / a demon :
subtitles : « câest ton travail » - « itâs your job »
audio : « câest dans ta nature » - « itâs in your nature »
i mean dang
crowley sounds like a little shit asking az about his sword
« TâAS FAIT QUOUA » - he just loses his shit (kinda giving me some le coeur a ses raisons vibe)
ok crowley sounds very nerdy when he tries to explain that he took down the phone network, i think i actually like this voice acting
ligur sounds⊠very suave (im a little ill at ease)
crowley getting called mon chou by satan freddie mercury is a thumb up from me
i see the part where aziraphale speaks japanese wasnât dubbed over and we can still hear michael sheen. itâs a bit disturbing considering french aziraphale has a higher pitched voice (and he sounds soooo much more anxious than sheen, give this angel a xanax )
âsandwich bĆuf cressonâ ( beef and cress sandwich ) deirdre really who makes this kind of sandwiches
im being reminded that the chattering nuns prepared little cut outs for their explanation about the antichrist switch⊠such dedication to useless crafts (it made me laugh on my first viewing and itâs still funny to imagine that some of them either ordered or built these things themselves just so they could make this two minutes long presentation for the most important act of their satanic nun careers)
retire-toi vil dĂ©mon infernal, crĂ©ature des abysses XD i swear az doesnât sound even remotely convinced when he is saying the « get thee behind me foul fiend » line in french, itâs just too over the top for credibility, it sounds like itâs straight out of some super intense dnd session
they still canât say bouillabaisse (which, like, weird because french, but still valid). nice touch is crowley couldnât say soupe de poisson (fish stew) either and said poupe de soisson (sish ftew)
warlock mah boy how can you be a teenager and not like dinosaurs
câest un dinosaure
un nullosaure plutĂŽt - apply burn heal
La façon dont warlock sâest exclamĂ© « CâEST NUL » mâa fait penser au nain de naheulbeuk
the english version has nothing on french speaking aziraphale for the second hand embarrassement during the magic tour. itâs over 9000 i literally hid my head in my jumper when he was presenting harry the bunny. Horrible experience, 0/20, would not recommend
EP 2
oooh agnes has a lovely voice !
why is young newton having such a quality dub for the three sentences he has to say
dick turpinâs name is jesse james (tbf dick turpin is not known AT ALL in france, i discovered him reading good omens)
shadwell is pure chaos (as expected). No particular accent for him though, the chaotic energy was probably enough. Would have made me laugh if he had like, a chti or a marseilles accent.
aziraphale is so fucking stressed out by crowleyâs driving i thought he was gonna explode
« tu es un gentil garçon » => « youâre a nice boy » said az to crowley DANG THATâS SO INFANTILIZING AZIRAPHALE YOUâRE TALKING TO A DEMON FROM HELL NOT TO PINOCCHIO
ARGH FIRST MON ANGE OF THE SERIES iâm hit straight in the heart
anathemaâs mom doesnât have a spanish / latino accent at all when talking in spanishâŠ. why...
dog being called toutou is definitely adorable (itâs basically « doggy » but way cuter imo)
tickety-boo has become ça gaze. thatâs valid. itâs corny but i still use it unironically from time to time so ... i stan
EP 3
« je rĂ©pands la fomentation » « iâm here spreading foment »
« quoi tu fais des crĂȘpes au froment ?????? »  « what youâre making crĂȘpes with wheat ??? »
love the fact that we shoehorned in one more ref to crĂȘpes
az called crowley mon cher camarade, unintentionnal communist propaganda ftw
« pas de repos pour les⊠bah, pour les bons » « no rest for the⊠good »  â az was so deflated about the ineptitude he realized he was saying, he felt zero percent commited to his sentence
i was wondering how they would play aziraphale not being able to speak french in the bastille and they opted to have him stutter a bit and say to his executionner « excuse me iâm anxious » XD
« vous ĂȘtes le 999e aristo Ă mourir par mes soins. Mais vous ĂȘtes le premier en costume beige »
« youâre the 999th aristocrat Iâm going to kill, but the first one in beige attire »
yeah i guess now that az isnât english anymore his most noticeable feature is his cream aesthetic
« câest au cas oĂč ça tournerait en eau de boudin »
« jâADORE le boudin »
=> « in case it all goes pear shape » - the literal translation featuring food in french is « turning into black sausage water ». I donât know what pear shaped inspires to english native speakers but the mere mention of boudin always make me giggle, itâs such a funny word and such a funny food
OH !!! no terrence rampa for the tv series, weâve got anthony J. rampa. Rip terrence petit dĂ©mon parti trop tĂŽt :â(
« tu roules trop vite pour moi rampa » SERIOUSLY i know we can still infer « rouler » (here as in driving, but literally rolling) as a metaphor for their relationship but you could have said TU VAS TROP VITE that would have been so much better argh
has anathema got an emergency stock of potteries to break in case of emotionnal crisis ?
« Rampa, un dĂ©mon trĂšs futĂ©, il mâoblige Ă redoubler dâeffort »
« crowley, a very clever demon, he forces me to make double the amount of effort »
oh so admitting youâre making an effort there aziraphale ? :))))))
dang i really want to know how shadwell said that major milk bottle died because not only did he die in combat but aziraphaleâs reaction is a bit intense, it must have been quite a tale (this could be a crack fic prompt : «The Epic Tale of the Death Of Major Witchfinder Milk Bottle, by Sargent Witchfinder Shadwell» )
des sorciÚres et des phénomÚnes sorciéreux x)
CROWLEY CALLED AZIRAPHALE DUCON ?????? EXCUSE ME ????? #NotMyCrowley #CrowleyWouldNeverDoThat  #CancelAnthonyJRampa2K20Â
=> ducon would be an insult, the gathering of du and con, con being a very nasty but common swear word, and associating it with du- makes it extremely patronizing. itâs like « absolute pathetic digraceful moron +++ ». thanks i hate it *frowny face *
EP 4
lâapocalypse câest pour aujourdâhui juste aprĂšs le goĂ»ter : it could be translated as « apocalypse is scheduled for today right after tea time » except that « goĂ»ter » is not quite tea time but rather the little sugary snack kids take when they come back from school and that most adults drop out of (i havenât and iâm sure az hasnât either). thanks aziraphale for having exclusively food related notion of the time because tbh same
ligur has no right to be this sexy between ariyon bakare and his french voice actor thatâs just not allowed
radio crowleyâs voice vs french ligurâs voice, who has the sexiest voice : FIGHT
(jk french agnes nutterâs voice is by far the sexiest)
gender neutral doesnât âquiteâ exist in french but pollution has been assigned a female voice actress and masculine pronouns (iâm saying it doesnât quite exist because officially we have no gender neutral, but itâs a serious wip among lgbt+ circles to the point where itâs started being used in a few medias)
hastur « en attendant quâun plombier vienne » / « while waiting for a plumber to come »
does hell have a special plumber unit or do demons have to call on human plumbers for their pipes damages ? Dang hastur having to call a human plumber for hellâs plumbery is another damn good writing prompt for a crack fic
Michael is called Michel in the subtitles but Michael in the audio *shrug emoji*
EP 5Â
to get a wiggle on has become « il faut quâon se remue les fesses », literally « we need to shake our butts » like, yes, se remuer les fesses is a common expression to say « we need to act in order to get things done » but it really casts the image of people shaking their booty to some music and obviously crowley thinks the same
Weirdly enough I have almost nothing to say for that episode. Sorry. But weâve discovered most voice actors and actresses so far and no bit of dialogue really struck me as worth discussing or pointing fingers to mock it.
EP 6Â
« on va BROUTER quelques derriĂšres » - « weâre gonna lick some butts »
OK THIS IS UNQUESTIONNABLY FAR SUPERIOR IN FRENCH THAN IN ENGLISH
you thought LICKING butts was good ??? you really thought that ???? AZIRAPHALE HERE SUGGESTS TO GRAZE BUTTS. TO NIBBLE THEM. TO EAT THEM. TO. MUNCH. ON. THOSE. BUTTS!!!! not just licking, guys. This is as serious step beyond licking.
(oh yeah he should have said « botter » instead of brouter btw, which is really just kicking, fyi)
« moi je crois en la paix, pĂ©tasse ! » wow, language, pepper (fyi i think « pĂ©tasse » is far far worse than « bitch » even if it means roughly the same, pĂ©tasse is almost never used while bitch is rather common, so itâs a swear word +++)
Dagon sounds like sheâs got a nasty cold. #GetDagonIbuprofen2K20
I can confirm that Crowley offers Aziraphale to not just stay at his place, but to move in with him. « tu peux tâinstaller chez moi si tu veux ». omg they were roommates.
Bad translation strikes again : i donât know why, but the french dub doesnât have the « tickety-boo » / « ça gaze » being referenced as Rampa / Aziraphale is being knocked down, which is⊠a real mistep. It was narratively significant and Iâm quite mad the translators missed it.
The Jesse James explanation from Newt has become very nonsensical, instead of the neat and to the point pun « wherever I go I hold up trafic » weâre getting a circonvoluted « because itâs a crime to mechanicâs diligence ». Iâm not judging that one too hard, I have no idea how to make it better, and thatâs probably how it was translated in the book as well thirty years ago, but it definitely doesnât have the same impact. On the other hand, it definitely IS a very bad joke that doesnât even deserve a chuckle, so Anathemaâs embarassement really matches the audienceâs (aka mine).
OVERALL :
I wasnât convinced by Crowley⊠I mean, Rampaâs voice at first, but as the nerdiness showed up it really grew on me. I still think that french dubs have often problems with some voice inflexions every here and there, and for instance in Rampaâs case it was when he was annoyed or frustrated ( at the Globe when complaining about horses and Shakespeareâs plays that arenât comedies, and also when discussing Azirphaleâs magic tricks, itâs like⊠there is a step between having the right amount of grumpy complaining and overdoing it that is overlooked. Itâs overacted, it should have been a bit quieter imo. I donât mean to criticize voice actors too hard either but as an audience watching french dubs this is a very recurring problem and it always feels off to me. Itâs actually one of the main reasons I avoid french dubs whenever possible.)
I have a hard time judging Aziraphaleâs voice dub because it clashes so much with both the idea I had formed with it when I read the book and Sheenâs delivery that I just⊠kinda filtered it. It was too high pitched for me, and too anxious (though for this last point I must admit it could be funny at times, but Iâm not fond of this character portrayal).
The rest of the cast was rather good, nothing to complain about. There wasnât anything stellar either, but everything that needed to be conveyed was and it was professionnal. It was also very homogeneous, no voice really struck me as being way too bad or way too good compared to the others, so it was really consistant.
So I donât have much to complain about overall despite a few wonky translations here and there, BUT there is one thing I felt very robbed of : Crowley calling Aziraphale « mon ange » happens only once, when giving a lift to Anathema, and Iâm almost certain they translated it that way because otherwise the joke about Anathama mistaking them for a couple wouldnât work. So, they were forced to make it that way. The rest of the time Crowley calls Aziraphale « lâangelot », and despite being literally translated by « little angel », it feels sarcastic more than anything else ( the « Lâ » in front of « angelot » is part of the reason why, it creates some distance, the other reason being that this word in itself has a very corny vibe and people being affectionnate to each other wouldnât use it as a term of endearment). So, thatâs a shame.
I like the English dub much much MUCH better than the French, but the french wasnât nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. The voice actors and actresses were quite good, the dialogues mostly faithful and endearing despite a few really missed steps. It really had its moments. Props to brouter des derriĂšres, that one was fantastic.
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