Thread: Watching Sin City

I'm watching the movie (and yep, there's Bruce Willis there ) for the second time, now with subtitles. They suck by the way. What dumbasses make subtitles?! There are tons of mistakes in them and that makes it especially difficult for me sometimes.
Maybe someone knows where to download reliable subtitles?

Ok, enough whining. Now a couple of phrases which I can't comprehend. I'm not sure they are correct because the subtitles can't be trusted.


But as soon as they hit me for a fall guy, they showed up, guns blazing

Could someone explain the highlighted part to me? The context is that Marv (the character of Mickey Rourke) is complaining about having been set up and cops arriving right after the murder to arrest him.


He even made his rotten brother a U.S. Senator without breaking a sweat

It's about powerful and filthy cardinal Roark (the character of Rutger Hauer) making his brother a US senator, but I don't understand the highlighted segment.

Thanks in advance.

The first one sounds like a bad translation to me. The second one is correct -- it's a common phrase really...
"Without breaking a sweat" means to do something with ease or without even trying. In this context, he's just saying that this guy had so much power that it was no problem for him to make his rotten brother a Senator -- presumably something that's hard to do for even an honest person. It refers literally to physical exertion -- Michael Jordan was such a great and well-conditioned athlete that he could slam-dunk without breaking a sweat (starting to sweat that is -- which of course, is a sign of working hard/laboring, but I'm sure they have sweat in Russia so that should make sense ) -- but is used in pretty much any context. You can also say "no sweat!" to mean the same thing. E.G.: -Did you do well on the exam? -Yeah, it was no sweat!

Originally Posted by Бармалей

The first one sounds like a bad translation to me

This is not a translation, this is the original .

Вадим, насколько я понимаю, это значит что-то вроде "как только они решили, что я - лёгкая добыча" или "что они смогут на мне отыграться" и т.д.

Originally Posted by Vadim84

They suck by the way. What dumbasses make subtitles?! There are tons of mistakes in them and that makes it especially difficult for me sometimes.

I feel your pain mate.

Бармалей, big thanks for the comprehensive explanation. After I posted the question I began to surmise it that way also. But I still needed to make sure because the phrase sounds a bit strange to me.


translations.nm.ru, thanks for your guess also.

This is not a translation, this is the original

Yeah, I've now listened it again and the text from the subtitles seems to be exactly what Mickey Rourke says (although he's not the easiest person to understand ).

But as soon as they hit me for a fall guy, they showed up, guns blazing

Пожалуй, я бы сказал так:
Как только они решили сделать из меня козла отпущения (or виновного), они тут же примчались.

I feel your pain mate.

You mean subtitles for Russian movies also suck? Or you're just being sympathetic? Thanks, anyway.

Я подразумевал, что субтитры ужасны вообще. Особенно любительские субтитры.

Originally Posted by Vadim84

He even made his rotten brother a U.S. Senator without breaking a sweat

It makes perfect sense in Russian too: даже не вспотев

Originally Posted by Vadim84

feel your pain mate.

You mean subtitles for Russian movies also suck? Or you're just being sympathetic? Thanks, anyway.

He means he's Bill Clinton, so you better lock up your daughter and lock up wife. Lock up your front door, and run for your life...

Originally Posted by basurero

Я подразумевал, что субтитры ужасны вообще. Особенно любительские субтитры.

Congrats! A perfect Russian sentence!

It makes perfect sense in Russian too: даже не вспотев

Ну да, смысл-то понятен, но сама конструкция меня слегка смутила.

And speaking of the structure of this phrase, can I put it this way:
He even made his rotten brother a U.S. Senator without breaking out in a sweat
If the sentence read that way, I'd understand it right away.

He means he's Bill Clinton, so you better lock up your daughter and lock up wife. Lock up your front door, and run for your life...

Er... uh... um...
Who is Mister Clinton?

Well, maybe the thing is I forgot to place a question mark. So I'll ask again.

He even made his rotten brother a U.S. Senator without breaking out in a sweat.

Can I put the sentence this way? Can I replace "breaking a sweat" with "breaking out in a sweat"? This sounds more logical to me.

Also I have another couple of questions.

Goldie worked the Clergy

Does it mean the slut served the clergy or does it mean she blackmailed them?

And there's an episode where Mickey Rourke lists the things he's got:
Rubber tubing
Gas
Saw
Gloves
Cuffs
Razor wire
Hatchet
Gladys (the camera shows his pistol)
And my mits (the camera shows his hands)

Now, is "Gladys" some slang term for gun or pistol or what?
And what is mits (maybe I should say "what are mits" )? Hands, fists, fingers?

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Vadim84

He even made his rotten brother a U.S. Senator without breaking out in a sweat.

Can I put the sentence this way? Can I replace "breaking a sweat" with "breaking out in a sweat"? This sounds more logical to me.

You could I guess, but the way they said it sounds better. I'd say it may sound more logical to you, but a native speaker probably would use it the way they said it.

Goldie worked the Clergy

Does it mean the slut served the clergy or does it mean she blackmailed them?

Haven't seen the film, but it sounds like it means she used the Clergy (not neccessarily blackmail, but she manipulated them in some fashion). If they wanted to say that she was employed by them, it would have been "she worked FOR the Clergy". In the sense of employment, you'd typically only see people "working smth" if it's a shift/event. E.G.: "The waitress worked the late-night shift last night," or "Mark made a lot of money last night, since he worked the Lakers game," and of course, you can also "work the streets" in a less-than-moral sense.

Now, is "Gladys" some slang term for gun or pistol or what?
And what is mits (maybe I should say "what are mits" )? Hands, fists, fingers?

Again, I haven't seen the film, but judging by what you said, it sounds like Gladys is simply a "pet-name" he gave his gun. No, this isn't normal. It's not a slang term (that I've ever heard).

And it's "mitts" with TWO "t"s. That's fairly common slang for "hands." I assume it comes from the things you wear on your hands: mittens (варежки) when it's cold, but there's also the "mitt" that baseball players and the hockey goalie wear to catch the ball/puck.

As always, thanks for the comprehensive answer.

Haven't seen the film

The film is very dirty and violent. Mr "hobbit" (the actor from the Tolkien-based trilogy I mean), who eats people, has both his hands and legs removed with a saw and his guts eaten by a dog there. And after that his head is also sawn off Frank Miller (the author of the original comic strip and the film's director) is a madman definitely
Sorry for the spoiler (if it's a spoiler for somebody).

And it's "mitts" with TWO "t"s.

Damn! I've been screwed by some bloody bastards who make subtitles! If it hadn't been for them, I'd have found the word in my dictionary at once.

Originally Posted by Vadim84

The film is very dirty and violent. Mr "hobbit" (the actor from the Tolkien-based trilogy I mean), who eats people, has both his hands and legs removed with a saw and his guts eaten by a dog there. And after that his head is also sawn off Frank Miller (the author of the original comic strip and the film's director) is a madman definitely

Haha. Yeah, I remember hearing somewhere that this was "the most violent film ever made," which I found hard to believe -- probably a bit of an overstatement. But yeah, judging by that description, it sounds a little bit violent. I just never found the film to be that interesting in the first place...

It was pretty violent, definatly not the most violent film ever made. Alot of the violence is animated or just insinuated. I actually enjoyed it, and I don't think I've ever read a comic book. It was filmed near where I live (in Austin) and the chevy corvair Marve drove in the movie was for sale a while back.

both his hands

Damn it! This is what happens when you speak in English while thinking in Russian. I meant arms, not hands. In Russian the word руки means arms as well as hands, of course.

the chevy corvair Marve drove in the movie was for sale a while back.

He-he, the great principle - make money out of anything there is.

Originally Posted by Vadim84

He-he, the great principle - make money out of anything there is.

I agree. You owe me $9.95 for the explanation I provided. I accept Visa, Mastercard, or cash...

Goldie worked the Clergy

Does it mean the slut served the clergy or does it mean she blackmailed them?

Just to clarify, I have seen the film and from the context, (being that Goldie was a prostitute) I am fairly certain they mean members of the clergy where her clients, and not that she blackmailed them.


and "Gladys" is definately not a common slang term for a pistol, it's what he named his gun.

I agree. You owe me $9.95 for the explanation I provided. I accept Visa, Mastercard, or cash...

By the way, Бармалей, when are you going to follow basurero’s example and correct your signature?

It’s either “поправь меня” or “исправь мои ошибки”. Choose the one that you like more.

Now, that priceless piece of precious info is worth $9.99. So we are even, Бармалей.
Oops, wait a minute. No, we are not! You still owe me 4 cents!
Ah, what the heck! I forgive your debt. Ok, you may not thank me, I know it’s quite a serious sum of money but I’m a very generous man. Sometimes I think I’m too kind to people.


Kirschtorte, thank you for the explanation.

By the way, when I suggested "the slut served the clergy" I meant "members of the clergy where her clients" just as you say. But maybe these sentences have different meanings? Maybe my phrase "the slut served the clergy" could only mean "the slut worked for the clergy" since Бармалей interpreted my suggestion that way ("she was employed by them")?

Someone please clarify.

The slut served the clergy. LOL


In my language that means "the slut owned/wasted/pwned the clergy".

LOL indeed.

And what is "pwned the clergy"? :P