Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: French get earful of 'Wayne's World' Date: Tue, 27 Oct 92 13:27:07 EST Message-ID: \SE E;LIFE \SS (WS) \HD French get earful of 'Wayne's World' \BY Terril Jones \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT PARIS PARIS - American moviegoers and headbangers know all about two awesome heavy-metal dudes named Wayne and Garth who spend their time evaluating "babes," what's "excellent" and what makes them "hurl." It was rad in Peoria - but will it sell in Paris? To make the French go for "Wayne's World," full of its distinctively American slang, the film's distributors turned to a pair of young Frenchmen who call themselves "Les Nuls" (The Nothings). So, beginning tomorrow when "Wayne's World" hits French cinemas, Wayne and Garth will be checking out the "bombes" and the "zarb" dudes fed up enough to "gerber." Les Nuls, arguably the hottest comedy team in France, were tapped to provide the French script for Wayne Campbell, the Excellent Host of his own cable-TV show, and his hyperactive sidekick, Garth Algar. The pair, Alain Chabat and Dominique Farrugia, turned to French teen-age street slang and a kind of pig Latin argot called "verlan," in which syllables of words are reversed. Voila, a lesson in Waynespeak a la francaise: * "Party on" becomes "Megateuf" ("teuf" being the reverse of "fete," or party) * "Weird" is "zarb," or verlan for "bizarre" * A "babe" is "une bombe," while a big-time babe is called "Bomb-raham Lincoln." A dude's "schwing," a healthy man's reaction to a "bombe," is spelled "cha-wingue" * "Hurl," or vomit, is "gerber" * "Not!" at the end of a sentence, is simply "Nul!" - though even Les Nuls admit it loses something in the subtitling. The things that Mr. Chabat and Mr. Farrugia do to the language of Moliere would make the 17th-century dramatist, well, hurl in his grave. Once the project was proposed, the most difficult part was negotiating the money, says Mr. Farrugia, 30, a high school dropout. Not! But seriously, there were tough passages, such as when Wayne and Garth (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey of "Saturday Night Live") spoof the sitcom "LaVerne and Shirley." "We thought, 'There's probably something funny there, but what?' " recalls Mr. Farrugia. "But it was great fun, putting French words on American lips." They took two weeks to adapt "Wayne's World," watching the movie about 25 times to come up with appropriate translations, which will be used in both subtitled and dubbed versions. When Wayne drives alongside a limousine, leans over and says, "Pardon me, do you have any Gray Poupon?" the line comes out as, "Je vous verrais bien dans un Fiat Uno," or "You'd look great in a Fiat Uno," taken from a TV commercial for the car at the low end of Italian auto maker Fiat's line. Both Nuls are keen on American comedians. Mr. Chabat is a fan of Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Weird Al Yankovic. As for Mr. Farrugia: "I like Jerry Lewis. Not!" Mr. Farrugia, the son of a drummer, left high school to work for Canal Plus, the French pay TV network, answering phones for a game show. Mr. Chabat, 34, whose father was in the jewelry business, wanted to be a comic book artist, but became a disc jockey after high school, then a weatherman at Canal Plus. The two met at the pinball machine at a cafe across from the network. Les Nuls, with Chantal Lauby and a fourth member who later died, were born in 1986, when they appeared in a comedy skit on a variety show. Currently they're devoting time to their own movie, whose plot so far exists solely on scraps of paper. "There's blood and mystery, and some humor," Mr. Farrugia says. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM