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18:57 Nov 28, 2010
German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
German term or phrase:Originalfassung (OF)
I'm looking for an English translation for this term, which is needed as a search term for a database of film prints. As far as I can see, "original version" is not a standard term in English, as the norm tends to be xxx with yyy subtitles instead. That can't be done in this case, so any suggestions?
Explanation: If you watch a film here in Germany in the "Originalfassung" it is the original language, as you rightly say, perhaps with subtitles. I think original version, or original language version are correct with the latter perhaps slightly more accurate for a film.
This was what we decided on, as it seemed to convey the concept most clearly. Thanks to everyone who contributed. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
The exact context: an online database for film prints where one of the fields is "version" (Fassung). I'm looking for the a term to use in opposition to "dubbed version".
I would say that "original version" is ambiguous anyway, as it could also apply to different versions of the same film, independently of the language of the film.
What I mean was that in countries such as England, where there is no tradition of dubbing (and thus no need to distinguish between a dubbed version and a subtitled version of a film), it is standard to say "in French with (English) subtitles" rather than use orginal version.
Explanation: If you watch a film here in Germany in the "Originalfassung" it is the original language, as you rightly say, perhaps with subtitles. I think original version, or original language version are correct with the latter perhaps slightly more accurate for a film.