Discuss The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris
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Reported Problem for The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris
posted by sdflkjlkllnlklklnnklSTAFFMOD on September 7, 2022 at 1:06 AM
Item: The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris
Language: en-US
Type of Problem: Incorrect_content
Extra Details: Hello,
I am unsure as to why this page has been locked by admin on this site, despite having information on it that is obviously incorrect to anyone even remotely familiar with the film. Open any book published in the last 70 years on this title and it will in every case be listed as "Les vampires," even in English language monographs. It is no different than any number of famous French titles - for example, "Hiroshima Mon Amour" - that use the French title in all cases. Though it is true that the film was released initially under the title you are currently using, it is unambiguously incorrect to use this title and simply must be changed back to what it was originally. I do not understand why this website has continually decided to make it more difficult to correct the constant inaccuracies on it, but I hope very much that, if nothing else, this change is made.
Reply by superboy97
on September 7, 2022 at 1:48 AM
As per our rules, the English title used in our database should be the first title used in an English speaking country.
You indicate yourself that it is true that the film was released initially under that title. So, our title is correct.
Reply by sdflkjlkllnlklklnnkl
on September 15, 2022 at 10:24 AM
I’m not sure whether you are more interested in upholding arbitrarily defined rules or in providing users with accurate information. However, every professional listing of this film since the films rediscovery in the 1940s had listed it as “Les vampires.” This is, for example, how your rival site IMDb correctly lists is, as you see here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0006206/
This is equally how, to choose another more important example, how internationally heralded film scholar David Bordwell refers to the film http://www.davidbordwell.net/books/figures_intro.php?ss=2
Moreover, this is how Jonathan Rosenbaum, the man most responsible for the popularity of the film in the English language world, refers to it https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2020/10/les-vampires/
Even the English-language Blu Ray release uses the French title https://www.kinolorber.com/product/les-vampires-blu-ray
It seems to me profoundly out of step with the widely accepted naming of the film to revert back to what the Gaumont offices in 1915 arbitrarily named it for screenings that took place in that year only. It’s certainly uncontroversial for the individual episodes to have their name in English. It is extremely controversial to use English for the name of the entire serial.
Reply by lineker
on September 15, 2022 at 10:42 AM
Hi, as long as our rules are like this, we are going to follow those rules. No need for an extra discussion here. If you want us to change the rules, you can start a new discussion in Website Support or General section. Closing topic.