10 Movie Titles With Ridiculous German Translations
6. Once Upon A Time In The West
German Title: Spiel Mir Ein Lied Vom Tod
English Translation: Play Me A Song About Death
In what is considered to be the first part of Leone's "Once upon a time ..." trilogy (the other parts being Death Melody (1971) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984), this epic story about revenge, greed and murder, unfolds around the construction site of a railway station with four people at the heart of it all.
The German title was birthed as a result of a glitch in the German dubbed version in which Frank (Henry Fonda) says the titular phrase in a flashback showing the Lynch scene with "Harmonica" (Charles Bronson), as Frank gently pushes an actual harmonica in his mouth. However, In the English version Frank merely says: "Keep your loving brother happy"
Because of the contextual change and the apparent age difference between the two men, it is often assumed among German viewers that the lynched person is the father to Harmonica.
Another perspective shift caused by the title change is linked with the plot itself - while the English title centers more on the overall story and the desolation of the West as Mythic, the German title focuses more on the life journey of Harmonica.