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9 Comments



Nitpick Description


Submitted by Nitpicker : 871
Movie : Usual Suspects, The - 1995
Nitpick Category : Translation
Nitpick Number : 3178
Approximate time of Nitpick : Throughout the movie
Summary : Come on! The name is a dead giveaway! (Refuted)
Detail :

This is another Usual Suspects nitpick that should only be seen by those who saw the movie! It contains a spoiler! That said, Soze, as in Keyser Soze, is actually a Hungarian word that, when translated, means Verbal in English! You would think that the translator would catch on to that and Verbal Kint would've been nabbed!



Comments

 

Not necessarily

No Votes

by Trekker   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

Spoiler Alert. Only read this if you've already seen the movie. Although the nipicker above has a point, names tend to be weird animals. In English, for example, we name people things like Patience, Chastity and Prudence (at least, we used to). Although I'm not at all acquainted with Hungarian naming conventions, it wouldn't surprise me if Soze (Verbal) is actually a plausible name. Also there's nothing inherently revealing about the name Verbal - yes, the main character talked a great deal, but that could have been a coincidence. Also, the entire story was told by one English speaker to another; The detective had no interpreter on hand to translate the name Soze.

 

He didn't know about Verbal

No Votes

by cheerfuldragon   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

The interpreter was brought in to translate the description given by the burnt guy. I don't recall anything in the film to indicate that the interpreter knew about Verbal. Plus there's the fact that everyone reacted as if Keyser Soze was a name, and the human mind tends to work along tracks. It would have taken a mental jump to translate Soze as anything but a name, and the interpreter didn't have time for that.

Having said that, does Keyser translate as 'Chief'. All through the film they pronounce it like Kaisar (as in Kaisar Wilhelm) or the way I was taught to pronounce Caesar in Latin class. This would make Keyser Soze into something like 'Big Chief Verbal'. Not bad for a guy that's portrayed throughout the film as a dumb, weak cripple!

 

Almost true...

No Votes

by 7191   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

I read an interview with the script writer, who said that the name Keyser was a friend's name. This friend did not like for his last name to be used so they had to do something else. Apparently, in the writer's office there was an English-Turkish dictionary, so he looked up Verbal, and yes... it said soze...

 

Dead Giveaway, wait, NO!

No Votes

by 12388   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

A dead giveaway is an extremely obvious fact that no one should miss. If you didn't know Hungarian you wouldn't have noticed it. It's a very good observation but it is not a dead giveaway. A dead giveaway would be if Verbals middle name was Kaiser or Soze.

 

Not so dead give away

No Votes

by 18670   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

If you remeber when they are all in the holding cell, Keaton tell the rest of them Kints' first and last name, then kint tells them he is called verbal because he talks to much, to which Hockney replies yeah I was just going to tell you to shut the f*** up

 

Wrong comments

No Votes

by San Gabriel   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

I don`t know if Keyser Soze is a Hungarian name but I know that it is definetly not a Turkish name.I`ve never heard such a turkish name in my life.(BTW I am from Turkey)

 

So what

No Votes

by 35721   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

while it is a subtle clue to who is keyser soze Verbal couldn't get nailed for it. You cant convict someone on the basis that their nickname translated in to hungarian is the name of the criminal

 

No Votes

by 43165   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

You have to understand that this is supossed to be real life(the movie) they are in not a movie, they are not thinking about who is keyser soze, we are(Movie watchers). It's not a "who done it" to them, they are not looking at every clue, because its real life to the people in the movie, but we trying to figure it out throughout the whole movie. If any one should have guess it was Verbal it should have been the detective. But that is not obvouis at all.

 

Clues to Usual Suspect Fanatics

No Votes

by Vonsfone   Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:29 PM

OK, so if the name Verbal is equivalent to Soze, it is simply a writers/directors cue for the audience. Sure, if you don't know Hungarian, you are not going to know the translation. However, as clever filmmakers, it is their job to put in such things. It makes the movie even GREATER that the two names are equivalent to each other. This helps to enhance the experience for the audience. IE: movie lovers who are interested and will look up information and be like wow, that was great.\r\rAlso, like the guy said, names could have various meanings and it is only human for a person to think of one meaning, especially when the plot line is following a particular pattern. \r\r