Julie Delpy's 2 Days in New York trailers translated into English

Watch New Trailers for Julie Delpy's 2 Days in New York—Translated Into English

Watch New Trailers for Julie Delpy's 2 Days in New York—Translated Into English

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Slate's Culture Blog
Feb. 17 2012 3:37 PM

Julie Delpy’s Culture Clash Comedy—Translated

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Actress/writer/director Julie Delpy and actor Chris Rock at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images

As a zealous fan of Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in Paris, I was thrilled to learn that Delpy has completed a sequel called 2 Days in New York slated for American release later this year. In the 2007 original, Delpy plays Marion, a French photographer whose relationship with her American boyfriend (played by the excellent Adam Goldberg) hits the rocks when the two spend 48 hours seeing Marion’s family, friends, and ex-boyfriends in Paris. In the sequel, Marion has a new boyfriend named Mingus (Chris Rock) but the same eccentric family as before, who wreak havoc on her life in New York when they show up for an unexpected visit.

L.V. Anderson L.V. Anderson

L.V. Anderson is a former Slate associate editor.

The French version of 2 Days in New York has been given a March 28 release date, and two trailers have just been released in France. In the first, Marion channels Woody Allen and gets a little too personal with Rock’s character (presumably before they become romantically involved):

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The second, which contains both French and English dialogue, features Albert Delpy (Julie’s father in real life) reprising his role as Marion’s opinionated, coarse, very French father, and Alexandre Nahon reprising his role as Marion’s smarmy ex-boyfriend Manu.

With Manu translating, Marion’s father asks Mingus if he’s happy that Obama is president. Mingus replies that he’s happy with Obama, but “just because he’s a black president doesn’t mean I can’t get critical.” Manu explains to Marion’s father, “Oui, il aime Obama beaucoup” (“Yeah, he likes Obama a lot”). Then Marion’s father asks Mingus about his job in radio, and Mingus says, “Yeah, I have a few shows: two on public radio and one on Sirius.”

Manu explains this as, “Il a la grippe et ça pourrait être sérieux” (“He has the flu, and it could be serious”).

Marion’s father responds, “Oh, dis donc, leur système d'aération” (“Oh, you know, with their air conditioning system”). He then sputters in English at Mingus, “No good, air conditioning, no good!” To which a confused Mingus replies, “Yeah, but it comes in handy in the summer.”

Judging from the trailers, 2 Days in New York has more of the culture clashes, mistranslations, and interfamilial discomfort that made 2 Days in Paris so hilarious and resonant—and early reviews are positive. This is the most exciting Julie Delpy sequel news since we heard about the possibility of another sequel to Before Sunrise.

Thanks to Cécile Dehesdin for the translation help.