French Commercial – Renault Robbers Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 7, 2019 in Culture, Vocabulary
When I was 14, the French car company, Renault, made their entrée sur le marché américaine (entrance to the American market). My parents even bought two … matching red and blue Renault Alliances. Sadly, they weren’t great … and Renault didn’t last long in the US.
Imagine my surprise then, when I got to France a few years later and everyone I knew rolled in Renault. Unlike in the US, Renault was … and is … one of the leading constructeur de voiture (car manufacturers) in France. Despite their long history, they don’t take themselves too seriously … at least judging from this commercial from 2013.
| Pour convaincre les sceptiques, Renault à décidé d’employer les grands moyens. | To convince the sceptics, Renault decided to pull out all the stops. |
| Sophie : Il n’y a que mon père pour rouler en Renault. | Sophie : Only my father would drive a Renault. |
| Frédéric : Les Renaults, c’est toujours pareil. | Fred : Renaults are all the same. |
| Brigand : Toi, viens avec nous ! | Robber : You, come with us! |
| Brigand : Dépêche-toi, rentre dans la voiture. | Robber : Hurry up, get in the car. |
| Brigand 1 : Mais roule. | Robber 1: Drive already! |
| Brigand 2: Go go go! | Robber 2: Go, go, go! |
| Brigand 2: Roule, roule, roule, roule [incompréhensible]. | Robber 2 : Drive, drive, drive, drive [Indistinct]. |
| Brigand : Allume la radio ! | Robber : Turn on the radio! |
| Voix à la radio : Nous apprenons à l’instant qu’un braquage vient d’avoir lieu à Paris. Les quatre malfaiteurs, trois hommes masqués et une femme, se seraient enfui à bord d’une voiture grise … | Voice on the radio : This just in a bank robbery has just taken place in Paris. The criminals, three masked men and a woman, fled in a gray car … |
| Brigand 1 : Ah je crève de chaud, j’enlève mon masque … | Robber 1 : I’m dying from the heat, I’m taking my mask off … |
| Brigand 2 : Tu gardes ton masque, et toi, tu regard devant toi. | Robber 2 : You, keep you mask on, and you, keep looking in front of you. |
| Brigand : Téléphone, c’est le boss. | Robber : Telephone. It’s the boss. |
| Le Boss : Vous en êtes où ? | Boss : So how’s it going?* |
| Brigand : On a un otage. | Robber : We’ve got a hostage. |
| Le Boss : OK rendez-vous à la planque. | Boss : Ok, meet at the hideout. |
| Brigand : Ça marche. | Robber : That works. |
| « Brigand » : Ça va ? Un peu spéciale cette essaie, non ? | “Robber”: Are you ok? That was a unique test drive, wasn’t it? |
| Sophie : Quoi ? | Sophie: What? |
| « Brigand » : Vous venez d’être piégé(e). Bravo ! | “Robber”: You’ve just been “punked”**. Bravo! |
| Sophie : Mais j’avais vraiment la trouille. | Sophie: But I was really scared. |
| Frédéric : Moi, j’y ai cru. | Fred: I really believed it. |
| « Brigand » : Mais nous aussi, nous aussi. | “Robber”: We did too, us too. |
| « Brigand » : Ça c’est pour vous. | “Robber”: This is for you. |
| [Panneau : Des essais que vous n’êtes pas prêt d’oublier.] | [Sign: Test drives that you’re not soon to forget.] |
| « Brigand » : Maintenant vous allez pouvoir essayer chaque nouvelle modèle de la gamme tranquillement. | “Robber”: Now you can calmly test each new model in the line. |
| « Brigand » : Après tout, tout ce que vous risquez c’est de changer d’avis sur Renault. | “Robber”: After all, the only thing you’re at risk of is changing your mind about Renault. |
* « Où êtes-vous ? » literally means “Where are you?”. The use here of the inverted question and the ‘en’ makes this a question of progress more than location. In a more formal context you might translate “Vous en êtes où?” as “How are you coming along (with that project you’re working on)?”
** ‘piégé(e)’ means ‘trapped’. It relates to the noun ‘piège’ (m) which is a ‘trap’. Here it is used figuratively. The (e) is included because the “robber” might be talking to Sophie or Fred.
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About the Author: Tim Hildreth
Since my first trip to France at 16, I have been a passionate francophile. I love the language, food, music, art, people, and more that make France and la Francophonie in general such an amazing part of our global community. Having lived in France and studied the language and culture for over 35 years, it is my great pleasure to be able to share a little bit of my deep love with you through this blog.