In Denmark, one of many lines known from “Blinkende Lygter” (Flickering Lights) is:
“I’m 40. I can’t even have a birthday party without shooting at people. I get an AK-44 for a present”
… “47”
In Denmark, one of many lines known from “Blinkende Lygter” (Flickering Lights) is:
“I’m 40. I can’t even have a birthday party without shooting at people. I get an AK-44 for a present”
… “47”
Comments
Loriot was a German comedian. Several of his lines are German cultural treasure.
Ein Leben ohne XXX ist möglich, aber sinnlos. (A life without XXX is possible but pointless.)
Früher war mehr Lametta! (There used to be more tinsel.)
There are also lines from a trash porn movie which are somehow famous and everybody below… 50? knows them
m’hai provocato e io ti distruggo adesso, Io me te magno
(You provoked me, I destroy you, I eat you)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ08USGA–Y
Dicono che sei un fulmine con la pistola
they say you are lightning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPYJFOLG1sY
“Meil lobisemise eest palka ei maksta!” (Viimne Reliikvia, 1969)
“We do not pay for jabbering!” (The Last Relic, 1969)
https://youtu.be/FI_NV1WZNH0?feature=shared
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0065180/
Trailer and rental option:
https://arkaader.ee/landing/bc/rHczO7kKnl/eed4gv0HrlX/
Oh boi…. There are several movies that are quoted to death. Most of them are set in the communist era. But the treasure trove of iconic quotes is:
Pelíšky (Cosy Dens, 1999)
Dissident war hero (J) after joking about regime with his wife (V)
V: "Close the doors."
J: "Why?"
V: "Somebody will hear you. You’ll get in jail again."
*moment of silence as J walks off
J: *out of the window "Workers of the world, go f*ck yourselves!"
> used as a defense quote when somebody points out you shouldn’t pis off someone high ranking
Father believing in regime (Š) to his disillusioned son (M) after demonstrating the indestructibility of communist made plastic cups.
M: "That’s wasn’t enough."
Š: *annoyed "Not enough you say? Ok, here you go boy."
M: *smashes cup into shards
Š: "AND WHO WILL YOU HELP WITH THAT! (2:50)"
> used when someone hurt others point (generally believed to be beneficial) by being honest
In a school corridor during parent-teacher meeting. Regime supporting principal (S) offers help to dissident war hero (J)
S: *cordially "Are you looking for someone comrade?
J: "What??" *hits him with a walking cane
S: *picks himself up and leaves without a word
> used when someone presumes others opinion (especially political)
Russian invasion of 1968 begins. Daughter (L) wakes up her very hungover father believing in regime (Š)
* sounds of airplanes and tanks from the streets
L: "Daddy, daddy! The Russians are here!"
Š: *severely hungover "Huh? Well sit them in living room and I’ll be right there."
> used as a joke answer to sudden change of plans
Father believing in regime (Š) to his disillusioned son (M) after he puts Mick Jagger poster on a bulletin board.
Š: "What is this ugly pansy doing here!?"
M: "You mean Gagarin’s brother?"
Š: *rips poster to shreds, sad "I wanted to entrust you with that bulletin board."
> used as a answer to question "Who is that?"
And much MUCH more!
In Swedish movies (I watch more Swedish than Finnish) Bergman provided a number of classics. Seventh seal:
And more recently ”Vad sägs om kåt, glad och tacksam?" From "unmarried couples"
A frustrated husband, wife asks him well what do you want me to be like and he goes
"How about horny, happy, and grateful?"
Finnish movies… best is unknown soldier, and the line is from the original book:
"The russians are already in the pantry!"
"Az oroszok már a spájzban vannak!"
From a 1965 war comedy, its still used for, well, we find new ways the russians are attacking. Or anyone else, but nowadays (and again) the russians.
This line (and the fruit preserves in the pantry) are a recurring joke, and it gets better and better every time.
The movie A tanú (The Witness) has tons of those. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witness_(1969_Hungarian_film)
"The international situation is escalating."
"Life is not a cake with cream."
"Who doesn’t trust us, doesn’t trust themself either. Who doesn’t trust us, doesn’t trust our bright future. And who doesn’t trust our bright future, is a traitor."
"A little bit yellow, a little bit sour, but it’s ours!" (about the Hungarian grown orange AKA lemon)
Not a movie, and younger Dutchies have probably no idea what I’m talking about, but the ‘Wo ist der bahnhof’-scene from Van Kooten en De Bie as de gebroeders Temmes is an absolute classic.
"Vous savez, moi je crois pas qu’il y ait de bonne ou de mauvaise situation" monolog – Astérix et Obélix mission Cléopatre.
("I do not believe that there are good or bad social positions")
https://youtu.be/I1EFYiVKcok?si=Z3vNVEdkiVLXg0R0
>I want you to know, my son, that from now on, life isn’t going to be as easy as it has been here. Because Panchito, son, there’s something you should have known sooner or later, and I want to be the one to tell you. Panchito, son, you are black. But you shouldn’t be ashamed. Black were the Cro-Magnon men, the Egyptians, the Indians, the peoples of Arabia. Black were the dark-skinned Cantabrians who fought so hard for their independence. Black were the curly-haired Assyrians, the Persians, Antonio Machín, the Vikings of the north, and the tsars of Russia.
(Note: Panchito is very obviously not black).
El milagro de P. Tinto
In the 2000’s there were two teens who dubbed movies with very immature humour to create internet classics. You immediately know how old someone is when you hear them doing their best Michael Knight impression in The Hague dialect: Klootviool!
First one I can think of is from the movie Ne joči, Peter (Don’t cry, Peter) when little Peter asks a German soldier "A si ti tud not padu?" ("Did you fall in too?")
https://youtu.be/PQZ7_H9F184?si=qWtENl50GSaJZ9_y
"on sait jamais, sur un malentendu ça peut marcher"
"You never know, on a misunderstanding, it could work", from Les Bronzés font du ski in 1979, this line became so popular that it has basically become a normal expression
https://youtu.be/6KZo-xKxuLY?si=GIgMfv7lVfaIT_zj
"Eu sunt căpitanul Burcea. Am o pulă de un metru, și o să vă cam fut pe toți" (Terminus Paradis) — "I’m captain Burcea. I have a one-meter cock, and I’m about to fuck all of you."
The ‘big’ reveal from The Crying Game is absolutely peerless to the point where it simply eclipses any dialogue, it’s iconic. I saw it in the cinema and there were shouts of ‘WHAT?!’ and ‘FUCK ME!’, it was quite the experience. Good film too.
From a satirical program which aired during communism:
"Kto prosil ruskie?"
"Nikt, same przyszli!"
Meaning:
"Who asked for (ordered) the russians (ruskie pierogi)?"
"Nobody, they came on their own!"
Maybe the most iconic line from any Portuguese movie is "Ó Evaristo, tens cá disto?" ("Oh Evaristo, do you have this?") from the comedy "Pátio das Cantigas" from 1942.
In the movie, one of the characters is a grocer named Evaristo, who has a trauma with that quote. Some characters, mainly Narciso (Narciso and Evaristo form a love triangle with Rosa), constantly torment him by almost saying the quote, switching just the end at the last moment, giving Evaristo great torment.
The quote became famous and seeped into everyday speech.
Some scenes from the movie: https://youtu.be/DTxXZqX1KvY?feature=shared
Like half of the Kiler (1997) and Chłopaki nie płaczą (2000) and many, many other movies. We really love quoting movies.
There’s a lot to chose from so I will just give 1 dialog:
Laska: I can’t cheat life – I’m the son of the king of toilet seats. That’s a high set bar.
Kuba: Very fucking high.
L: In general brother, if you don’t have a family to support, you’re not in danger of starvation, you’re not Tutsi or Hutu and all that stuff. You need to answer yourself one fucking important question, ‘What do I like to do in life?’ and then start doing it.
K: And have you answered that question for yourself?
L: To smoke blants.
K: Is there a profession that goes along with that?
L: Ambassador.
K: Probably in Jamaica.
L: Not that kind of ambassador. I meant the kind of a person Tony Halik was. Imagine man how much he burned stuff with all the tribes he visited. Someone needs to continue his work. I will travel all over the world acting as an ambassador for our country. I am Laska – from Poland.
Tony (Antoni) Halik was a great Polish traveller, getting to places and tribes hard to get to, joining their traditions if allowed to. Presumably also getting high on some of their traditional substances.
From the same character Laska "there’s no bunkers, but it’s still fucking awesome".
For some reason one piece of dialogue that has long stuck with me is this little conversation from the movie Life is a Song (Livet är en schlager) between a man with cerebral palsy (played by Jonas Karlsson) and a male-to-female transgender person dying of AIDS (played by Björn Kjellman), as they are lying next to each other on a hospital bed:
Palsy man: If you could live your life again, would you still be a tranny then?
Transgender person: If YOU could live YOUR life again, would you still be retarded then?
Palsy man: Well of course. Otherwise I wouldn’t be me.
Transgender person: (tenderly) That’s just the thing. Otherwise we wouldn’t be us.
It’s a very uplifting little piece of dialogue I think, and something to think about. That it’s okay to be different, and that our various differences and quirks are part of who we are and that makes us into our unique selves.
As for the movie itself, while definitely not high art by any means, it’s still quite a fun watch, and despite what it sounds like it’s actually a very uplifting movie with a very positive and life-affirming message. Made in 2000, it’s a musical drama comedy framed around the Swedish qualifications for the Eurovision Song Contest. Directed by Danish director Susanne Bier, and written by Jonas Gardell – who is a comedian, author, gay rights activist and Honorary Professor of Religion at Lund University. He also wrote the quite iconic and wonderfully sentimental and heartfelt main song for the movie, called Aldrig ska jag sluta älska dig (Never Will I Lose My Love For You). Gardell wrote it from inspiration for his love for his own husband. In the other main roles the movie stars Helena Bergström, Thomas Hanzon, Johan Ulveson and Regina Lund – and with a huge number of Sweden’s leading actors, artists and celebrities at the time appearing in smaller parts and cameos throughout the film, which at this point also makes it quite a nostalgic watch.
"na wschód, tam musi być cywilizacja" meaning "East, there must be civilization there" it’s from a very anti communist coded movie made under the communist regime, the line was likely added to appease censorers and get the movie released. It comes off as ironic when you know the era in which the movie was made
Norway: "Gutter, jeg har en plan!"
"Boys, I have a Plan!"
Said by Egon Olsen upon release from prison, after being imprisoned as a consequence of the previous Great Plan for The Greatest Heist of them all, so far.
Often used ironically
"Scheveningen, Scheveningen, Schgguh , Schgguh, schguh, lul " Rutger Hauers character in soldier of Orange (1977) proving he’s Dutch by making a sound Germans don’t say the same way.
(Scheveningen is a beach side part of the Hague , lul means dick)
"Je ne dis pas que ce n’est pas injuste, je dis que ça soulage." from Les Tontons Flingueurs
Old movie but I quote that one frequently.
O, buurman wat doet u nu?
link
oh neighbor what are you doing now. Comes from the movie Flodder from 1986. About a white trash family that is put in a very expensive luxury neighborhood by the municipality. They lure the married neighbor into a trap. The sister flirts with the neighbor, her brothers take polaroid pictures. So that they can blackmail him. So that the neighbor who owns a car dealership, gives them a new car.
Edit: It’s a Dutch film, we are a bit more relaxed (and certainly in 1986) when it comes to sexually suggestive scenes than other countries. This one had no age indication when it came out and is has now the label for 12 years+ But other countries might think differently about that. I thought I would add it as a warning
"Careful colonel, I have carte blanche" (white paper)
"Then use it to clean you ass!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwIzOSCcYEY
From the 1997 movie Ogifta Par ("Unmarried Couples")
> Woman (angry): How the hell do you want me to be to make you satisfied?
>
> Man (angry): How about trying horny, happy and grateful.
https://youtu.be/sGHGRHSNqXU?si=wCUS7a3VMJfJQxCv (no subtitles)
I saw a pastiche of this, almost 30 years old line, just the other day. It was a public information sign that said "Horny, happy & HPV vaccinated".
"A little yellower, a little more sour, but ours"
"The Russians are already in the pantry."
-The Corporal and the Others