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At approximately 6:57 into the Ready Player One film, there is a humorous scene in which the avatar (looking like Jason Voorhees) of a "Hong Kong Businessman" played by David Forman is killed. After being killed in the OASIS, the Hong Kong Businessman takes off his VR vizor, shouts something in a non-English language, runs across the desks of his office, and tries to jump out the window before being tackled by somebody else in his office.

It can be seen at about 3:36 in the following clip.

On Amazon Video, the subtitles just state "[SHOUTING IN JAPANESE]" (which really doesn't make much sense considering the name of the character is "Hong Kong Businessman").

What is the translation of what the Hong Kong Businessman is shouting before he tries to jump out the window?

I have tried Googling several things, I've also tried looking up the movie script, but to no avail. Unfortunately, I'm just not seeing any answers to this question.

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  • I've neither seen the movie or read the book, but from my experience, you might want to look at this scene on Youtube (if there's a clip), and scroll down the comments until some random user asks "What's he saying?", then do a cross-related check with trustworthy(er) sources. Youtube comments are a blight most of the time, but sometimes, they help... :)
    – Jenayah
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 9:46
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    If it isn't translated in the subtitles then it probably isn't important. In olden days actors were sometimes just told to make up something in their own language, occasionally with hilarious results.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 15:03
  • Thanks @Jenayah. I've tried checking out Youtube clips but, unfortunately, I haven't found anything yet. I would have linked to it otherwise. Please add comment/edit if you find a suitable Youtube video of the comment.
    – Jon Thoms
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 19:51
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    @DJClayworth olden days, maybe, but this movie is less than two years old, and the "Since you speak [insert non-English language here], say something that sounds very typical in that language" days are a bit frowned upon as of now.
    – Jenayah
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 19:59
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    On a side note, @entpnerd, you might get more results by asking on Japanese.SE (if it is indeed Japanese).
    – Jenayah
    Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 20:03

2 Answers 2

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I was able to contact David Forman ("Hong Kong Businessman") himself:

screenshot of an e-mail by David Forman, transcribed below
(Click thumbnail for full image)

Hello [name obscured]

I recall I was taught Mandarin on the day of the shoot but maybe they have dubbed me and are using a language of their own liking

Sorry I cannot help

Regards David Forman

I showed this to several people fluent in Mandarin and they were unable to comprehend what he said, so it looks like this was overdubbed.

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  • 2
    Now the question is... what was he dubbed with... :-P
    – Jon Thoms
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 20:19
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    Damn over and above. Well done!
    – GamerGypps
    Commented Mar 6, 2019 at 11:46
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If you look in the extras of the Blu-ray, it shows what the actor actually said. Phonetically:

Guan le than me dou guan le.

Means

“close, close, close them all down”.

Translated by a native speaker that is not me, but is absolutely trusted.

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  • 2
    What language is he speaking?
    – Jon Thoms
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 3:58
  • Chinese @entpnerd
    – user110950
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 4:02
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    Mandarin or Canto?
    – Jon Thoms
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 4:03

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