Infamous/Scandaleusement célèbre

(Outrageously Famous)

It's weird when there are 2 parallel Hollywood projects on the same subject. It happened with The Prestige/The Illusionist, The Dangerous Liaisons/Valmont, Avatar/That Computer Animated Film I saw the trailer for when I went to see Avatar but I can't remember the title of and it's coming out at some point this year.

And Capote and Infamous, that both tell the story behind Truman Capote's writing of his novel In Cold Blood.
I can't think of Capote (the name, not the film) without a giggle as, well, "une capote" is (French) slang for condom. Yes, I'm that childish.

I saw Capote not long before Infamous. I think both films were equally good, though Infamous was a tad more austere than Capote. But Daniel Craig was absolutely fantastic in it. My dream film would have combined both casts, as I generally prefer Catherine Keener to Sandra Bullock.

Anyway. 

Daniel Craig as Perry Smith... Scarier than James Bond!

Infamous is a very sombre word, a bit like notorious, which, to me and maybe wrongly, are interchangeable. Famous for the wrong reasons. 

It probably refers to the killers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. How they achieved posterity not only through the murder of a family, but through the work of a great novelist.

"Scandaleusement célèbre" does not have the same undertone to it. There is the stigma of gossip, scandal or sensationalism attached to it. 

The murder at the centre of In Cold Blood was quite sensational at the time. But it is quite peripheral in the film, nearly just used as an excuse for Capote and Smith to meet (Oh, the romance between the 2 men is more than hinted at). 

The title feels exaggerated, quite tacky, as if to attract people's attention. It also feels like it refers to Truman Capote and not the killers, as he was openly homosexual which was probably worse in most people's eyes back in the days than being a killer (though I'm certain it still is for some nowadays).

There is a simple word to translate "infamous", and it's "infâme". Not only would they have kept the same feel to the title, but they would have had a perfect translation.

We're used to them getting it wrong now, aren't we?

Edit - 19 Feb 2010 - "That Computer Animated Film I saw the trailer for when I went to see Avatar but I can't remember the title of and it's coming out at some point this year" is actually "Battle for Terra 3D" out in the UK this week.