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A spoiler follows.

I saw the Italian version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and:

Kylo Ren says “Nonno” while talking to the Darth Vader’s mask. “Nonno” is an Italian word that translates to “Grandpa”.

It seems to me an unsuitable term for that scene, as it’s a little childish.

What does he say in the original English version? What about other language versions?

Wad Cheber
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Alessandro Jacopson
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    Why would you think it's unsuitable? – Ivo Dec 17 '15 at 19:27
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    Because one would expect a child to use that word.. – František Hartman Dec 17 '15 at 19:29
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    alessandro - are you asking about the direct meaning of the word, or the connotation that it's a childish term as @frant said? – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 17 '15 at 19:43
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    @DVK the connotation that it's a childish term. – Alessandro Jacopson Dec 17 '15 at 20:48
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    Alessandro - given some... gems... of translation that I have heard in Russian versions of films, this seems entirely not a big problem. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 17 '15 at 20:56
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    There doesn't seem to be a more "formal" version of the word in Italian that does not bare the same childish connotation, so it is the best possible direct translation. frant.hartm's answer below is accurate, the English word used does not have the same connotation attached to it. That said, most translations online actually do specify the English meaning to be the more formal, non-childish version. Is there another translation that would have more closely matched? – vynsane Dec 18 '15 at 17:03
  • Since it isn't a secret that Kylo exists, and no one would be surprised that the main antagonist of the film speaks, there is no reason to avoid saying "What does Kylo say?". – Wad Cheber Dec 27 '15 at 23:57
  • @frant.hartm - When talking directly to my grandparents or to family who know my grandparents I generally refer to them as 'grandma' and 'grandpa', it's only when I'm in a formal situation with people who don't know me/them that I fall back on 'grandmother' and 'grandfather'. So in the privacy of his own room/thoughts I don't think it's strange at all that he would say 'grandpa'. So to me, the connotations are formal/informal and not childish/mature. – Ryan Dec 30 '15 at 17:17
  • According to one of the answers here http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/23760/which-is-the-correct-spelling-granddad-or-grand-dad-or-grandad grandpa is a lot more common in US than UK (where granddad/grandad combided is more popular). – František Hartman Dec 30 '15 at 17:51

3 Answers3

17

What is actually said in the original (English) has very similar meaning:

“Grandfather”

However, it does not have particularly childish connotations.

Paul D. Waite
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František Hartman
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7

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT

According to the plot information available on Wikipedia:

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo. Presumably the mother was Leia Organa, who was the daughter of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader... ergo Darth Vader is Kylo Ren's maternal grandfather. So the English usage is appropriate, maybe it just loses something in the translation to Italian.

Doug B
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    It's not presumably. (SPOILERS ahead:) Han and Leia both talk about how Ren (Ben Solo) is their child, and there's the confrontation between Han and Ken where they, once again, talk about their father/son relationship. The interrogation scene of Rey was also an hint. – Oak Dec 30 '15 at 18:33
3

Official confirmation from WGA leaked script confirms "Grandfather":

KYLO REN
Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light. Supreme Leader senses it.
Show me again, the power of the darkness, and I will let nothing stand in our way.
Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.

Alan Dean Foster novelization also confirms that this was basically simply a fluke of Italian translation - there's no childish "grandpa", there's only "Grandfather":

The alcove where Kylo Ren was kneeling and speaking was darker than the rest of the adjoining chambers. He kept it deliberately so, as seemed appropriate for its function. He spoke now in a tone different from the one he usually employed when conversing with others. There were no orders to be issued here, no pathetic underlings to command. The one with whom he was presently communing would understand everything Ren chose to say, in whatever voice he chose to employ. No need here and now for intimidation, for fear. Kylo Ren spoke, and the object of his words listened in silence.
“Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light. The Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness, and I will let nothing stand in our way.”
Alone in the room, Kylo Ren—saturnine of aspect, lithe of build, tortured of mien, and troubled of eye—gazed at the silent recipient of his confession. “Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.”
Trembling slightly, he rose from where he had been kneeling and strode off to another portion of his private quarters. There was no response from the one to whom he had been talking: neither argument nor agreement. Only silence from the shape that had been the object of Ren’s fervor: a ghostly, deformed mask that had once belonged to another. To a figure of rumor and legend and fear. Misshapen and malformed as it was, no one who had once laid eyes upon the countenance that had belonged to Darth Vader would ever forget it.

However, it does have some contextual aspect of a child or at least a junior apprentice addressing a senior figure, so perhaps the Italian translation wasn't as far off the mark as it seemed.

DVK-on-Ahch-To
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