Are foreign films really bad or is something lost in the translation?

[John Morgan]

I've been looking at some foreign film reviews and I have to wonder, is the film really that bad?  I mean, when you go to other countries, like Japan for example, the local customs are so different from American ideas that the stories, cinematography, plot, and concepts in the movie may make perfect sense to a Japanese citizen but an American may have trouble with it.

For example, (and maybe to our benefit), Americans will not see ALL of the Pokemon cartoons broadcast on TV because the particular stories in those episode revolved so tightly around Japanese customs that excecutives at the WB felt that they could not translate them into shows that the American audience would understand.  (I found a list of the shows that will never be shown in the US in a Toyfare Mag, I think.)

I'm a BIG Godzilla fan, (No pun intended).  I know that some of the translations of the the Godzilla films into English will NOT keep the original dialogue or even the original story intact.  In Godzilla vs Biollante, the Japanese version had the Russian Captain trying to stop the launch of a nuclear missile while the American version, with a little editing, had him launching the missile.  

Also, I have seen the trailer for the Heisei Godzilla vs Mothra.  In one scene, a man says "that the monster is out to get you."  to his boss.  In the movie translated to English, he says the "Earth is out to get it's revenge."  In short, a corny line.

Do you think that there is something lost in the translation, or should I say, the Americanization of the foreign film that makes it a bad movie?

[Flangepart]

Hummm....Translation does lose something of the performance, because it kills the nuances the actor can bring by voice and inflection. For example....i watched "5TH Element" this weekend. I like it, it works for me, hey, what can i say? But, i had the subtitle scroling for a bit, and noticed little gaps in the sub-script, versus the lines Ian Holme was saying as Cornelius. His voice carried inflections that the sub-script cannot translate in visual lettering. Its about sound cues,and those are only realy reconisable to a speaker of a particular language,, who can reconise the misspronouncations brought on by emotional distress or other factors the character is going through. As i do not speak Japanese, i miss those, though i can catch some it, if i reconise, say, the characters name, and someone says it with a hesitation. As when T. Mafune's General is reconised by the two bumblers in "The Hidden Fortress". (thats also when i realised the reverse name-surname order of Japanese names. The ear caught what the sub-script did not show.). There are books about Anime that explaine the elements of Japanese culture to westerners, and they could you a lot on that score. Oh, alzhimers....hey, Maby Squishy can help. Squish, do you remember the books i'm talking about? They were great, cause they open the door for us to get the details on Anime, and Japan culture in general.

[Cullen]

"In Godzilla vs Biollante, the Japanese version had the Russian Captain trying to stop the launch of a nuclear missile while the American version, with a little editing, had him launching the missile."

You're thinking of "Godzilla 1985".  There are no Russian Captains in GvB.

There.  Got that out of my system.

Now, back to the topic at hand.

"Do you think that there is something lost in the translation, or should I say, the Americanization of the foreign film that makes it a bad movie?"

It all depends on the care involved in translating the works.  Sometimes, the people bringing over the work really don't give a damn, and a lot can be loss that way.

On top of that, traslating from one language to another is a case of "best word choice" rather than an exact science.  Part of it is convaying meaning of concepts the"forigen" audience might not understand.  Also, I think they try sometimes to match what is being said to lip movement.  (Not always and never exactly.)

I myself try to stick to subtitles, but even then you tend to lose a little (Same problems as with dubbing.)

[John Morgan]

Cullen,

Thanks, it was Godzilla 1985.  I don't know why I wrote Godzilla vs Biollante.  I have ALL the Godzilla movies and I should have known that one.  I guess my brain is starting to go.  (Too many B-movies I guess.)

[John Morgan]

Cullen,

Yes you right, It was Godzilla 1985.   I don't know why I wrote Godzilla vs Biollante.  I have ALL the Godzilla Movies and I should have known that.  I guess my brain is starting to go. (Too many B-movies I guess.)

Thanks

[John Morgan]

What the heck!!!  My computer goofed, (Sorry illegal operation), on my first attempt to post a thank you and it didn't go through so I wrote it again.  But it looks like it went through anyway. Duh

[movienerd]

also with some convention videos or bootlegs you have no clues who did the subtitles on the movie. i have numerous Asian videos from mail order places or conventions that the subtitles make no sense and i assume that the subtitles are wrong or the whole thing is lost in translation. well i don't know where i was going with that point but Ya!

[Neville]

Althought it is not exactly what you are talking about, have you noticed how foreign people in documentaries use to have their comments completely distorted to fit the tesis of the narration? I remember a very funny incident in a National Geographic piece about avalanches, and it featured footage from a group of spanish climbers that got caught in one of these avalanches.

The situation was as follows: one of them was filming the other two climbing when the whole mountain fell over them. "Holy sh*t!!!!" he exclaimed, and the subtitles said "It is like a god". Later, when the climbers had returned safely to the tend, they went on talking about how lucky they had been, while the subtitles went on saying stupid things like "The mountain has warned us". I guess they needed somebody to look as a superstitious moron, and the poor fellas were assigned the job.

Anybody knows any other things like this one?

[AndyC]

I think I saw that show. Was one of the guys laughing his ass off, while the subtitles said "We were almost killed?" That seemed a little odd to me.