book one redone - Coldbacon

148
“Nominally a reserved people, the British like to bottle up their
exhibitionist tendencies and then, at opportune moments, let them flood
out in a rush.”
Rather…except for they’re not exactly “opportune” moments. It’s more
like, whenever the dam breaks, you’d better be ready for fun or to run—
and v. fast. The British are coming. The British are coming, and they’re
totally pissed. But then you would have had also to read this point:
“I tend to be embarrassed by subtitles; their audacious efforts to snatch
at foreign vernaculars end up stressing, rather than allaying, the alien
qualities of the setting.”
I’m not sure what movies he’s talking about here. If he means really bad
subtitles for really bad movies then that would probably be bad. “You
think she’s pregnant?” “No! She’s just embarrassed.” [pause] “Matadōr!”
I completely agree no one should be snatching at foreign vernaculars. But
the idea that subtitles should “allay the alien qualities of the setting” is
about the dumbest thing I’ve ever read, at least since that time I stubbed
my toe and accidentally read one of David Denby’s reviews. Indeed,
much of the beauty of foreign films is exactly that “alien quality,” that
strange way of phrasing, that alternate form of communicating human
thoughts, which is unavoidably produced as we move from one language
to another. Translation, in general, is a very tricky thing. It deserves three
paragraphs.
Maque Choux
When it comes to translation, there are choices. One can simply go word
for word, including idioms, and let the viewer fend for himself. Engarde!
Café au lait! Crème brûlée. Etc. Etc. Or one can find suitable alternatives.
(I’m still looking for an alternative to “Sussusudio.”) Or one can do
whatever the Bjork one wants making a sort of stylized version. “Mille
fois merde.” Literally, “a thousand times shit.” De-idiomized, it becomes
the commonly observed “holy shit” or just “fuck.” Stylized, it becomes
“fiznatch.” Left to evolve over thousands of years, it becomes “each
actuation delivers 55 mcg triamcinolone acetonide from the nasal
actuator.” I think every important film should suffer a choice of subtitles