This time, "Avatar" is re-screened, and it is said that the first edition subtitles were used. After watching the movie, I was very confused, because when I watched it in 2010, I didn't remember the problem with subtitle translation.
Maybe my English was not good enough in middle school.
So I wrote this article, recording 1) the mistranslation that affects the understanding of the plot 2) the missed translation that reduces the viewing experience 3) the translation choices worth discussing, a total of 27.
Before entering the main topic, I need to say one thing: some places may not be translated by the translator, or they may not be translated. for example:
The scornful name for the Nameis, blue monkey, is not translated as "blue monkey", but as "barbarian";
The doctor’s heart-piercing accusation You murderer was not translated as "murderer", but as "robber";
When the villain thanked the male lead for information, the wet kiss was not translated as a "wet kiss", but was written as "hug";
The attack command Let's pull the trigger before the war was not translated as "Let's start the war" but "Let's pull the trigger" instead.
I have not included most of these kinds of translations in this article. However, there are two obvious points, so I'll pick them up and talk about them.
1.
Lines: Every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for Jujubes.
Subtitle: All creatures will kill you
Retranslation: They all want to dig out your eyeballs and eat them as jelly
At the beginning of the movie, the male protagonist set foot on the base of Pandora for the first time. The Scarlet villain said a lot of things at the mobilization meeting. One of them was to say how dangerous the creatures there are. He can’t wait to regard human eyes as Jujubes. Eat it. This word originally refers to winter jujube, but the capitalized plural Jujubes refers to a kind of soft candy, as shown in the picture.
There is no need to modify the original text. I can only guess that it's not that the translator doesn't want to translate this way, but that the lines are a bit bloody, not positive enough, and civilized, so they can't show people in their original colors.
2.
A similar retranslation, there is also the paragraph where the male protagonist tames the spirit bird.
Lines:
-How will I know if he chooses me?
-He will try to kill you.
-Outstanding.
subtitle:
-How do I know he chose me
-He will struggle frantically
- Okay, I understand
Retranslation:
-How do I know if he chose me
-He will want to kill you
- marvelous
It may be that the word kill is not civilized enough, so it turned into "struggle". It seems that beasts can't escape human civilization.
Even so, Outstanding shouldn't be translated into "Okay, I understand". It's too calm and the male protagonist's tone is gone.
These changes have weakened the original strength of the lines, which can only be said to be very regrettable.
3.
But the remaining translation errors are basically the translator's pot . Let's look at the most outrageous mistakes first.
After the male protagonist confessed his identity, he was expelled and tried every means to return to the Namis, so he ran to tame Toruk. This is a key plot, but there are two serious errors in the subtitles .
Lines: I was gonna have to take it to a whole new level.
Subtitle: I can definitely create a new situation
Retranslation: I have to fight harder
Lines: So why would he ever look up?
Subtitle: Why did he show up
Retranslation: Why should he look up?
The previous sentence is about the reason why the male chief and the Dragon King duel: If he does not use this extreme method, he will not be able to regain the trust of Namei, so he must take it to a whole new level and do more extraordinary things. It's not the second line of "I will definitely be able to create a new situation." You know, in the last sentence, he also said that he did this as an insane move "crazy move". He has no confidence in whether he can survive, although we all know that he can survive because he is the male lead .
The last sentence is the hero's analysis of the Dragon King. There are also these lines before: The way I had it figured, Toruk is the baddest cat in the sky. Nothing attacks him. The main idea is: Since it is the king of the sky, the Dragon King must not always be vigilant, because no bird dares to attack it. . So when it flies, it should not look up.
This is the reason why the male protagonist chose to dive from above and attack the Dragon King.
As a result, the subtitles were translated into "Why would he show up?"
Why would he show up.
Will show up.
Show up.
Woolen cloth.
I guess the translator sees look up as show up .
4.
After talking about this outrageous mistranslation, let us return to the beginning of the movie. When the male lead first arrived at the base in a wheelchair, two veterans commented on him.
Lines:
-Check this out, man. Meals on wheels.
-Oh man. That is just wrong.
subtitle:
-A casual meal
-Don't underestimate him, buddy
Retranslation:
-Look at someone in a wheelchair who came to die
-What are you kidding about?
Just looking at the text, the second sentence can indeed be interpreted differently, but the picture is actually very clear. The expression of the second veteran (the one on the right of the screenshot) is disdainful and unbelievable. It may not be obvious in the screenshot, but in the movie, his movements of shaking his head and looking are too clear, not refuting the first veteran, but Agree.
The same is true from the plot point of view. The whole period of the male protagonist's arrival at the base, from the pictures to the lines, is creating a harsh and hostile environment, not to mention that this NPC does not know the male protagonist at all, and will not say "don't underestimate him" such helpful words.
If the translator only gets the script but not the screen, this error is excusable. But it's hard to make excuses for the following error.
5.
Lines: They are very hard to kill.
Subtitle: They are all cold-blooded sha (first sound) players
Retranslation: It is difficult to kill them
It was the mobilization meeting at the beginning of the movie. The Scar villain is introducing the Namees, saying that they are powerful from body to equipment. Hard to kill means that they are difficult to solve, not that they like to kill.
There is nothing to explain in this sentence, it is reversed.
6.
To be ridiculous, although the translation of the following sentence is short, you must have a name.
Line: Your last report was more than two weeks ago.
Subtitle: Two months since the last report
Retranslation: It has been more than two weeks since the last report
Here is what the male protagonist said to the male protagonist when he left the task behind.
The original text is "more than two weeks", and the subtitles are translated into "almost two months", except for two, there is no word translation . The whole movie is only three months from beginning to end, and this sentence uses up two-thirds of the subtitles, which is amazing.
7.
Here is another sentence that is completely reversed.
When the male protagonist lived among the Nameis, the female protagonist took him hunting and gave him lessons. He talked about the flow of energy, the connection of all things, and the soul of animals. The male protagonist had such an inner monologue——
Line: I really hope this tree-hugger crap isn't on the final.
Subtitle: I really hope that this kind of biological investigation will never end
Retranslation: I really hope she won't let me recite the nonsense that embraces nature
The subtitles were turned into "Biological Investigation" and "Never-ending", which can only be said to be... ridiculous fucking opened the door, ridiculously home .
tree-hugger literally means "the one who hugs the tree" and refers to an avid environmentalist. It is a derogatory term. Not to mention crap, which is similar to sh*t. In the spirit of civilized society, we can translate it into "nonsense". on the final means "appear on the final exam".
Translated literally, this sentence means "I really hope that this kind of rubbish environmental protection question will not appear on my final examination paper." In fact, it is the heart of the male protagonist: What are these things about the female bishop? Thank goodness he doesn't need to memorize it.
The subtitles are wrong again from beginning to end.
8.
Before the battle, the male lead and a group of people hid in the house to discuss countermeasures. Hearing that the bombing was going to happen the next morning, the pilot lady (she's so sassy! Uhhhhh!) said a word.
Lines: And I was hoping for some sort of tactical plan that didn't involve martyrdom.
Subtitle: I hope I can die quickly
Retranslation: I originally expected that our tactics didn't require someone to die
There is a powerful word martyrdom, which means "martyrdom", especially to give your life for faith. If the whole sentence is literally translated, it means "I originally hoped that we could have some kind of tactical plan that does not involve heroic devotion", but it is actually "Damn, I thought I didn't have to die like this", that's how it is ridiculed.
Although martyrdom also means "painful torture", especially the martyrs in the past often suffered fire, which is somewhat similar to bombing, but I think the focus here is not "brilliant" but "sending death". After all, the context is about bow and arrow shooting. The cannon is a child's play. The additional translation of the first half of the subtitles is not logically reasonable. The bombing of this form can hardly be resolved more quickly.
9.
Next, let's talk about the role of Dr. Grace. At least seven or eight sentences were wrong in the translation related to her.
The first is the first meeting between the male lead and the doctor. The doctor is very hostile to him and feels that he is a waste. After the doctor turned and left, another colleague comforted the male lead and said the following sentence.
Lines: Try and use big words.
Subtitles: Be careful when speaking later
Revised translation: Use some high-end vocabulary to talk to her
The use big words here refers to a person who speaks and pretends to be x, and he likes to use words that sound very advanced, such as various scientific terms. If you use an adjective to describe it, it's bombastic/grandiloquent.
The colleague said this sentence to remind the male protagonist to use more powerful words in the future, so that the doctor may be more friendly to him. The translation of "Speak carefully" sounds like the male protagonist speaks impolitely, but the male protagonist speaks very civilly when he sees the doctor.
10.
In fact, the doctor in the whole movie is not very civilized, even after the relationship between her and the protagonist eases, the same is still true.
For example, when the male lead told her that he was accepted by the Namis and could go to see the soul tree, the doctor scolded him with a smile:
Lines: You lucky swine
Subtitle: You are so lucky
Retranslation: You really stepped on shit luck
The original meaning of swine here is pig, which is used to curse people and means "idiot". Although the doctor is just joking, not really swearing, but translating the tone of envy, jealousy and hatred will better convey the character of the character. After all, she is a person who is full of scientific research, thinking about collecting samples before dying .
(Could it be that this word is also in the category of swear words... Does "dog shit luck" also count? Does it count? Horse?)
11.
When the doctor quarreled with the villain, his mouth became even more poisonous. For example, the dialogue in the picture below.
Lines: You need to muzzle your dog.
Subtitles: You should close your mouth
Retranslation: close his dog's mouth / take care of your dog
The muzzle here is actually this thing:
This sentence was said by Dr. Grace to the company manager. Dog refers to the scar villain. Literally translated, it means "put a muzzle on your dog", which actually means "let him close the dog's mouth".
It's a pity not to translate such a domineering term.
Maybe it's not civilized enough. Row.
12.
It's still the doctor's line, the following error, to be honest, it's not easy to make a mistake, you have to completely ignore the context.
Lines: She is the least glitchy
Subtitle: The most reassuring one is me
Retranslation: This host has the least failures
The context is: the protagonist team came to the camp on the mountain, and the doctor asked the protagonist to use the most distant host.
glitchy means "the machine has a glitch." The pronoun she is used because the doctor said that this machine is called "Bila" in the last sentence. There is a cute feeling of programmers naming their keyboards.
The entire conversation should be:
"Chudi, you sleep on it. Jack, you turn left. You use the last host, machine number one, Bila. This machine is the least faulty."
Instead of:
"Chudi, you sleep on it. Jack, you turn left. You use the last host, machine one, Billa. The most reassuring thing is me."
13.
The period before the doctor's death was also very outrageous.
The doctor was seriously injured, and the male lead hugged her to ask for help. Namei put the doctor and her avatar together and said: The Great Mother may choose to save all that she is in this body, the Virgin may save her life remaining in the avatar's body.
It means: she in the human body is about to die, but Eva may be able to save her avatar. This is the key to paving the way for the protagonist at the end of the film to survive, but the subtitles were translated incorrectly. The sentence was too long and I didn't write it down. It roughly translated into "Our Lady will help all of us". I don't know which way to translate it anyway.
14.
Next is the topic of translation in Naami languages.
Some are translation errors, such as the translation of legs into "limbs". Under normal circumstances, there is no problem. However, the animals on Pandora are basically six-legged.
There are also some translations that I want to discuss with you. For example, the Nami people call the Earth people "aliens", saying that they "cannot get in with oil and salt," and they also translate Toruk's name into "Phantom".
Let me talk about the name Namei people call the people on earth, English is Sky People, "the outsider"; the name of Avatar is Dreamwalker, "sleepwalker".
From a semantic point of view, there is no problem in translating the subtitles into "aliens"-for the people on earth, the Namees are aliens, and for the Namees, the people on earth are also aliens.
However, my personal opinion is that there is no need to use localization translation, and literal translation is not a bad idea . "You aliens" or "people in the sky" can be understood by the audience, and the language characteristics of the Namei people are retained.
This is actually a matter of choice of translation method. Translating with vocabulary that is more familiar to local audiences is smoother; translating according to the original meaning is more faithful. It's hard to say which way is better. The reason why I think the second translation method can be adopted for the Nami language is because it is originally an unfamiliar language system, even if it is awkward, it is excusable. Only literal translation can convey the history, culture, and thoughts of this ethnic group. The process of changing their attitudes towards the people on earth.
15.
Give another example. When the protagonist was brought back to the Namei ethnic group by the protagonist for the first time, the protagonist’s mother said that the earth’s people "do not enter into oil and salt."
Lines: It is hard to fill a cup which is already full.
Subtitle: They don’t get in those stones, oil and salt
The original meaning is: a cup that is already full, it is difficult to pour water into it. This is a common metaphor. The subtitles are translated as "oil and salt do not enter", which is actually quite clever. They are used to describe a person who can't listen. It's just that English is a drinking glass, and Chinese is...cooking (?).
But the following sentence is still translated as "oil and salt do not come in", which is a bit superfluous .
Lines: Learn well, Jakesully. Then we will see if your insanity can be cured.
Subtitle: Learn Jack carefully and see if your rock is really oily and salty
Retranslation: Learn Jack carefully and see if your madness can be cured
The people on the earth think that the Nameis are barbaric and want to conquer; the Nameis think that the people on the earth are crazy and need treatment-this is a very impactful conflict between civilizations. It is no longer the "empty cup" metaphor in front of it, honestly and literally can.
16.
There is another difficulty in translating this dialogue.
The male protagonist said in a dazed manner, "my cup is empty", and he said that he and those scientists are not the same kind of people. So Namei asked him, what are you? He said he was a veteran, but instead of using the word Marine "Marine", he used the word—
Lines: A warrior of the Jarhead clan.
Subtitle: Marines
Retranslation: Warrior of the Iron Hat
The jarhead here is another name for the Marine Corps soldier. Jar is a wide-mouthed bottle. Some people translate jarhead as "pot head", but the word originally did not refer to the soldier's hair style, but rather to the collar of the uniform that was raised up high, making the soldier look like his head was placed in the jar.里 (very weird etymology) . This term became popular during World War II. Because it sounds like the head is empty, it is not friendly, but later many soldiers will use self-proclaim.
The word appears in the movie at least three times, and the subtitles are not literally translated. I guess it is because the word "guobaitou" is too difficult to understand.
However, here is the male protagonist trying to describe his soldier status in a language understood by the Nabi, using terms such as warrior "samurai" and clan "clan". If the translator is bolder, it can actually be translated into "iron hat clan". ", half-domesticated and half-foreignized retain the meaning of the original text. The literal translation is also fine. Although "Warrior of the Pot Gai Clan" sounds stupid, this line is originally funny.
-Jarhead clan? And it worked?
-Pot cover family? Do they understand?
If you are still worried that the translation is too difficult to understand, you can translate it into "Warrior of the Land War", but warrior and clan are better translated. Otherwise, the feeling of talking with ducks will be completely lost.
17.
Another important word in the Nami language is "phantom shadow". The name is also worth discussing.
Lines:
-It is Toruk, Last Shadow.
-Yeah, right. It's the last one you ever see.
subtitle
-This is Toruk, we call it the Phantom
-He is indeed a phantom
Last Shadow literally means "the last shadow", so the male protagonist said It's the last one you ever see. In fact, he said that once they met, they couldn't escape. Indeed, it can be said to be "the last shadow that can be seen in this life".
Literally translated, it should be "end shadow" or "end shadow".
But "Phantom" is also very appropriate. Phantom means ghost. Although it doesn't translate last, it has an extra layer of ghost, which is wonderful. My only worry is: Originally, Toruk was the king of the sky, but after turning it into "Phantom", I don't know why it is a little bit cute... I may have watched too much "Phantom of the Theater".
18.
This part (14-17) just now is a translation option that I want to discuss with you.
In the end, there are some mistranslations, maybe not so critical, but they are all inexplicable, which will make people lose their minds for a second when watching a movie, thinking: "Huh? What does this line mean?" Others contain very practical The knowledge of English is worth talking about, such as the first sentence of the whole film:
Lines: When I was lying there in the VA hospital
Subtitle: I'm lying in the hospital
Revised translation: I'm lying in a veterans hospital
I don't know why VA is not translated. VA is the abbreviation of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the full name is United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
The first sentence of the movie uses this word to indicate that the hero is a retired soldier. If it is not translated, it will take a while for the audience to hear another line before they know the identity of the hero. It's the following line.
Uh, it's also wrong.
19.
Lines: Me, I was just another dumb grunt getting sent someplace he was gonna regret.
Subtitle: And I'm just a Marine Corps member who is used to charging
Retranslation: And I'm just a silly soldier being sent to the battlefield will regret it sooner or later
This self-deprecating sentence reveals sadness. Get sent means "being sent to the battlefield" instead of being charged into battle by yourself; the slang grunt does refer to soldiers, but the words dumb "stupid" and he was gonna regret "regret" are not translated.
According to the translation of the subtitles, the male protagonist seems to be an unsentimental combat machine.
20.
Lines: More like a fifth of tequila and an ass-kicking.
Subtitle: It's like a gust of wind has passed without a trace
Revised translation: Like having a fight with someone after drinking too much alcohol
This is the sixth line of the whole movie. The male lead said that during the six years of low-temperature dormancy, with a flick of time, it was like waking up from a dream after drinking and fighting. a fifth is the measurement unit of wine, equivalent to 757 milliliters. Tequila is agave.
The lovely netizens reminded that in the extended version of the director's cut, there was indeed a plot of the male protagonist fighting with people in a bar at the beginning of the movie. Drinking and kicking the ass, literal translation is really troublesome, but when translated as "a gust of wind", it is a bit too literary, and once again the male lead is set to run off the track.
twenty one.
Lines: We'd like to talk to you about taking over his contract.
Subtitle: Fulfilling his long-cherished wish
Retranslation: take over his contract
This is the job of the company persuading the male protagonist to take over his brother. The contract is a "contract", I don't know why it turned into a "long-cherished wish".
twenty two.
Lines: Because this little gray rock sells for 20 million a kilo.
Subtitle: This stone is extremely valuable
Retranslation: This little stone is worth 20 million per kilogram
Here is the company's introduction to how rare the minerals of Pandora are. Maybe the number of words is too long and don’t want to translate? I can't think of other reasons.
twenty three.
Lines: There's nothing like an old-school safety brief to put your mind at ease.
Subtitles: Here you must always be vigilant and not let up
Revised translation: The old-fashioned mobilization will be really reassuring
This is the psychological activity of the male protagonist listening to the mobilization meeting, he said, it feels like returning to a familiar battlefield. Brief is a noun here, which means "briefing meeting".
This line was not translated at all, and I suspected that I was blind.
twenty four.
Lines: Damn! You were dug in like a tick.
Subtitle: You are so calm
Retranslation: I can't wake you up
This is the first day the male protagonist turns into an avatar and meets the female protagonist. After a thrilling night, his avatar fell asleep and the male protagonist's body woke up in the machine, what the doctor said to him.
This slang term is very unusual. Tick means "tick", a kind of bug, I won't put it in the picture, it's a bit ugly. This kind of worm can suck blood, it is firmly nailed to the body when sucking blood, and does not move, so dug in like a tick means "very engaged". This means that the male protagonist is trapped in the Avatar, and he can't wake up even when he is called. Calm down."
25.
Lines: This is a place for prayers to be heard. And sometimes answered.
Subtitles: usually very effective
Retranslation: Sometimes it will be fulfilled
When the hostess introduced the tree of sound, she said that there is a place for people to pray, and these prayers (are) sometimes answered.
Translated into "usually" is not accurate, sometimes is just "sometimes". Otherwise, wouldn't it be a slap in the face when the wish is not fulfilled later.
26.
Lines: Yeah, I don't want to be late for my own party.
Subtitle: I don’t want to be late at the party
Retranslation: I don't want to be late at my party
This is the last diary of the hero at the end of the movie. After the recording, he will go to prepare to transform into a Nabi and fall in love with the heroine, so he emphasizes my own party here because he is the protagonist of this rebirth party. The subtitles did not translate this detail.
27.
Finally, there is a key line that was frantically argued: I see you. The whole movie appeared at least eight times, and also explained this sentence specially through the mouth of the character:
But it's not just I'm seeing you in front of me. It's I see into you.
It's not just that I see you in front of me but I see through your heart
I remember that the translation of a certain subtitle group was "meeting eyes, connecting hearts", which is very beautiful.
But this time, I agree with the version of the theater subtitles instead. The reason is simple: "Hearts are connected" is an implication and should not be said . Since the line is a simple three-character I see you, the Chinese can be translated plainly. "Hearts are connected" is a good comment, but it is hard to imagine the scene when the Namei people say hello: one says "meeting each other, big brother", and the other says "hearts are connected, old girl"...just, the whole picture is too middle two.
Translation is a subjective matter. There is no correct answer for this type of translation. I put it forward at the end of this article, and I hope to discuss it with you.
But other mistranslations are basically made-up errors, and there are some problems that are not recorded in this article, such as Welcome to camp "Welcome to camp", the subtitle is turned into "Welcome to camp", and there is a subtitle. The word "n is okay"...too outrageous, I even suspect that I remembered something wrong.
It can only be said that the translator really has to be more responsible.
I just hope that the subtitles will perform better when the "Lord of the Rings" is re-screened. Please.
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