Lost in translation

Jasen 2022-05-03 06:01:03

Sometimes it's one thing to watch a movie before, and it's another thing to know the English name of the movie. Someone told me "Ocean Eleven" a few days ago, and I was still wondering what kind of movie it is. I checked it and found out that it was actually the famous "Eleven Arhats". I have to say that this kind of translation is very good. In recent movies I have watched, similar good translations include "Witness of Prosecution", which has a Chinese name called "Prosecution Witness", but there is also an amazing translation called "Xiongcaiweilue", this As long as the translators have seen the film, they can understand its subtlety.

However, the translation of Beowulf and Grendel is slightly problematic. Its simplified Chinese name is "Beowulf and the Monster Grandale". In fact, there is no such word as monster in the original English text. Beowulf is one of the earliest and most important textbooks in the history of English literature. It has long been selected as texts in English textbooks in the United States. There are many versions of stories about it. The mainstream version will describe Gladell as a monster or other horrible existence. In the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", the director has been trying to restore and explore the human side of Grendel. In the film, Grandale is just a savage who has greater power and has lived in a cave for a long time, without any supernatural ability. The film not only uses a longer length to explain that his murder was motivated by revenge for the murder of his father, but also expresses his anger after his father's remains were chopped up. The creation of Grandale into a man of flesh and blood is the original work of the director after deep excavation of myths and legends, and the addition of "monsters" in the translation completely undermines this effort.

Also, Beowulf looks like a giant elephant Batistuta...

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Extended Reading

Beowulf & Grendel quotes

  • Beowulf: Has this thing, this troll, killed any children?

    King Hrothgar: No.

    Beowulf: Women?

    [Hrothgar shakes his head]

    Beowulf: Old men?

    King Hrothgar: What are you saying? That he fights with a clean heart? He kills the strongest first. He shows us he can kill the strongest. Who cares if he spares the children? They'll die anyway without fathers.

    Beowulf: My wits still war with how this all began.

    King Hrothgar: Hate for the mead hall. I can only guess. The night we finished it the foul creep came.

    Beowulf: So, nothing was done to the troll itself?

    King Hrothgar: Oh, Beowulf, it's a fucking troll! Maybe someone looked at it the wrong way.

    Beowulf: Some Dane?

    King Hrothgar: ...I never begged anyone to come here. Take on our fight. I don't hold you here.

    Beowulf: I know you don't.

    King Hrothgar: Then don't sour my heart with talk about why a troll does what a fucking troll does!

  • Brendan the Celt: Wise king, you must know of the name of Clovis.

    King Hrothgar: The Frank?

    Brendan the Celt: The Frank. Yes, yes, the Frank. The Christian sword of a land ten times what the Danes hold dear.

    Beowulf: He's dead.

    Brendan the Celt: Yes, ten years now. But not before he saw God's grace. The Visigoths of Aquitaine, the Romans under Syagrius, the Burgundians, Alamannians all fell before him, and all because he had God's ear.

    King Hrothgar: As I recall, he also had a thousand swords, neighbors soft on wine and pork, and no ice on his rivers...

    Beowulf: And no fucking trolls.

    King Hrothgar: And no fucking trolls!