I found this post about the uproar over the DVD/BR subtitles for Let The Right One In very interesting. Seemingly arbitrary changes really can impact the scene, and you wouldn’t know the difference unless you’d seen (that is, read) the theatrical version.
Warning: Some spoilers if you haven’t seen the movie. (Which you should. It’s terrific.)
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March 27th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I heard they fixed this. With the uproar, they’re now planning on releasing a DVD with “Original Theatrical Subtitles” both on the disc and printed on the box so we know which is which. I was sad when I read this, but now I want to see the film again.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:32 am
The writer’s intent is vital and should always be respected so changing words is a definitive no in my book.
Even small changes can give sentences completely different interpretations so whenever possible, translations should be done by the original author in my opinion.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Yeah, my roommate returned his to Amazon saying that it was “false advertising” because the version in theaters wasn’t the version on the disk. He was furious.
I think it’s hilarious.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I wanted to catch Let The Right One In when it was in theaters, but didn’t get the chance. I watched it on DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Of course, I was oblivious to the changes at the time. And now I regret the fact that I didn’t see the version with the real subtitles.
I won’t go into detail in order to avoid spoilers, but some of the lines that were altered completely changed the context of what was going on. They also took out some pretty good jokes.
The link didn’t break down the entire movie, but now I want to see the “real” version to find out what else I was missing.
I feel robbed of a movie-watching experience, and the writer and director – the actors, too – should feel violated.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I just watched the movie for the first time at 1am this morning, kind of forlorn because I didn’t realize of the troubles when I netflixed it. However, after reading the examples in the article, I don’t think the changes are as terrible as the outcry. I don’t want to get into spoilers, but I will say that two of the examples did indeed cause at least some confusion that would be avoided with the original subtitles. But, the movie is good enough that you’re back on track within minutes. And in one case, I would argue the clunkier translation is actually more true to character, and maybe a better fit for the scene.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
What a terrible movie
March 27th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I think this film is excellent, and managed to catch it twice as it bounced around various arthouse theaters in the Bay Area. It’s a quiet, contemplative film in a genre which hasn’t had one of those in quite some time.
The fact that someone paid for a second, worse translation just boggles the mind. There was already a translation, why would someone then go and do it a second time?
March 27th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Last I heard, they were going to release a new version with the theatrical subtitles, but NOT offer any sort of replacement policy for people who already had purchased a copy.
Terrible idea. The people who’ve already bought a copy are the biggest fans of the film. The people most upset by this.
Seems to me, a lot of the furor would die down if they’d treat their customers fairly.
March 28th, 2009 at 2:44 am
People with the same mindset as the ones currently working on “re-imagining” the film for a english speaking audience :)
March 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I recommended it to a bunch of people, who got if off iTunes. Guess what– it’s dubbed.
March 28th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
The new translation seems like an attempt at appealing (in tone) more broadly to younger middle-American audiences that didn’t go to see the film in its original art house circuit. As someone who wasn’t a general fan of horror or vampire-specific films, I was able to immerse myself into the emotionally truthful story about alienated youth. I then saw the vampire element -gore and combative conflict- as a companion to the emotional story. These new subtitles seem to reverse all of that in attempt to sell the “vampire” pop-image alongside the various other junk-horror titles on the retail shelves.
March 28th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Haven’t had a chance to see the film yet, but just curious as to whether any actual fluent Swedish speakers have compared the subtitles to the actual dialogue. I speak a bit and, for example, to say sorry in swedish you literally say “forgive me”, so in the one example either translation is really correct and would depend on the context.
March 29th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Being a fluent Swedish speaker I saw the film without subtitles but as I recall Håkan says “förlåt mig” which not only literally means “forgive me”, but is also a slightly old-fashioned way of saying that you’re sorry. You wouldn’t use that phrase if you for instance accidently bumped someone on the street or if you were five minutes late to class. You would use the more colloquial “ursäkta”, “hoppsan” or – most commonly – drop the word “mig” and just say “förlåt”. So there is a difference in Swedish and I think “forgive me” is a more appropriate translation in this context.
March 29th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Sean,
Seriously? “What a terrible movie.”? Really? I mean, I don’t begrudge anyone their opinion. But if you are going to make such a broad statement you ought to at least explain why. I really enjoyed it. I know most have the same opinion. I’d really like to know what it was about the movie that led to your point of view.
HoopersX
March 30th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Reminds me of the incredible moving, blood-dripping subtitles to Nightwatch which, when you buy the DVD, you can choose to turn off to view the standard ones instead. Why would you do that?
March 30th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I actually saw this movie over the weekend and we started out watching it with the dubbing on then switched it to subtitles. The dubbed version was terrible – that acting of the people doing the voices was just not up to par. The subtitles seemed okay.
April 1st, 2009 at 6:30 am
I’m based in the UK and got the US DVD on import because it hasn’t been released here yet. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I thought the film worked fine with the subtitles it had – I still came away from it thinking it was the best thing I’d seen in a long time. And one of the things I liked most about it was the minimal use of dialogue, so it’s not like huge monologues have been altered. I’m confused as to why they would bother with a second translation, but ultimately, as in literature, all translations allow for a little interpretation and they will never be exact.
April 1st, 2009 at 8:32 am
HoopersX (if that is your real name),
No need to explain why I thought it was terrible. It’s pretty much implied in my original statement. I watched the move, thought it was terrible, spent a minute wishing I put the time into something not-so-terrible.
Just a boring, awful movie where nothing happens, and the little that does happen you see coming a mile away.