Life in subtitles
We fancied a quiet night, and there was a DVD player in our room, so after dinner, we took a look at the hotel’s vast collection of knock off DVDs. I can heartily recommend the Bali Spirit Hotel, if only for it’s abiding love for the oeuvres of Jason Statham and The Rock.
We found a copy of a Jackie Chan film – Rush Hour 3 – and as I love all things Chan, we settled in to watch it. It was either that or some highbrow softcore porn dressed up as arthouse, featuring Natassja Kinsky and Malcolm MacDowell, but I make it a rule not to watch highbrow softcore arthouse porn when I am on holiday. So, Rush Hour 3 it was.
Anyway, we realised that some bright spark had thought to subtitle the film, for people who may be deaf. The subtitles turned out to be vastly more entertaining than the film itself, which, truth be told, isn’t very good. I’ve no idea who was responsible for the subtitles, but I hope they are living a rich and happy life somewhere, as they fully deserve it.
As an example, the word ‘brother’ was translated as ‘you’ throughout. Tricky, particularly as the plot involves Jackie Chan’s evil adopted brother. It was relatively confusing. Also, at one point, Jackie Chan witnesses his boss being shot, and shouts “Everybody down!” in order to save the day, as he does. This is what appeared on the screen:
My favourite by a long way, however, is this one, that accompanies the following piece of dialogue:
Evil adopted brother to Jackie Chan “We both know you won’t kill me”
Jackie Chan to evil adopted brother “You know nothing about me”
If anyone can tell me why exactly this translates as it does, I would be so grateful.