MovieChat Forums > Onibaba (1965) Discussion > Subtitles

Subtitles

posted 15 years ago by NancyLarned
5 replies | jump to latest

I haven't finished watching this film, and I understand what's so interesting about it so far (i haven't even gotten to the mask yet). I just can't stand the horrid subtitles. They're so bad! I'm just wondering if the subtitles are accurate to the actual lines, or if the translation is basic and doesn't really express what the people are saying. I find this bothersome with all foreign films, even great movies like Pan's Labyrinth, Diabolique and A Tale of Two Sister. So, I'm not bashing the film at all (which is good so far), but what's up with the subtitles?

[–] jackneefus 14 years ago

My girlfriend could understand the Japanese dialogue and said that the translation was not too bad, but like most subtitles it was not exact.

[–] jwill602 14 years ago

It could just be the version that you're watching. The Criterion Collection version's subtitles are rather good (I can't vouch for their accuracy though).

[–] ShroudOfFrost 13 years ago

Philistine. I hate it when people complain about subtitles. It's better than hearing a dubbed version. It's simple: watch the film, read what they're saying, and get their emotions from the way they use their voice. It really isn't that difficult.

hitrecord.org

[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

It seems like this person wasn't complaining about subtitles in general, but the quality of the subtitles of this movie in particular. Personally I don't have any problem with subtitles at all, but yeah there are some movies where the subs are bad quality and detract from the experience.

I also can't stand people who bitch about subtitles ("oh poor me, I have to read!"), but yeah I don't think the OP was doing that.

[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

I thought the subtitles in this movie were fine. Which version were you watching? I watched the Criterion edition and it seemed like the subtitles were ok. And I know bad subtitles when I see them. Bad subtitles always come close to ruining Miyazaki movies for me, because they're usually Disney's subs for the English dub rather than the original Japanese. Because I can understand enough Japanese to catch many lines without subtitle help, but I can't understand enough Japanese to be able to scrap the subs altogether, i'm very sensitive to bad subtitles. But the subtitles in this movie weren't bad. Of course translation is a tricky thing and some liberties are always taken, but that's not necessarily bad as long as it's done well. I thought it was done well for this movie.