MovieChat Forums > Dalkomhan insaeng (2005) Discussion > Dialogue Translation

Dialogue Translation

posted 14 years ago by BornAndBred
12 replies | jump to latest

This is can probably only be answered by someone who can speak Korean.

I have the UK Region 2 DVD of this film. I think it's a fantastic movie with great acting and direction.

But there was one scene that always annoyed me a little bit. The scene in question is the one in the underground parking lot when the guy with the hat asks Sun-Woo to apologise to Baek. "Just three words. I. Was. Wrong" he says to Sun-Woo. Now, according to the subtitles on my UK DVD, Sun-Woo replies "Just. Go. Away".

I always thought that was such a crap reply from Sun-Woo. I thought it would have been much cooler, and would be in keeping with Sun-Woo's pissed off mood at that point, if he said something like "Just. F_uc_k. Off". Just go away sounded rubbish.

But now I've heard Sun-Woo's actual reply was F_uc_k. Off. A$$hole." and that the UK translation was incorrect.

Can someone please confirm what Sun-woo's real three-word reply was?

[–] baygerbieger 14 years ago

"F/ck off *beep*

Some say, boy you're always teasin, I think you best be leavin.

[–] nansarama2003 14 years ago

yeah its defo

F_uc_k. Off. A$$hole.

i have the super duper korean box set, the uk release and the korean extended release and the subtitles say F_uc_k. Off. A$$hole. on all 3 versions.

whats the front cover on your dvd? id be intrested to own that as its my favorite movie of all time :-)

"I dont know about angels, but its fear that gives men wings"

[–] BornAndBred 14 years ago

This is the one I have:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bittersweet-Life-DVD-Byung-Hun-Lee/dp/B000EHPO QY/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1284385579&sr=1-1

[–] nansarama2003 14 years ago

yeah thats the one i have, only mine has a HMV exlusive card sleeve cover wonder why your subtitles are different then???

"I dont know about angels, but its fear that gives men wings"

[–] BornAndBred 14 years ago

I have no idea. But even going by the transaltions on IMDB, there seem to be a whole host of differences on my DVD as compared to other releases.

For instance:

According to IMDB Quotes section, the scene where Sun-Woo confronts Mr. Kang at the bar towards the end of the film, Kang says: "Do you really want to take this too far?", to which Sun-Woo replies "Why would you do this to me, Mr. Kang?" and Kang says: "Because you did not follow my orders."

I watched my DVD last night and the conversation according to the subtitles on my DVD goes like this:

Kang: You really intend to do this?

Sun-Woo: Just tell me why you did this to me, Mr. Kang?

Kang: You dishonoured me.

Could there be a different setting to the English subtitles? I just go by the default settings from when I play the DVD.

[–] nansarama2003 14 years ago

(spoilers)

see thats diffrent again to mine again, my copy goes

Kang: You really want to take it this far?

Sun-Woo: why did you do that to me? tell me why

Kang: you insulted me

Sun woo: no, not that kind of thing. tell me the real reason. tell me. ive been thinking about it alot and i still dont get it. tell me how did we come to this? how did this happen? were you realy going to kill me? were you realy? ive served you like a dog for 7 years? say me something. anything tell me?

Kang: whats gotten into you? was it beacuse of her? dont do this

and then then sun-woo looks at his own reflection in the window then shoots kang

2 of my versions have 1 english subtitle track and 2 korean subtitle tracks and my other version has no subtitle tracks i realy dont know where you got yours from

"I dont know about angels, but its fear that gives men wings"

[–] BornAndBred 14 years ago

Well, I bought the DVD from FOPP in Edinburgh around 5 years ago. It's an official UK release by Tartan Extreme. But I have no idea why some of the translations are incorrect.

[–] kensterz 14 years ago

Okay for the last battle scene here is my own personal translations:

Boss: You...you truly are going to do this? [or it can be also 'be like this?' or less accurately 'act like this?']

Scary guy: To me why did you do that? Please talk. [Or 'please try to talk' or 'please try to explain'. It is cross somewhere between these]. To me why did you do that?

Boss: You to me gave me an insult [Not exactly literal but this makes good sense as far as translation goes.]

Scary guy: No, not things like that. Tell me with the real reason. [Or 'try to tell me with the real reason']. Tell me. [Or 'try to tell me' or 'try to talk', etc.] I truly thought about it a lot. I truly don't know. Tell me. [Or 'try to tell me.'] How did we do to become like this? Please try to talk [Or 'tell me', etc.] Were you really going to kill me? Were you really going to kill me? 7 years under you ['You' in a semi-formal sense] like a dog working like this [to this moon?] [In America you would say 'to this day' I guess]. Please try to talk. Any talk just try to do it.

Boss: What in the world [or for what outrageous reason] are you shaken like this? Is it because of that girl? Don't do this.

This is as literal as I can explain it.

[–] plokkr123 14 years ago

The problem with direct translations from Korean to English is that it's often very difficult to do. There are some meanings and phrases that are just not translatable. The difference in grammar structure also adds to the difficulty. In Korean a lot of meanings are just implied instead of directly explained as it is in English. The subtitles in this movie are horrid but probably with reason. The subbers probably opted to use simple sentences to make it easier for the international audience.

[–] kensterz 14 years ago

Okay to answer the original topic I will try to help. I am native Korean learning study English in America.

During the conversation the man with the fishing hat says something like:

Fishing hat man: "I did the wrong." It's just these four words.
Main character: Just go [away]. [Geunyang = just, Ga = go, Gara = to go.] [There is no Korean word for 'away' in the phrase 'go away'.] ['Geunyang ga' could make sense but adding 'Geunyang gara' just means the same thing. Even in Korean I cannot explain the difference between the relatively same phrases.]

Obviously the 4 words do not make English sense so it's just changed to 3. But in Korean long sentences are often considered long in English while in Korean they are not really so long. So 4 words might seem a bit longer in English but in Korean it is actually relatively short so maybe that's why they shortened it to 3 words in English.

[–] brightnight-2 12 years ago

I am Korean, I know this is old thread but I hope I can be a help.

Actual lines in Korean movie with the scene where the guy with the hat - who's actually notorious professional killer, like human butcher - demands Sun-woo to apologize to Baek. (I'm ignoring technical difference like, 4 words in Korean and 3 words in English, which actually makes it a bit difficult to translate)

guy : "Just three words. I. Was. Wrong"

To this demand, what Sun-Woo replies is closer to "Just. Go. Away." but the feel of this lines are closer to "*beep* Off A**hole" but without swear words. The degree of contempt to the said demand is in Sun-woo's attitude, not in the word.

Another point is that I don't think I've seen Sun-woo using really bad words - something like *beep* - in this movie( until the last part with fights with Baek), which contrasts him with other guys like Baek or Mun-suk who's tossing bad words like candies in Halloween. Sunwoo's using some bad words, but not that bad. I feel that he's a proud person, who think he's better than lowly thugs, like Mun-suk. - You can see this in the first dining scene with Kang and Mun-suk -. Basically, he feels he is better than the other guys. Which makes the degradation during the torture scene more painful, he's not proud and stylish enforcer any more.

[–] BornAndBred 11 years ago

Thank you so much. So it looks like the translations on my DVD are actually closer to what was actually said in Korean.

I really like the point you made about Sun-Woo being more of a gentleman and not using foul language that much. It truly does bring a whole new dimension to his humiliation by Mun-Suk.

Thanks again :)