MovieChat Forums > Yoidore tenshi (1959) Discussion > Quality of subtitles for the non-Japanes...

Quality of subtitles for the non-Japanese speaker

posted 20 years ago by oheochaidh
9 replies | jump to latest

I've just tried watching Drunken Angel on DVD from my library. I had to quit watching because it had the very poorest subtitles I've ever encountered. "Alcohol" is spelled "acohol," and "disgusting" is spelled "disguisting," both recurring. It isn't just the spelling, though, it is statements in Japanese which have 35 syllables, but in English come out as a very short phrase with, say, 7 syllables. At least one half of the English phrases in the subtitles do not really convey any specific meaning. I saw it on DVD from MEI AH LASER DISC CO of Hong Kong. I'd be interested to know if there is some other version of the film with English subtitles that convey the story line more meaningfully.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] mac_alain 19 years ago

quote: "At least one half of the English phrases in the subtitles do not really convey any specific meaning. I saw it on DVD from MEI AH LASER DISC CO of Hong Kong."

Yeah, that's the version I watched last night, and the sub-titling is simply appalling, taking away the pleasure from watching the movie, apart from offering a distorted view of what's going on <sigh>

[–] MadDave89 18 years ago

it was a good movie but the subtitles were crap
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Animal Mother: If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is poontang.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Suzume-san 18 years ago

For us Brits, there's now a BFI DVD. Subtitles are fine. Lovely film, one of my favourite Kurosawas.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Kinomachtfrei 15 years ago

The Criterion Collection has two inexplicable Achilles Heels. One is the quality of their commentary tracks; not always, but often.

The second, particularly on "Drunken Angel", is the sub-titling. Grammar and spelling can be overlooked but the forced use of inappropriate slang is always off-putting, because the slang is of necessity culture and time specific. I can't quite get used to: "He did a stretch in the cooler", coming from a Japanese character.

I would bet that this is the only film around which includes both the word "Wench" and the word "Bro".

[–] Suzume-san 15 years ago

I would bet that this is the only film around which includes both the word "Wench" and the word "Bro".

That's wonderful! For some reason that makes me very happy.

Once again, let me recommend the BFI one, in perfectly normal English.

Kambei of the Gormful Gumi.