MovieChat Forums > Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (1963) Discussion > question about the subbing

question about the subbing

posted 15 years ago by jd-267
4 replies | jump to latest

a little while ago, I bought a (almost) complete Kurosawa DVD box set. Of course, in the US, they don't officially have one of those, so I bought it from Hong Kong. Now, the DVDs are all regions, so yes, they all play, and of course, almost all of the films have English subtitles, so I had nothing to worry about.

The one question I have is this: I've seen about 10+ Kurosawa movies before (before I bought the box set), so I know that some of the films are just the same as their American Criterion counterparts.

However, now that Ive been watching The Bad Sleep Well, for the first time, I've been noticing pretty terrible subbing. The grammar is strange, and the sentences are all over the place, so much so that I'm left saying "what the **** did they just say?" And, I can't figure out if this is merely because this volume is from China, and they really didn't bother caring about translating the Japanese - English subs.

Keep in mind, this isn't a criterion collection disc (Rashomon and Seven Samurai happen to be Criterion, and say so on the disc + before the film, but this one doesnt). At the same time, the film is only 1 hour, 15 minutes long, while on this site, it says it's 150+, or even 130+ minutes for the US.

I'm just a bit confused here...And I'm wondering, does the Criterion US DVD have better subbing than this? Because, I'd buy that if it's better. I'm loving what I'm seeing with this, but I want to see it at it's full capacity.

thanks in advance :)

[–] badblokebob 15 years ago

I don't actually own this Criterion disc, but as no one else has bothered to reply...

First off, this is Criterion we're talking about -- they strive harder than anyone to release the best possible version of films. But, on a purely factual level, their website states the running time of their disc is 150 minutes (http://www.criterion.com/films/765) which is confirmed by DVD Beaver's review (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews15/bad_sleep_well_dvd_review.htm - technically it's 151 minutes).

Though they don't cover the subtitles in any depth, both note that it's a new translation, and it should be remembered that this is the company that released Throne of Blood with two sets of English subtitles (because of the variables involved in translating, I suppose) -- more than thorough!

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] edvosik 15 years ago

I've got the Hong Kong edition of the film. It comes in 2 discs, each about an hour 15 minutes long. It looks like you're missing the second disc.
You're right about the subbing. It's awful. I think they first translate the Japanese into Chinese, then create the English subtitles from the Chinese.

[–] velvetkevorkian610 10 years ago

I know it's an old topic, but to anyone else who may be wondering, the Criterion version has perfectly normal subtitles and goes for the 150 minute runtime being discussed. Very good edition to view of this amazing film.

It's not over, everybody betrayed me! I'm fed up with this world!