This paper presents the analysis of difficulties in translation into Polish of the Russian film Поцелуй сквозь стену (directed by Wartan Akopian, 2011). Quotes, foreign phrases, colloquialisms, occupational slang, word plays and, finally, word and visual plays are only some of the problems for students who begin to learn the art of translation. This translation project lasted from March to June 2012 and included a group of student‑volunteers of the Russian studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The project was finished by a show at the „Horyzont” Film Club in Gdańsk (the Russian Cultural Centre).
This article is devoted to the translation of the film “Sara” done using the voice-over technique and subtitles. The analysed film is one of the Polish classic film productions of the ‘90s. The peculiar character of film dialogues requires that the translator adopts translation techniques which do not conform with technical requirements for selected techniques that are applied in audio-visual translation. The viewer needs to have additional competences including the knowledge of linguistic norms, cinematographic traditions, customs, etc., in order to get a proper understanding of a specific scene.
Film translation is often referred to as a “necessary evil”. This is because the translated lines tend to be simplified in the process of audiovisual translation. It is estimated that the dialogue in a film translation might be shortened by up to 30–40% compared to the original text. However, it should be borne in mind that film dialogues are an integral part of the film’s image and serve not only an informative but also a poetic function. Thus, when translating the characters’ statements, one should consider not only the semantic aspect but also the stylistic elements used in the material, particularly repetitions, contrasting juxtapositions of foreground and background dialogues, and references to musical works. The article presents the conclusions of the author’s research based on five translation variants of the film Cold War into Russian.
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