Firefly/Serenity Translations by ShinyDS

FIREFLY CHINESE TRANSLATIONS

Firefly/Serenity Translations

POSTED BY: SHINYDS
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 03:26
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007 2:36 AM

Well, I know this sections supposed to be more or less for Chinese translation, but this does have to do with the translation aspect of it, leastwise. I saw the German dub of Serenity earlier this week. I've already seen it enough times in English to know most of the dialogue by heart, and since I'll be in Germany for a few months yet, I wanted to see how a country without a real "cowboy experience" translated all the slang and dialectical phrases that make the series and BDM just that much more special. Unfortunately, I didn't feel there was much of an attempt. The dialogue was much more understandable, and I didn't feel that many odd words or turns of phrase were used in the film. However, Jayne's line about having only 2 magazines left and his "mighty jewels/treasure" and Kaylee's line about not having had anything in her "basement garage" in over a year (both literally translated, of course) were pretty amusing. Anyway, what I took all this time to get to is, has anyone else seen the series or BDM in another language, and if so, what are yout thougsht/comments/opinions about 1.) the translation in gerneral, 2.) thedialogue, 3.) the voice actors who lent a helping hand to one of the greatest events in the 'Verse, that those of us unfortunate enough to have missed it in the original can see the "light of civilization." The actors in the German dub were, imho, ok. Not terrible, not brilliant - however, the young woman playing River was exceptionally notible in comparison with the rest.

--SDS

"Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom."
--Capt. Jack Sparrow

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007 2:59 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

I watched a couple episodes in Spanish. The voice acting was good, but a lot of things were lost. The special slang, and even non-special slang, was totally lost. A few of the translations were much more polite than their English counterparts (the one I remember was Jayne saying the food smelled like 'garbage' rather than 'crotch') and the different accents were completely eliminated (which made River's interaction with Badger much less funny). Some of the Chinese was left in (it sounds really cool with Spanish, actually; much smoother) but some was cut out. All in all, it was okay, but what really makes the Firefly experience wasn't really there. Most of my entertainment came from how much of it I could actually understand; I thought I'd forgotten most of my Spanish after I left school.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007 3:26 AM

SHINYDS

Yeah, I too felt that a lot of the phrases were less poerful. Bout 50% of the non-dialect dialogue translated smoothly, but I was disappointed. For example, the scene where Serenity is breaking the Alliance line at the end of Serenity, instead of the yes-no exchange between Mal and Wash, the German translation went "Ja! Doch! Ja! Doch!" etc. "Ja" is yes, so I had no problem there. "Doch" isn't necessarily no, though. It means "but" or "however" or "to the contrary" (and sometimes "just"). That lost a lot of power for me in a way that I can't explain to people who don't already know what I'm talking about. lol I haven't seen the series yet, but they have it at the VideoTaxi not far from here, so I'll give it a shot. I must say, PhoenixRose, much like Mr. Universe, you go everywhere! I didn't even expect many people who regularly visit this section to find my thread. Good job!

--SDS

"Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom."
--Capt. Jack Sparrow

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