Let the Right One In: The Subtitle Conspiracy

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 24, 2009

let-the-right-one-in-subtitles

Sometimes things get lost in translation. This is just a fact of life. But one situation that shouldn’t see language getting mixed and matched is in the subtitling of foreign films for their American DVD release, especially after the film has already been subtitled for an American theatrical release. That said, it appears as if the folks at Magnolia Home Entertainment, the company distributing the Swedish vampire sensation Let the Right One In on DVD, have got all of their wires crossed.

As the folks at Icons of Fright (via CHUD) have pointed out, the subtitles for the film — which made my list of the Ten Best Films of 2008, Rob Hunter’s list of the Ten Best Foreign Films of 2008 and Robert Fure’s list of the Ten Best Horror Films of 2008 — have been changed in sometimes peculiar ways. Take for example the scene below, in which Haken (the caretaker of young vamp Eli) is attempting to murder a boy to harvest some blood for his pint-sized companion. The boy’s friends come looking for him and begin shouting silly things through the door in order to chide their friend out of the gym locker room. We’ll start with their original line:

ltroi-subs1

Now, the scene from the DVD, in which the boys’ comments are changed significantly:

ltroi-subs2

I’m no expert, but it would be hard for me to believe that the Swedish to English translations for both “you can jerk off” and “time to go” are that closely related. This brings up the more important, and even more perplexing question of why Magnolia would change the subtitles for such a scene. It is obvious that the change is deliberate, as the two quotes are completely different. So why make the change for a DVD release? Were they trying to bring the intensity of the language down a bit? Not likely. Both the DVD and the Blu-ray are rated R, just like the film’s theatrical cut. It makes absolutely no sense. In fact, it’s more than dumbed down, it is just plain stupid — a completely ridiculous bunch of bullhonkey. There, I said it. As much as I love Magnolia Pictures and their dedication to small genre films, not even I can deny that they’ve f*cked the pooch on this one.

What is particularly sad is that there are a lot of you out there who have discovered this film on DVD, as its theatrical run was very limited, so you may never see a cut with the proper subtitles. And I can say with absolute certainty that some of the changes outlined by Icons of Fright will dilute the intensity of the film a bit. So keep that in mind, but don’t let it stop you from seeing this film at all costs — it is still one of the best damn movies of last year.

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Yaniv Eidelstein

The subtitles probably weren't changed; My guess is the whole film was translated again by another translator. The inclusion of "Matte!" in the DVD screencap suggests that the spotting was different, which supports this theory.
I owe a significant chunk of my livelihood to the fact that many films get translated more than once.

ANGRYBROOMSTICK

I feel completely CHEATED and this is a bloody outrage. What. the. FUCK!!!!!!!!

ottobud

Has anyone checked the English dub on the DVD to see how closely they follow the subtitles?

TSA

This movie was pretty bad ass

Rob_Hunter

Sucks. Reportedly, the terrible dubbing on the dvd follows the original dialogue... so you can choose fantastic dialogue with bad acting, or great acting with idiotic translation.

This makes me very sad. It also makes me regret not swiping the dvd screener during my visit to the FSR home office last week. Ah well, time to go.

Yaniv Eidelstein

The subtitles probably weren't changed. My guess is the whole movie was translated again. The inclusion of "Matte!" in the DVD subtitle seems to support this.
You can determine this by watching both versions side-by-side. You'll probably find two utterly different translations.
I owe a significant part of my income to the fact that movies often get translated more than once.

Atomic Popcorn

Seems like I am looking for a Canadian copy of the film. Good thing I haven't opened the blu-ray yet.

Elizabeth

What interests me is how often people will say these kinds of things, like the second translation being "wrong," when nobody really goes in to find out which translation is actually more correct.

This happens in anime often. A fansub will come out, everybody loves it. Then the official sub will be released, the lines will be different, and everybody vilifies it because it isn't what they remembered. But when somebody who actually speaks the language takes a look they find out that the second translation was actually more correct.

I would like to see any movie with a correct translation, I don't really care about what came first or what people like. I want to know what the writer wrote and what the actors said. Sadly, that's part of why I prefer subtitles, because I can hear the original acting and tone.

saywhatsreal

god dammit, I'm supposed to get that movie in the mail from netflix today. I'll still watch it but the whole time I'm gonna be wondering what the hell they are really saying.

saywhatsreal.com

ThrillKill

This is what happens when you FIND A STRANGER IN THE ALPS!!!

Stupid pointless change.

Let the Right One In: The Subtitle Conspiracy

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