ISSN: 2171-6633
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
MULTILINGUALISM IN TARANTINO’S INGLORIOUS
BASTERDS. DIFFICULTIES AND STRATEGIES FOR
DUBBING AND SUBTITLING
CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Universidad de Córdoba
l52huabc@uco.es
Fecha de recepción: 12.03.2015
Fecha de aceptación: 17.05.2015
Abstract: Multilingualism has achieved a new summit in Tarantino’s filmography with
Inglourious Basterds, since four languages are involved in the original version: English,
French, Spanish and Italian. The setting of this film shows the fall of France after the Nazi
invasion in 1940, and the film continuously reflects the relationship between language and
power. This paper deals with the subject of multilingualism and cultural representation in
the subtitles and dubbing of Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds from a translation
perspective, according to the difficulties, strategies and changes derived from the
audiovisual translation. We follow two main research hypotheses, namely, that subtitles
(i) are used in a different way depending on the soundtrack and may activate their own
modes of textual interpretation, and thus (ii) there may be any kind of change in the
dialogues derived from the languages used in the scene, which could promote a sort of
intercultural and multilingual sensitivity, or abstraction in the target audience.
Keywords: audiovisual translation, multilingualism, strategies, challenges.
Resumen: El multilingüismo ha alcanzado un nuevo hito en la filmografía de Tarantino
con Malditos bastardos (Inglourious Basterds), pues en la versión original intervienen cuatro
idiomas: inglés, francés, español e italiano. La cinta muestra la caída de Francia tras la
invasión nazi en 1940, poniendo continuamente de relieve la relación entre el lenguaje y el
poder. Este trabajo aborda el multilingüismo y la representación cultural en los subtítulos
y el doblaje de Malditos bastardos desde la perspectiva de la traducción, atendiendo a las
dificultades, estrategias y cambios derivados de la traducción audiovisual. Para ello,
partimos de dos hipótesis principales de investigación, a saber: que los subtítulos (i) se
utilizan de manera diferente según la banda sonora y pueden activar sus propios modos
de interpretación textual y, por lo tanto, (ii) puede haber cambios en los diálogos
derivados de los idiomas utilizados en la escena, lo que podría facilitar la sensibilidad
intercultural y multilingüe o bien ocasionar la abstracción en el público objetivo.
Palabras clave: traducción audiovisual, multilingüismo, estrategias, dificultades
38 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
1. Real life multilingualism in audiovisual texts
There are uncountable reasons for multilingualism in films, even though
they always entail an additional difficulty for audiovisual translation. Not
only do the variations between the source culture and the target culture
need to be considered, but also the differences among the three or more
languages used in the original version of the film. Moreover, we should also
take into account that multilingual films trigger a kind of reflection on
spectators. Audiences are more conscious of this multicultural situation, as
well as of the importance of the translator’s role in completing a successful
communication act.
The multilingual discourse, defined as the use of two (bilingualism) or
more languages within a given text, is a phenomenon that is increasing the
favourable assessment among the scholars. Indeed, the opposite
phenomenon – monolingualism – has even come to be considered by some
experts like Philipson (2003: 63) as a “curable disease”. Multilingualism
requires two basic components: language contact and language variation.
Communication in the globalized world where we live in, together with the
ease of transmission of knowledge and information, are entailing a rising
number of people for whom the English language –which is not their main
language– plays a key role in their everyday life. As a consequence,
multilingualism often actually means English plus an/other language/s.
Nevertheless, the influence and importance of English does not necessarily
take place to the detriment of other languages.
Nowadays, there is an increasing presence of multilingual audiovisual
texts, especially in the case of wide audience films (beyond documentaries)
reflecting this real-life multilingualism. Heiss (2004: 209) remarked that “it
was primarily in the ‘80s and the ‘90s that the number of film productions
requiring the audience to deal with communication in more than one
language increased”, highlighting some examples such as Funny Games
(1997), and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.
This tendency is even more marked in the 21st century, in which we are
experiencing an explosion of multilingual films. Díaz Cintas and Ramael
(2007: 58) noted that “This often happens in co-productions or in films that
make use of the different languages spoken in the producing country”. We
consider, however, that this situation is slightly changing, and
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Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
representative of this new tend are Lost in Translation (Coppola, 2003), Babel
(Gonzalez Iñarritu, 2006), and more recently the 8 Oscar-winning film
Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle, 2008). In multilingual audiovisual texts,
moreover, we should pay a special attention to war films. Conflicts, in
general, imply language contact due to the interaction of speakers of
different languages. Bleichenbacher (2008: 8) established the main reasons of
this contact: “large-scale processes such as territorial expansion (e.g.
colonization), political unions, border contacts and migration have been
identified”. These social phenomena have been intensified in the last
decades, and they have been reflected in the big screen. Regarding to the 20th
century, there are numerous examples especially of the Second World War
in which more than one language is concerned: some representative films
are Sophie’s choice (Pakula, 1982), Life is beautiful (La vita è bella; Benigni, 1997)
and more recently The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher; Ruzowitzky, 2007) and of
course Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino, 2009). These four films, with different
producing countries and different main languages, take place in
multilingual environments and show quite a realistic use of language.
2. Tarantino and languages
Tarantino’s filmography is full of violence and, in some cases, even bad
taste, but these two elements are surpassed by the recurrent references to the
pop culture and language, being the last even more important for our work
as linguists. Language, a quintessential Tarantino feature, draws attention to
itself due to its inherent intention, which may differ attending to the
different films.
The titles of Tarantino’s films include interesting references for the study
of the use of language in his filmography. Titles like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp
Fiction have already become part of our recent cultural scene, as well as of
our semiotic environment. Although titles may be considered as trivial or
ephemeral texts, they shape the first horizon of expectations in the potential
audience. Titles often have a reduced number of words by which they show
a big expressive or persuasive force; and despite their limited linguistic
units, they present thoughts, experiences, or even conceptual worlds.
Gallardo Paúls (1997: 178) stated, from a different point of view, that titles
should be considered as paratexts, since they complement the work,
together with prologues, images, posters, etc. Tarantino’s titles support this
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Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
idea of paratext, as his films usually exhibit word games with different
references to pop culture. His first film displays a paratextual device
connected to language: the title Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) is based on
the mixture of Au revoir les enfants (Malle, 1987) and Straw Dogs (Peckinpah,
1971). We face a similar linguistic problem in Kill Bill (Tarantino, 2003 and
2004) due to the polysemy of “Bill”, which refers to both the killer Bill and
the “bill” as the Bride’s desire for revenge. Moreover, Inglourious Basterds
takes its title from Enzo G. Castellari’s film The Inglourious Bastards (Quel
maledetto treno blindato, 1978), and together with the film reference, we
should remark the vowel alteration in “Basterds”, by which we may infer a
reference to the importance of language of this film.
Tarantino’s films reflect the language of the environment where the
action takes place. For instance, Jackie Brown (1997), a literary adaptation of
Leonard’s novel Rum Punch, is set in a world of street criminals and
smugglers who use their own slang, as in the following example, where
Ordell – imitating the sound of a weapon – says: “Them Hong Kong movies
came out, every nigga gotta have a forty-five. And they don't want one, they
want two, cause nigga want to be ‘The Killer.’” The foray of Tarantino - a
white director into the controversial subject of “blaxploitation” - entailed a
huge fit of rage among the black community, increased with the continuous
reference to the word “nigga”. Despite some critics consider that the
repetition of this word in his films may lead to overlook its offensive
connotations, the characters and the words used suit the story and make it
plausible.
Finally, we should highlight that history is the result of the combination
of memory and language. These two elements are clearly connected to each
other; indeed, history may be considered as memory written in words.
Language moulds and adapts memory, since words are the key element to
speak, and to remember what happened and what was related. This is the
reason why stories change following the way they are told. In this respect,
Tarantino’s films differentiate from other directors’ filmographies in the fact
that he is not completely devoted to describing or depicting facts, but he
emphasizes the interdependence between history, memories and language.
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Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
3. Multilingualism in Inglourious Basterds
Contacts between languages and cultures are not unusual in audiovisual
texts. It is not difficult to find scenes in which several languages are involved
and play an important role for the meaning. Simultaneity of two or more
languages is a real problem for translators, and the difficulty is even bigger
for dubbing and subtitling due to the images and kinetic synchrony.
Tarantino always tends to introduce foreign elements in his films derived
from culture contacts. These multicultural and multilingual tendencies have
achieved a new summit in Tarantino’s filmography thanks to Inglourious
Basterds, where Tarantino boasts about the different languages on display:
English, French, German and Italian.
The entire film is about language, avoiding the non-realistic film
contrivance of speaking English. Tarantino, in an interview to Sight and
Sound of the British Film Institute (Gilbey, 2009), reflected about this subject
and claimed that
reality is that your ability to speak languages in Europe in World War
II could be the difference between being shot or and thrown in a ditch,
or living to see another day. World War II was the last time white
people were fighting other white people; you could actually integrate
yourself in with the Nazis or the French or whoever, if you could
speak the language. It is all about language (par. 4).
In our study, we will focus on three scenes to study the translators’
proposals, as well as to highlight the problems and strategies for the
translation and adaptation processes into three different languages: Spanish,
French and Italian. Chaume (2008: 130) considers that translators should aim
“fidelity to the source text (ST) in the sense of trying to preserve its relevant
features, so that target culture viewers watch the same film that source
culture spectators had the chance to watch”. According to Chaume, we will
try to make a proposal in order to reach the highest level of comprehension
in target audiences, trying to avoid possible weaknesses.
3.1. “Chapter One: Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France”
3.1.1. Dubbing
The original film starts with a dialogue in French subtitled in English:
SS Colonel Hans Landa interrogates Perrier LaPadite, a French farmer.
Handa’s knowledge of French is fluent and elaborated, and he resorts to
42 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
complex sentences such as subjunctives and conditionals. Nevertheless, after
a few minutes of this demonstration of French fluency, Landa claims that he
does not have enough French to continue, and asks LaPadite to switch to
English:
Scene 1: OV (00:06:48 - 00:07:20)
Colonel Landa (C. L.): Monsieur LaPadite, je suis au regret de vous
informer que j’ai épuisé l’étendue de mon français. Continuer à le
parler si peu convenablement ne ferait que me gêner. Cependant, je
crois savoir que vous parlez un anglais tout à fait correct, n’est-ce pas ?
Perrier LaPadite (P. L.): Oui.
C. L.: Ma foi, il se trouve que moi aussi. Puisque nous sommes ici chez
vous, je vous demande la permission de passer à l’anglais pour le reste
de la conversation.
P. L.: Certainement.
C. L.: While I'm very familiar with you and your family, I have no way
of knowing if you are familiar with whom I am.
Apparently, this film device allows a shift to a language - English -
completely out of context, and it may be a challenge for the translator since
depending on the target language the translation strategy may change. We
analyse the translation of this scene into three languages: Spanish, French
and Italian. Firstly, the translator into Spanish has avoided any reference to
English in the dubbing:
Scene 1: Spanish (00:05:30 - 00:07:20)
Coronel Landa (C. L.): Monsieur LaPadite, vu ce que nous avons à
discuter, il serait préférable de discuter en privé. Vous remarquerez
que j’ai laissé mes hommes à l’extérieur, si cela ne les offense pas,
auriez-vous l’obligeance de demander à vos chères mesdames de
sortir?
Perrier LaPadite (P. L.): Vous avez raison. Charlotte, tu veux bien
amener tes sœurs dehors? Le colonel et moi on a deux-trois mots à se
dire.
C. L.: Monsieur LaPadite, siento la necesidad de informarle de que ha
agotado mis conocimientos de francés. Y, si continúo hablándolo, sé
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Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
que acabaría poniéndome en evidencia. Sin embargo, usted se
defiende correctamente en otros idiomas, ¿verdad?
P. L.: Oui.
C. L.: Pues el problema está solucionado. Y puesto que estamos en su
casa, le pido a usted permiso para evitar el francés en el resto de la
conversación.
Unlike the original version, Landa does not introduce the switch of
languages in the Spanish translation: when the women get out of the farm,
he starts speaking in Spanish, avoiding French. The first answer of LaPadite
is “oui” in French, a resource which keeps the bilingualism of the original
version. The horizon of expectations and the plausibility of the dialogue
keep intact due to a translation resource: instead of passer à l’anglais (“swift
into English”), Landa claims that LaPadite se defiende correctamente en otros
idiomas (“he can speak other languages”).
Secondly, if we study the Italian dubbing, it is interesting the use of
French as in the original version, although it has a translation problem:
when Colonel Landa asks the swift into English, they really do it into Italian,
losing the plausibility of the dialogue:
Scene 1: Italian (00:06:48 - 00:07:27)
Colonel Landa (C. L.): Monsieur LaPadite, je suis au regret de vous
informer que j’ai épuisé l’étendue de mon français. Continuer à le
parler si peu convenablement ne ferait que me gêner. Cependant, je
crois savoir que vous parlez un anglais tout à fait correct, n’est-ce pas ?
Perrier LaPadite (P. L.): Oui.
C. L.: Ma foi, il se trouve que moi aussi. Puisque nous sommes ici chez
vous, je vous demande la permission de passer à l’anglais pour le reste
de la conversation.
P. L.: Certainement.
C. L.: Voilà, io ho molto informazioni su di lei e la sua famiglia, ma io
non ho modo di sappere se lei sia informato su di me.
Finally, the French dubbing has resorted to a different kind of translation
strategy: this scene is completely in French and the language swift does not
take place in here, but in the following scene although the Colonel says je
44 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
vous demande la permission de passer à l’anglais tout à l’heure (“I ask your
permission to switch to English later”). It should be highlighted the
references to Molière and to the later swift into English:
Scene 1: French (00:06:48-00:07:10 and 00:18:38-00:19:40)
Colonel Landa (C. L.): Monsieur LaPadite, je dois dire que c’est
toujours avec un grand plaisir que je pratique la langue de Molière. Il
se peut néanmoins que je passe à l’anglais pour m’amuser au cours de
la discussion, et vous me suivrez. Je crois savoir que vous parlez un
anglais tout à fait correct, n’est-ce pas ?
Perrier LaPadite (P. L.): Exact.
C. L.: Ma foi, il se trouve que moi aussi. Puisque nous sommes ici chez
vous, je vous demande la permission de commencer en français et
passer à l’anglais tout à l’heure.
P. L.: Certainement.
[…]
C. L.: Point out to me the areas where they are then. Since I have not
heard any disturbances, I assume that they are listening to but they do
not speak English.
P. L.: Yes.
C. L.: I will swift to French now and you will follow my masquerade.
Is that clear?
P. L.: Yes.
C. L.: Monsieur LaPadite, je vous remercie pour le lait et pour votre
hospitalité.
3.1.2. Subtitling
The subtitles of the original version lose most of the bilingual intention
showed in the original soundtrack, because all the subtitles are in only one
language. When comparing the four languages of our study, however, it can
be seen that the subtitling strategies differ from one language to another:
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Table 1. Comparison of the subtitles in Chapter One.
English (OV) subtitles
18
00:28:14,132 --> 00:28:15,167
(Speaking French)
(…)
57
00:31:10,732 --> 00:31:11,847
Monsieur LaPadite...
58
00:31:13,452 --> 00:31:18,003
...I regret to inform you
I've exhausted the extent of my French.
59
00:31:19,252 --> 00:31:22,847
To continue to speak it so inadequately
would only serve to embarrass me.
60
00:31:23,092 --> 00:31:26,767
However, I've been led to believe
you speak English quite well.
61
00:31:28,052 --> 00:31:29,041
Yes.
62
00:31:29,132 --> 00:31:33,125
Well, it just so happens, I do as well.
This being your house...
63
00:31:33,412 --> 00:31:35,721
...I ask your permission to switch
to English...
64
00:31:35,892 --> 00:31:37,484
...for the remainder of the conversation
Spanish version subtitles
51
01:59:23,063 --> 01:59:24,178
Sr. LaPadite...
52
01:59:25,783 --> 01:59:30,334
...lamento informarle de que he agotado
mis conocimientos de francés.
53
01:59:31,583 --> 01:59:35,178
Seguir hablándolo
de forma incorrecta me avergonzaría.
54
01:59:35,423 --> 01:59:39,098
Pero tengo entendido
que habla inglés bastante bien.
55
01:59:40,383 --> 01:59:41,372
Sí.
56
01:59:41,463 --> 01:59:45,456
Pues resulta que yo también.
Como estamos en su casa...
57
01:59:45,743 --> 01:59:48,052
...le pido permiso para pasar al inglés...
58
01:59:48,223 --> 01:59:49,815
...el resto de la conversación.
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Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
Italian version subtitles
50
03:34:35,738 --> 03:34:36,853
Monsieur LaPadite,
51
03:34:38,458 --> 03:34:43,009
mi dispiace informarla che ho esaurito
la mia conoscenza del francese.
52
03:34:44,258 --> 03:34:47,853
Continuare a parlarlo in modo inadeguato
mi metterebbe solo in imbarazzo.
53
03:34:48,098 --> 03:34:51,773
Però sono venuto a sapere
che lei parla inglese piuttosto bene.
54
03:34:53,058 --> 03:34:54,047
Sì.
55
03:34:54,138 --> 03:34:58,131
Si dà il caso che lo parli anch’io.
Visto che siamo in casa sua,
56
03:34:58,418 --> 03:35:00,727
le chiedo il permesso di passare all’inglese
57
03:35:00,898 --> 03:35:02,490
per il resto della conversazione.
French version subtitles
4
00:02:08,211 --> 00:02:12,798
1941
5
00:07:38,499 --> 00:07:41,668
Si je sais qui vous êtes,
vous et votre famille,
6
00:07:41,752 --> 00:07:45,422
j'ignore si vous savez qui je suis.
7
00:07:46,340 --> 00:07:48,550
Connaissez-vous mon existence ?
The original version includes a subtitle in which it is specified that the
dialogue is in French “00:28:14,132 --> 00:28:15,167 (speaking French)”,
although the subtitles are in English. We consider that an additional subtitle
would have been necessary in order to highlight the switch to English.
Regarding the Spanish and Italian subtitles, they both mention Colonel
Landa’s lack of knowledge in French and his proposal of talking in English.
Nevertheless, there is no explicit reference to any type of language change in
the subtitles, as they continue in Spanish or Italian, respectively. We should
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highlight that the French subtitles are only used when the character is
speaking in a language other than French (at least in the DVD and BluRay
editions of the film distributed in Spain); as a consequence, this omission
may lead to a lack of comprehension or loss of information.
The subtitles of this first scene could be improved by including an
additional subtitle that shows the swift of language, as in the English
version. Moreover, in the three languages we are working with, the
references to English or French should be avoided in order to facilitate the
comprehension. This could be done by choosing the TL or without defining
it, as in the Spanish dubbing (“you can speak other languages”).
3.2. “It’s Called Suspicious”
3.2.1. Dubbing
The German double agent, Bridget von Hammersmark, has to introduce
the Basterds in the Nation’s Pride’s premiere. The Americans need to pretend
that they are from a different country in order to camouflage among the
audience. The actress asks a question that plays with the use of languages
“can you Americans speak any other language than English?” Donowitz
answers that Raine and he speak Italian, and she tinges “with an atrocious
accent”. According to this language “fluency”, Tarantino said in an
interview to Cahiers du cinema (Garson and Méranger, 2009) that the Basterds
are “faussement polyglottes”, they pretend their fluency in other languages
in an imperfect way: “comme souvent les Américains qui croient maîtrisser
une langue étrangère”.
Scene 18: OV (01:38:28 - 01:39:00)
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): I know this is a silly question
before I as kit, but can you Americans speak any other language than
English?
Donny Donowitz (D. D.): We both speak Italian.
B. v. H.: With an atrocious accent, no doubt. But that doesn’t kill us in
the crib. Germans don’t have a good ear for Italian. So you mumble
Italian and brazen through it. Is that the plan?
The Spanish and French dubbings omit the references to English, which
is replaced with a more general idea: “other languages” (algún otro idioma) or
48 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
“foreign languages” (des langues étrangères), respectively. Nevertheless, in
both cases Donowitz states that they manage (chapurreamos / on se débrouille)
to speak Italian.
Scene 18: Spanish (01:38:28 - 01:39:00)
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): Sé que es una pregunta estúpida
y suena a chiste pero, ¿podéis los americanos hablar algún otro
idioma?
Donny Donowitz (D. D.): Chapurreamos el italiano.
B. v. H.: Con un acento atroz, sin duda. Pero eso nos da una
posibilidad. Los alemanes no tienen buen oído para el italiano. Vais a
saltar al ruedo chapurreando italiano. ¿Ese es el plan?
Scene 18: French (01:38:28 - 01:39:00)
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): Je sais déjà que la question que je
vais poser est idiote mais... les Américains que vous êtes connaissent
des langues étrangères ?
Donny Donowitz (D. D.): On se débrouille tous deux en italien.
B. v. H.: Avec un accent atroce, sans aucun doute. Mais c’est pas ça qui
va nous tuer dans l’œuf. Les Allemands n’ont pas beaucoup d’oreille
pour l’italien. Donc vous la jouez au bluff. C’est ça, le plan ?
The Italian dubbing does not allow this reference, due to the fact that the
Basterds are continuously using the Italian language. The resource for this
scene is the reference to the Sicilian dialect, and this is the reason why the
actress says that they need to recite in order to change their accents like
actors:
Scene 18: Italian (01:38:28 - 01:39:00)
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): So che è una demanda sciocca
anche prima di farla, ma voi americani sapete recitare un po’ meglio
dei vostri amici?
Donny Donowitz (D. D.): Siamo tutti un po’ attori.
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B. v. H.: Allora fingetevi siciliani. Sarete un attore siciliano e i suoi
assistenti. I tedeschi non capiranno certo il dialetto. Quindi, barbottare
in italiano con una gran faccia tosta, è questo il piano?
3.2.2. Subtitling
The subtitles in the tree translations analysed in this paper do not follow
their respective dubbings, but they refer to the fluency in other languages
than English, when they are not really speaking English. These subtitles lead
to the spectator to be confused and aware that this is a translation, losing the
plausibility of the scene:
Table 2. Comparison of the subtitles in the scene “It’s Called Suspicious”.
English (OV) subtitles
1593
02:02:52,852 --> 02:02:56,003
I know this is a silly question before I ask it,
1594
02:02:56,092 --> 02:03:01,246
but can you Americans speak
any other language than English?
1595
02:03:02,052 --> 02:03:04,202
We both speak a little Italian.
1596
02:03:04,292 --> 02:03:06,681
With an atrocious accent, no doubt.
1597
02:03:08,372 --> 02:03:11,682
But that doesn’t exactly kill us in the crib.
1598
02:03:12,452 --> 02:03:15,171
Germans don’t have a good ear for Italian.
1599
02:03:18,932 --> 02:03:22,607
So you mumble Italian
and brazen through it. Is that the plan?
Spanish version subtitles
1362
03:31:05,183 --> 03:31:08,334
Sé que es una pregunta tonta
antes de hacerla,
1363
03:31:08,423 --> 03:31:13,577
pero ¿los americanos habláis
algo que no sea inglés?
1364
03:31:14,383 --> 03:31:16,533
Un poco de italiano, los dos.
1365
03:31:16,623 --> 03:31:19,012
Con acento atroz, sin duda.
1366
03:31:20,703 --> 03:31:24,013
Pero eso no nos elimina antes de empezar.
1367
03:31:24,783 --> 03:31:27,502
No tienen oído para el italiano.
1368
03:31:31,263 --> 03:31:34,938
Así que farfulláis en italiano y adentro, ¿no?
50 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
Italian version subtitles
1369
05:06:17,858 --> 05:06:21,009
So che è una domanda sciocca
anche prima di farIa,
1370
05:06:21,098 --> 05:06:26,252
ma voi americani
parlate altre lingue a parte l'ingIese?
1371
05:06:27,058 --> 05:06:29,208
Parliamo tutti e due un po' d'italiano.
1372
05:06:29,298 --> 05:06:31,687
Con un accento terribile, senza dubbio.
1373
05:06:33,378 --> 05:06:36,688
Ma questo non ci stroncherà sul nascere.
1374
05:06:37,458 --> 05:06:40,177
I tedeschi
non hanno un buon orecchio per l'italiano.
1375
05:06:43,938 --> 05:06:47,613
Quindi borbottate in italiano
con una gran faccia tosta. É questo il piano?
French version subtitles
1028
01:42:45,117 --> 01:42:48,411
Je sais que la question est idiote
avant même de la poser, mais...
1029
01:42:48,495 --> 01:42:53,916
parlez-vous tous autre chose que l'anglais ?
1030
01:42:54,751 --> 01:42:56,961
On se débrouille en italien.
1031
01:42:57,087 --> 01:42:59,589
Avec un accent atroce, je parie.
1032
01:43:01,300 --> 01:43:04,760
Mais ça ne devrait pas
nous empêcher d'avancer.
1033
01:43:05,596 --> 01:43:08,431
Les Allemands n'ont pas l'oreille
pour l'italien.
1034
01:43:12,311 --> 01:43:16,147
Donc vous la jouez au bluff.
C'est ça, le plan ?
The translator’s invisibility is lost in these subtitles with the reference to a
language that is not used in the dialogue. The subtitles could be improved
without this reference, by choosing a more general concept as “other
languages” or “foreign languages”. This change would be even more
necessary in the case of the Italian subtitles (Parliamo tutti e due un po'
d'italiano), as this statement is not logical considering that the whole
conversation is developed in Italian. For instance, it could be used a subtitle
like “We both speak a little Sicilian” (Parliamo tutti e due un po' di siciliano).
Multilingualism in Tarantino’s Inglorious basterds. Difficulties and strategies for dubbing… 51
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
3.3. “Italian Escorts”
3.3.1. Dubbing
The “Italian Escorts” scene is considered as the most humorous of the
film, and this joke is based on language. The original version shows Von
Hammersmark and Landa meeting in the cinema hall. These two friends
have German as their main language, so the scene was logically shot in
German, instead of in English. Nevertheless, the actress, after introducing
her escorts to Landa, turns into Italian to be understood by the Basterds:
Scene 21: OV (01:48:20 - 01:49:26)
Colonel Landa (C. L.): Wer sind denn Ihre drei freschen Begleiter?
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): Ich befürchte, dass keiner von
ihnen ein einziges Wort Deutsch spricht. Es sind Freunde aus Italien.
Dies hervorragende Sensationsdarteller Enzo Gorlomi. Ein sehr
talentierter Kameramann, Antonio Margheriti. Und Antonios
Kameraassistent Dominick Decocco. Signori, questo è un vecchio
amico mio, collonello Hans Landa della SS.
Aldo Raine (A. R.): Buongiorno.
C. L.: Signori, è un piacere. Gli amici della vedetta ammirata de tutti
noi, questa gemma della nostra cultura, saranno naturalmente accolti
sotto la mia protezione per la durata del vostro soggiorno.
The surprise of Landa speaking Italian is maintained in the Spanish
dubbing, despite the first part of the dialogue is in Spanish, not in German.
The actress claims that the three escorts have never been to Paris, so they
have not understood the previous dialogue.
Scene 21: Spanish (01:48:20 - 01:49:26)
Colonel Landa (C. L.): ¿Quiénes son sus apuestos acompañantes?
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): Los pobres no se enteran de
nada, es la primera vez que vienen a París. Son unos amigos de Italia.
Él es un maravilloso especialista, Enzo Gorlomi. Su compañero, un
cámara fabuloso: Antonio Margheriti, y el ayudante de cámara de
Antonio, Dominick Decocco. Signori, questo è un vecchio amico mio,
collonello Hans Landa della SS.
Aldo Raine (A. R.): Buongiorno.
52 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
C. L.: Signori, è un piacere. Gli amici della vedetta ammirata de tutti
noi, questa gemma della nostra cultura, saranno naturalmente accolti
sotto la mia protezione per la durata del vostro soggiorno.
The same strategy is used in the French version, although it can be
considered a bit more logical than speaking in Spanish due to the fact that
Landa and Von Hammersmark are in Paris. The actress explains that her
escorts are not good at foreign languages, avoiding any kind of reference to
German or any other specific language.
Scene 21: French (01:48:30 - 01:49:26)
Colonel Landa (C. L.): Bon, qui sont vos charmants compagnons ?
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): Autant, vous le prévenir, les
langues étrangères n’ont jamais été leur fort. Ceux sont des amis, ils
viennent d’Italie. Voici, l’exceptionnel et célèbre cascadeur, Enzo
Gorlomi. C’est son très talentueux caméraman, Antonio Margheriti. Et
l’assistant caméraman, Dominick Decocco. Signori, questo è un vecchio
amico mio, collonello Hans Landa della SS.
Aldo Raine (A. R.): Buongiorno.
C. L.: Signori, è un piacere. Gli amici della vedetta ammirata de tutti
noi, questa gemma della nostra cultura, saranno naturalmente accolti
sotto la mia protezione per la durata del vostro soggiorno.
In the Italian version, this scene has a bigger translation challenge, which
could have been solved following the original version dialogue structure.
This option would be the combination of German with subtitles together
with Italian language. As a resource, however, the Italian dubbing
distinguishes between the Italian language and the Sicilian dialect:
Scene 21: Italian (01:48:30 - 01:49:26)
Bridget von Hammersmark (B. v. H.): I miei amici sono siciliani. Le
presento il grande attore siciliano, Enzo Gorlomi, e il suo assistente
personale Antonio Margheriti, e il suo impareggiabile parrucchiere
Domenico Deccoco. Signori, lui è un vecchio amico mio, il colonello
Hans Landa della SS.
Aldo Raine (A. R.): Baciamo le mani!
Multilingualism in Tarantino’s Inglorious basterds. Difficulties and strategies for dubbing… 53
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
C. L.: Signori, è un piacere. Quante estati ho passato nella vostra
splendida Sicilia dall’Etna alle spiagge di Taormina. alle spiagge di
Taormina. Sarete naturalmente accolti sotto la mia protezione per la
durata del vostro soggiorno.
A. R.: Mizzica.
The differences between Italian and Sicilian are remarked by the use of
some specific Sicilian expressions, especially “baciamo le mani”. This is a
typical but old-fashioned expression from the South of Italy, and specifically
from Sicilia, so we consider that this is an interesting adaptation to keep the
spectator in the Basterds pretending.
3.3.2. Subtitling
The subtitles of this scene refer to a language which is not explicitly
reflected on them: German. The only version of subtitles where the swift of
languages is not ambiguous is English, which continues with its notifications
in capital letters (i.e. speaking Italian). Moreover, the English subtitles lightly
reflect the uncomfortable feeling of Raine and his lack of knowledge in
Italian, a resource not used in the other three versions. The resemblances of
the three sets of subtitles lead us to think that they are translations from
English, without considering the features of multilingualism.
54 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
English (OV) subtitles
1707
02:12:41,972 --> 02:12:43,451
So, who are your three
handsome escorts?
1708
02:12:45,812 --> 02:12:48,645
I'm afraid neither three speak
a word of German.
1709
02:12:49,332 --> 02:12:51,004
They're friends of mine from Italy.
1710
02:12:52,092 --> 02:12:57,041
This is a wonderful Italian
stuntman, Enzo Gorlomi. (…)
1713
02:13:07,292 --> 02:13:08,407
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
1714
02:13:08,492 --> 02:13:12,963
Gentlemen, this is an old friend,
Colonel Hans Landa of the SS.
1715
02:13:13,532 --> 02:13:14,567
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
1716
02:13:14,652 --> 02:13:15,687
Hello.
1717
02:13:15,932 --> 02:13:17,763
Gentlemen, it's a pleasure...
1718
02:13:18,092 --> 02:13:20,083
...the friends of our cherished star,
admired by all of us,
1719
02:13:20,172 --> 02:13:21,844
this outright jewel of our culture...
1720
02:13:22,212 --> 02:13:26,046
...are naturally going to be under my personal
protection for the duration of their stay.
Spanish version subtitles
1457
03:40:54,303 --> 03:40:55,782
¿Con quién ha venido?
1458
03:40:58,143 --> 03:41:00,976
Me temo que ninguno de ellos habla alemán.
1459
03:41:01,663 --> 03:41:03,335
Son amigos míos de Italia.
1460
03:41:04,423 --> 03:41:09,372
Un especialista italiano maravilloso,
Enzo Gorlomi.
(…)
1463
03:41:20,063 --> 03:41:25,296
Señores, un viejo amigo,
el coronel Hans Landa de las SS.
1464
03:41:26,583 --> 03:41:27,618
Buenos días.
1465
03:41:28,263 --> 03:41:30,094
Señores, es un placer.
1466
03:41:30,423 --> 03:41:32,414
Los amigos de nuestra querida estrella,
admirada por todos,
1467
03:41:32,503 --> 03:41:34,175
esta joya de nuestra cultura...
1468
03:41:34,543 --> 03:41:36,693
...estarán naturalmente
1469
03:41:36,783 --> 03:41:38,375
bajo mi protección durante su estancia.
Multilingualism in Tarantino’s Inglorious basterds. Difficulties and strategies for dubbing… 55
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
Italian version subtitles
1463
05:16:06,978 --> 05:16:08,457
E chi sono
i suoi tre fascinosi accompagnatori?
1464
05:16:10,818 --> 05:16:13,651
Temo che nessuno dei tre
parli una paroIa di tedesco.
1465
05:16:14,338 --> 05:16:16,010
I miei amici sono italiani.
1466
05:16:17,098 --> 05:16:22,047
Lui è un meravigIioso cascatore italiano,
Enzo Gorlomi. (…)
1469
05:16:32,738 --> 05:16:37,971
Signori, questo è un vecchio amico mio,
il coIonnello Hans Landa delle SS.
1470
05:17:41,418 --> 05:17:43,886
Bene, i miei due amici operatori
devono trovare i Ioro posti.
1471
05:17:49,098 --> 05:17:51,009
Immagino che avere gIi inviti della première
1472
05:17:51,098 --> 05:17:53,089
per gli amici non sia stato difficile,
1473
05:17:53,178 --> 05:17:54,577
per una diva del suo calibro.
French version subtitles
1102
01:52:59,355 --> 01:53:00,898
Qui sont vos charmants amis ?
1103
01:53:03,359 --> 01:53:06,361
Je crains qu'aucun d'eux ne parle allemand.
1104
01:53:07,030 --> 01:53:08,822
Mes amis sont italiens.
1105
01:53:09,908 --> 01:53:15,078
Lui est un cascadeur tout à fait exceptionnel,
Enzo Gorlomi. (…)
1108
01:53:26,216 --> 01:53:31,720
Messieurs, un vieil ami,
le colonel Hans Landa, des SS.
1109
01:53:33,056 --> 01:53:34,097
Bonjour.
1110
01:53:34,766 --> 01:53:36,725
Messieurs, enchanté.
1111
01:53:37,060 --> 01:53:39,102
Les amis de notre vedette adorée,
1112
01:53:39,229 --> 01:53:40,938
pur joyau de notre culture,
1113
01:53:41,356 --> 01:53:43,565
seront bien entendu
l'objet de ma plus vive attention
1114
01:53:43,691 --> 01:53:45,359
durant tout leur séjour.
Table 3. Comparison of the subtitles in the scene “Italian Escorts”.
The subtitles of this scene demand a sort of adaptation instead of a mere
translation. While in the case of the Italian subtitles a resource might be the
adaptation of its dubbing, the French and Spanish subtitles are more difficult
56 CRISTINA HUERTAS ABRIL
Estudios Franco-Alemanes 7 (2015), 37-57
to adapt. Nevertheless, a possibility could be the use of additional subtitles
showing clearly the language used, as it is done in the OV.
Conclusion
Nowadays, audiovisual translation is facing new challenges because of
multilingual audiovisual texts, which must meet the linguistic sensitivity of
heterogeneous audiences and different cultures. Despite the disadvantages
that subtitles and dubbing may have in some cases, we consider that these
translation processes are essential for multilingual films. It has been the
endeavour of this paper to prove that the complex nature of multilingual
films requires specific translation strategies. Furthermore, these strategies
used for a given target language may vary when translating into a different
language. The descriptive and comparative analysis of three representative
scenes of Inglourious Basterds, in which the language contact is remarkable,
support this idea, and may be an interesting idea for on-going and future
projects on multilingual films.
Moreover, our analysis intended to suggest some improvements for the
chosen multilingual scenes. In our opinion, there is a need for a closer
contact between the professional who translates/adapts the subtitles and the
professional who translates/adapts the dubbing. The outcomes of our study
show that further research needs to be done in this subject, and we consider
that communication between the two (or more) professionals involved may
improve the final results.
Further studies on Tarantino’s films could analyse the importance of
dialogues, especially the translation of dialects and language contact. The
most interesting element of audiovisual translation lies, indeed, in its
authenticity and the challenge of making real the oral source language when
translated into a different language.
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