I watch a lot of foreign language films, and read a lot of translated literature and I always try to imagine what I’m missing out on by not reading or taking in media in it’s original language.
In film, are there some significant mistranslations that has led non-native speakers of the language to interpret something different from the movie?
Thanks!
In ‘Parasite’, the “Ram-Don” scene.
Ram-Don was completely made up for the film for English speaking audiences. They actually say Jjapaguri (or Chapaguri) which is a portmanteau of two types of Korean instant noodles, Chapagetti and Neoguri. The subtitle translator found that Jjapaguri was difficult for English speakers to understand, but they would likely be familiar with the Japanese noodle dishes, Ramen and Udon, so she combined them into Ram-Don.
It’s doesn’t change the meaning too much, but I do take some issue with going from Korean to Japanese in the translation, kind of lumping different types of Asians under the same umbrella, especially since Jjapaguri is a uniquely Korean Dish. But I know people have differing opinions on this.
BONUS: That whole scene also subtlety illustrates the film’s theme of classism as well because Jjapaguri, is more of a cheap, comfort food. But Mrs. Park insists that sirloin is added, changing it into this fancy meal. There is another mistranslation here. Mrs. Park actually calls it “Hanu” (loosely meaning premium beef, similar to Japanese Wagyu in its reverence). Using sirloin, while not being a cheap cut of beef, doesn’t accurately reflect the significance of using such a high quality meat. The fact that the family can afford to use such premium beef in instant noodles so casually shows how wealthy they are. Jjapaguri is not an marker of wealth, but putting Hanu in it, definitely is.
Yeah, that’s a very interesting one also. Moving internationally because you don’t want to introduce Korean instant noodles to the audience.
And then saying sirloin instead of hanu or wagyu(which would have the same international problem) is also bizarre…
Thanks. You’re right, those are more subtle mistranslations, but I think they’re both great answers here.
I did read that they regretted using sirloin because it doesn’t have the same effect, but I do kinda wish they had done something other than ram-don. I mean, just call it instant noodles. I feel like most English speaking audiences would understand that, probably moreso than even Ramen or Udon, and especially making up a word.
Agreed, since the joke is such low class noodles mixed with high class beef, calling it instant noodles would make a lot more sense for a broader audience than a different new portmanteau that they’re not any more likely to understand.