On Translation of English Film Titles

1、On Translation of English Film Titles王佳利ThefirstfilminworldhistorywasreleasedinFranceintheyear1895.Untilnow，thefilmindustryhasdevelopedforover100years.Filmshavebeenandispensablepartofpeopleslife，whichisnotonlyoneofthemostpopularwaystoentertaintheaudience，butalsoamediaforcross-culturalexchanges.Asucc

2、essfultranslationoffilmtitlesnotonlyhelpsthemoviewintheboxoffice，butalsohelpsthemoviegetanenduringfame.Thisthesisisbasedonthefeaturesofforeignfilmnamesandmainlydiscussesthefilmtranslationinthelightoftranslationprinciples.PrincipleofHumanisticCultureBecausethereisabiggapinculture，thewayofexpressionan

3、dhabitsofthinkingarealsototallydifferentbetweenChinaandwesternnations，whichcanbereflectedbysomefilmtitles.ThepoeticandartistictitlesareemployedbytheChinesemovies，suchas?花樣年华?IntheMoodForLove，?夜宴?TheBanquet，?无极?ThePromise，etc.Therefore，thestyleofChinesemovieisadoptedbysometranslatedEnglishfilmnames.P

4、rincipleofSocialCustomsWhentranslatingsomefilmshaveculturalbackgroundinfluencedbydistinctiveenvironmentalfactors，itsspecialbackgroundofcultureofamovieshouldbeattachedmuchmoreimportance.Whatsmore，theEnglishfilmnamestranslationisbothaspecialactivityofrecreationandawayofthecommunicationofsocialcustoms，

5、therearemanydifficultiesinthetranslationofmovietitlescausedbydiversitiesinlivingenvironment.EveninChina，therearetotallydifferentversionsofsomesamemovienames，whichiscausedbydistincthistoricaltraditionandsocialcustoms.Inmanycases，itisdifficulttorealizetheunificationofthetranslationofEnglishmovienamesi

6、nthemainland，HongkongandTaiwan.Therearelotsofdifferencesinformandcontentduetodifferentlivingenvironmentandsocialcustoms.TakethefamousAmericanmoviePrettyWomanasanexample，whichhasthreevisionsoftranslation.Thefilmistranslatedinto“漂亮女人inmainland，“风月俏佳人inHongKongand“麻雀变凤凰inTaiwan；thetranslationsofthemovi

7、eHomeAlonearealsoverydifferent，itistranslatedinto“单独在家inmainland，“宝贝智多星inHongKongand“小鬼当家inTaiwan；Anotherexample，themovieAmericanBeautyistranslatedinto“美国丽人inmainland，“美丽有罪inHongKongand“美丽心玫瑰情inTaiwan.Thedifferencesinsocialculturethatarecausedbydifferentlivingenvironmentalsobringanotherseriousproble

8、m：mistranslation.themosttypicaloneistheveryfamousfilmOneFlowovertheCuckoosNest，whichistranslatedinto“飞越疯人院inmainland.PrincipleofReligiousBeliefSometimes，afierceconflictmayhappentotwodistinctreligionduetothelackofmutualunderstanding.ThemostofChinesepeoplebelieveintheBuddhism，theydonthaveabetterunders

9、tandingofthecontentofChristianityandtheBible.Onthecontrary，thepeopleofwesterncountriesmayfeelconfusedaboutmeaning“YuDiofTaoism，thesymbol“YanWangofBuddhism，theGodofrain“LongWanginthemythoftheancientcultureofChina.Therefore，itisnecessaryfortranslatorstodosomesupplementorfurtherexplanationsinthetransla

10、tionofsomefilmswithreligiousculture，inordertoavoidconfusingtheaudienceandenhancingtheirunderstandingofthefilm.TakethefamousAmericanmovieSevenasanexample，itisahorrorfilmreflectsthesevendeadlysinsintheBible.Seenfromthewesternersreligiousbelief，thenumber“sevenismystical，theybelievethatitisGodthatcreate

11、sthewholeworldwithinsevendaysandcreateshumanbygivinglifetoEveandAdam.Thereisnodoubtthatthefar-reachingmeaningof“sevenistocorrectpeoplescharacterandreligiousbelief.Fortheaudienceofwesternnations，itisveryeasytoguessitsconnotativemeaningofthenumber“seveninwesternreligiousculture.FeaturesofEnglishFilmTi

12、tlesTranslationArtFeatureInsomedegree，thefilmistheproductofmodernsociety，whichisalivingart.Thereisadistinctdifferencebetweenthemovieandotherartforms，suchasbooks，paintingsandculturalrelics，thefilmscangivepromptresponsestosomechangesofoursociety.Tograspitsaudiencesattentionimmediatelyisoneofthemainsgo

13、alsofthetranslatedmovienames，whichcanbeachievedbyusingtheartfeature.But，theChineseandEnglishtitlehavealotofdifferencesinphonologyandrhetoricduetothedifferencesinlanguageandculture，whichbringslotsofinconveniencetothetranslationofmovienames.Englishmainlyreliesoninflectionandintonation，whileChineselays

14、muchmoreemphasisontonality.ThealliterationandrhymeareoftenusedbytheEnglishmovietitlestocreaterepetitioninpronunciation：GonewiththeWind?絕代佳人?andSenseandSensibility?理智与情感?，theyhaveadoptedtheapproachofalliteration；Thefollowingtwomovienamesusethemethodofrhyme：WhenHarryMetSally?当哈里遇见萨利?andMutinyontheBoun

15、ty?叛舰喋血记?；ThedifferenceisthatChinesepreferstooverlapthesamephraseandcauserepetitioninitsstructureandrhyme，suchas?甲方乙方?TheDreamFactory，?不见不散?BeThereOrBeSquare，?甜蜜蜜?Comrades：AlmostALoveStory，etc.AlthoughitishardtoachieveunitedrepetitionbetweentheChineseandEnglishmovienamesaccordingtoitsvoiceandstructu

16、re，someextremelysuccessfulexamplesexistinthetranslatedmovienames.OneofthethemistheEnglishmoviesSingingintheRain，theword“singingandtheword“rainemploythemethodofrhyme，itsChineseversion?雨中曲?skillfullyusethepronunciationof“雨and“曲，whichalsoemploytherhyme.EconomicFeatureFilmtitlesshouldbelongtotheadvertis

17、ingstyleinthefieldofstylistics.Astrikingandoriginalfilmtitlecanreallyenhancetheattractionandappealofthewholefilm，whichmayeasilyarousetheaudiencespsychologicalidentification，satisfythedifferentexpectation，meetthedemandinvisualsenseandauditorysenseandsuccessfullyincreasetheboxofficeearnings.Somecomedi

18、esrevolvearoundthechildren，translatorsoftenuse“小鬼，“小子tonameafterthefilmtitle：HomeAlone?小鬼当家?，AreWeThereYet?小鬼上路?，etc；Someactionmoviestendstoemploy“豪情，“铁血toshowthemasculinityandmanliness：TheThreeMusketeers?豪情三剑客?，Predator?铁血战士?，etc.Asweallknow，oneofitsmainpurposeandinnatecharacteristicsofthetranslate

19、dmovienamesiscommercialism，thefilmmakersracktheirbrainstoattractpeopleseyesforthesakeofhighprofit.Sometimes，toachievethefilmscommercialvalue，theydidntpaymuchattentiontothepropertranslationoffilmtitles，lotsoftranslatedversionsarefarfromthesourcemovienames.Forexample，FindingNemo?海底總发动?，SisterAct?修女也疯狂

20、?，Leon，theProfessional?这个杀手不太冷?，etc.SocialFeatureEnglishfilmtranslationisapartofsocialactivities，whichisincludedintheculturalcommunicationcategory，someculturalvaluesarerevealedinthemovienames.Itisaveryvitaltaskofmovienamestranslationtoenhancetheexchangesofculturebetweenournationandthewestcountries.T

21、hewell-knownmovieTombRaider，itshouldbeliterallytranslatedinto“盗墓者，whilediggingthegravegoesagainstwiththetraditionalChineseethics，whichhasbeenregardedasaheinousact.Therefore，itisskillfullytranslatedinto?古墓丽影?byclevertranslators，theversionisbothloyaltoitscontentandsuccessfullyattractstheaudiencesatten

22、tion.Agoodfilmreallyreflectscertainculturalphenomenonandideologyofcertaintimes，filmtitlesarealsoareactionandrecordofpeopleslife.Somepressingsocialproblemsareevenincludedinthefilmtitles，theaudiencemaybecuriousaboutitscontent，toimaginethepotentialendingsandputforwardtheirsolutions.Forexample，thewell-k

23、nownfilmTheThirdMan，whichwonthe1949GrandPrixattheCannesFilmFestival.Thefilmtitleistranslatedinto“第三者，thereisnowonderthatthetranslationwillconfusetheChineseaudience，andtheymayconsideritisaboutaloveaffair.However，ithasnorelationwithethicrules.Infact，“thethirdmanreferstothethirdmanwhowitnessesacaraccidentinthefilm.Soth