Michael Wilson and Dr. Anca Sprenger, French and Italian Languages
The “new wave of Romanian Cinema,” as the recent success of films by a handful of Romanian directors has been named, has made quite a splash in the pool of International Cinema. At the Cannes International Film Festival, the most prestigious film festival in the world, Romanian films have been taking the competition by surprise. In the last 4 years, Romanian directors have taken home seven prestigious awards, including two Palme d’Or, the equivalent of the grand prize given at Cannes. A.O. Scott, a film critic for the New York Times, puts it this way:
“The notion that Romania could emerge as one of the most vibrant and exciting filmmaking centres in Europe, if not the world, would have seemed far-fetched a decade ago. And yet, in four short years a generation of remarkably talented young Romanian directors have produced an impressive body of films that have consistently landed at the top of international critics’ polls and in the coveted top tier of film festivals from Cannes to New York” (Scott).
There are many reasons why the recent success of these films would be considered astonishing, not least of which is that, in the words of one of the winning directors, Christi Puiu, “there is no Romanian film industry.” There are around eighty cinemas serving a country of twenty-two million people, and seven of the forty-two largest municipalities have no movie screens at all. (In the United States there are almost 40,000 screens) (Scott).
Thus, recent Romanian Cinema success is astounding. At our very own International Cinema here at BYU, however, we do not currently present any Romanian films. I proposed, therefore, to provide a translated and subtitled Romanian film to be hereafter available for display at the International Cinema, as well as in the entry level Romanian classes offered here at BYU. The award-winning films from recent years are, unfortunately, inconsistent with BYU standards and inappropriate for display at the International Cinema, but I felt that an exploration into the archives of Romanian cinema would provide insight into origins of Romanian film and the inspiration of modern Romanian cineastes. I therefore proposed to provide a subtitled translation of the DVD “Mofturi,” or “Fancies.” The film is a charming film adaptation of a compilation of short theatrical pieces by early 20th century Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale. His playful sarcasm and wit make for a highly entertaining viewing experience, and it was very fun to translate.
Having never done translation before, I was surprised at the amount of research that was required for accurate translation. The script, being written by Caragiale in the early 1900’s, contained many expressions and nuances that are no longer used. My knowledge of the Romanian language is limited to the current vernacular, and it therefore required a bit of research to even understand many of the expressions used. Then I had the task of trying to convey those nuances in the English language, while trying to preserve the tone and voice of the original Romanian script. In fine, it involved more research and consulting with my mentor (a native Romanian) than I had anticipated.
Another unforeseen difficulty in understanding the original script was in deciphering the words themselves. The film is an older one, and, as is the case with some of our early American films, the dialogues are characterized by very rapid speech. This, combined with the out-of-use expressions and even verb tenses described above, made for some slow going. Often I would play a single line over and over a dozen times before I either realized what they were saying, or gave up and sought a native Romanian ear to decipher it for me. It made for some slow and, at times, tedious translating.
The whole experience turned out to be a very fulfilling and enjoyable one for me. I learned much about the process of translation, gained a deeper understanding of the Romanian language, and developed a greater appreciation of Romanian cinema and theater, as well as of the Romanian culture in general. I am grateful to the generous donors of the ORCA institution for providing me this wonderful opportunity I would have otherwise never had.
Sources
- Scott, A.O.. “New Wave on the Black Sea”. New York Times. 12/30/09 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/magazine/20Romanian- t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>.