Lost In Translation

    I’m a movie junkie. Next to music, film is undoubtably my next favorite medium. As with most movie buffs, I have my set of favorite directors… and somewhere up there you will see the name “Akira Kurosawa”.

    Kurosawa is unarguably the most recognized Japanese director (although Hayao Miyazaki [of “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away” fame] might have a claim at that) with a prolific career that peaked in the 1950s. So far, I’ve seen several of his films: Dreams, Ran, Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Ikiru.

    Of course I rely only on the subtitles to understand the films… and there is where the problem lies. Any Kurosawa film is an experience, but I can’t help but somehow finish viewing and have a feeling that something is missing… that something was lost in translation (I think now I understand the Bill Murray-Scarlett Johansson film better).

    Alam mo yun… yun bang pag minura ka ng “Putang ina ka ah!” (pardon my french) tsaka pag minura ka ng “You’re a motherfucker!” (pardon my french, again) - mas tagos yung pag minura ka sa tagalog… mas dama mo yun poot… mas nakapanlalamig yung nararamdaman mo na galit.

    Language is a funny thing. You can translate all you want, but I don’t think any literary translation can ever capture the essence of what the original was, and how it was meant to be.