'The English Patient'

'The English Patient'

From Kompas

I recently saw the film The English Patient in one of the
cinemas in Jakarta. The film was really good, but not so the
Indonesian subtitles. Some phrases were simply odd if not
entirely wrong. Other sentences were hilarious.

Here are some examples:

"Indifferent" became tidak beda meaning "not different".

"Races" in "See you at the races." was understood as pertemuan
ras, i.e. "a meeting of races".

"For donkey's years" was interpreted as sejak tahun keledai
which is equivalent to "since the year of the donkey".

"Retreat" as a noun was treated as a verb, which resulted in
mundur meaning "to retreat".

There were many other mistakes.

This letter is meant as a warning for Indonesian consumers
that the quality of film subtitles is also sub-standard.

If you have become confused reading film subtitles, the
problem is probably not you, but the company producing the
subtitles.

Is there no quality control on film subtitles? Would the YLKI
(Indonesian Consumers' Foundation) not be interested in probing
into the question?

TIM BABCOCK

Jakarta