'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