Translator Rashid careful with words

Translator Rashid careful with words

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Local movie viewers will never see the Indonesian translation of
words such as "Arab terrorists" used in subtitles for Hollywood
films because Rashid Rachman translates it into kelompok teroris
(terrorist group), instead.

The viewers will also not read the proper translation of "make
love", "f..." or "have sex" along the bottom of the big screen as
Rashid will translate the words as bercinta (make love).

He translates other words such as "penis" and "vagina" as
kemaluan (genitals).

Many viewers may grumble at what they perceive to be Rashid's
frequent translation errors.

Not many people know about Rashid. As soon as a film ends
people usually make a mad dash for the exit.

Probably, only a few cinema goers have noticed his name at the
end of films in the credits: " ... diterjermahkan (translated by)
Rashid Rahman".

The 68-year-old Rashid is the most senior among three
translators working for the only film importer, PT Subtan Film,
of the Twenty-One Group. They translate the dialog from
colloquial English into colloquial Bahasa Indonesia, as far as is
possible, within the limits that cultural differences allow.

Rashid acknowledged that he also personally imposes a
restriction on sensitive words covered by the Indonesian acronym
SARA (ethnic affiliation, religion, race and societal groups).
The sensitivities behind these issues are often been deemed to
have led to conflict in Indonesia.

"If I didn't exercise censorship, the film censorship
authority would do it. If they miss something, people will
protest," he said in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.

He said many movie goers might complain that he did not
translate the dialog properly as he simply translates the film
from a copy of the script, without actually seeing the film.

He said the scripts arrived often only a week before the film
was due to be screened and he had two or three days to translate
the dialog, which could reach 1,000 pages.

"A film is translated by a translator. It's different to the
translation of television shows, which are usually done by four
people, including an editor. It's really stressful," he said.

He added that a film translator had only one day to edit the
translation while listening to the film soundtrack before it was
played in a cinema.

"We just guess the precise words from listening. We make
mistakes sometimes," he said, adding that not many people are
interested in the job because of the hard work it entailed.

Besides Rashid, the two other film translators are Yusuf Adi,
60, and D. Hery R., 54.

"Many applications come in for the job. But many people quit
after trying it. Now it's only three of us," Rashid complained.

He declined to discuss the payment he received from the
company, saying that it was based on the number of films he
translated.

"Sometimes, if there are no new films, we have nothing to do.
Some of us even resort to translating films for video," he said,
adding that before the economic crisis in 1997, he could
translate 30 films a month.

Rashid's interest in watching films started when he was a
young boy. He often spent his pocket money to watch films
together with his younger sister Rachmini, who is known also as
Mien Uno, the director of the John Robert Powers finishing
schools in Indonesia.

His interest in film translation was prompted after seeing
Desiree starring Marlon Brando, which was translated by noted
artist Asrul Sani in 1962.

"I still remember the film. The translation was very good; it
was beautiful," said Rashid, who is still single and considers
his colleague Hery as his adopted son. Rashid now lives alone in
a modest house in Baranangsiang, Bogor.

Rashid's first film translation was I Passed for White which
was produced by Allied Artists in 1963.

Born the fourth of eight children, Rashid never planned to
become a film translator. "I once dreamed of being a movie
actor," he said.

His educational background is not connected with his job. He
dropped out in the second year of his studies at the department
of agriculture of the University of Indonesia, which is now known
as the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.

"I always got sick when it was exam time at the university. So
I quit," said Rashid, who is also the older brother of noted
educator Arif Rachman.

He learned English formally during senior high school. But his
language skills were mostly gained from books and other
publications, including second-hand imported English newspapers
at that time.

He no longer uses a typewriter in translating a film script;
instead, he now uses a computer.

"I get really frustrated when the electricity goes off. I
can't do anything," he said.