Lost in Translation

Yesterday was such an incredibly long day, it warranted a visit to two cafes in the evening (see next post). I had been in the theater by 8:30 a.m. (ugh) to watch Untraceable (ugh), and it was shitty DVD quality and "simultánním překladem." Steffen had warned me about these. This means that a man stands in the back and reads the script in Czech over a microphone, even "Mommy!" and "Hallo?" when Diane Lane says them in English. I strained to hear the dialogue and also to not fall asleep drooling in my comfortable stadium seat. A fellow critic that I see in the bathroom after every screening commented on how awful it was, and I enjoyed the brief camaraderie :)

Unfortunately In Bruges tomorrow is going to be the same way as Untraceable, although Shutter on Friday will be as usual I think- even if not, Japanese horror and its remakes are generally more about the ghostly staring children than the dialogue. I always want one of these kids, which a character will find sitting on top of his bed or lurking in the corner, to open their mouth and calmly ask for a bowl of cereal.

I've only made a misstep with the screenings once so far, with Paris Je'taime. I should've known of course that 2/3 would be in French with Czech subtitles...but I got the gist of the shorts, and only really cared for Tom Tkywer's True anyway. It's magic. Here's the 7-minute version that was used in the film: I hope you love it!!!