-
T
ranslationofEn
g
l
is
h
F
i
l
m
TitlesandtheCommer cialEffect
Abstr
act:
The
film
,
an
important
part
of
modern
li
fe
as
w
ell
as
a
special
k
ind
of
a
rt,
pla
y
s
an
im
ina
’
s
l
arge-
scaleimp ortofEnglishfilmsinrecentyears,ore,go
odtransla tionoffilmtitlescs
movie
ti
tles
a re, they incarnate the essence of the fi lm s and are important in bring ing them successfully tothe market. This
paper analy zes l ing uistic features of movie ti tles, discusses the principles and m ethods and
show s the com mercial effect a g ood m ovie ti tle ma yhave.
Keywords:linguisticfeaturesoffilmtitles,principle s,methods,commercialeffect
摘要：近些年来
,电影已经成为现代生活中不可缺少的组成部分
,
不仅在教育和娱乐等方面有了长足
的发展
,
其商业功
能也随着经济的发展越来越受到人们的重视。加之当今中国 大规模地引进外国影片
且以英语影片居多
,
这一切都对电
影的翻译
,
特别是电影名称的翻译提出了新的挑战。优秀的片名翻译
不仅为影片锦上 添花
,
而且也在新片的推介过程中
具有举足轻重的作用。电影片名虽然短小
,
却是整
部电影的高度浓缩和点睛之笔
,
还是打开观众心灵之门的一 把钥匙
,
也很大程度上决定了影片是否能
成功走向国际市场。本文从一些实 例入手
,
简单论述了片名语言特点、片名翻译的原
则、方法及成功
翻译的商业效应。
关键词：片名语言特点
,
翻译原则，翻译方法
,
商业效应
Introduction
Films are the product of entertainment mixed with art, which decides that the translation
of
movie
titles
is
different
from
some
other
kind
of
translations.
Translators
are
supposed
notto
s
t
i
ck
t
oth
e
pri
nc
ipl
e
sof
t
ransla
t
ion
nor
to
s
earchfornovel
t
ywit
hout< br>cons
i
deringt
h
e
orig
inalmeaning,
ticlemakesa
discussionabouttheco mme
rcialeffectagoodtitletranslationmayhaveonth ebasisofsome
i
ns
t
ances, c
om
bine
d w
ith t
he
featu
r
es of
movie
t
it
l
es and the meth
ods
of title translation.
1.
Fea tures of filmtitles
eystheinformationaboutthefilmandaims
to
attract
the audience.
Therefore,
it
is important
to have
a good
knowledge
of thefeatures
of
film
titles
so
that
a
proper
translation
can
be
made.
The
main
feature
of
the
movie
titlesis
briefandvivid,icaldevices,asakindof
literary
mean,
are
often
used
in
English
movie
titles;
as
a
result,
they
make
thelanguageexcitingandfullofwitandhumor. Inaddition,someidioms,allusionsandslangarealso
adopted in the translation of movie titles. Now, the paper lists some features of the
movietitlesfol
low.
1.1
L inguisticfeatures
Obviously,lmsde
no
m
i
na
tethe
msel
ve
saftert
hen
am
e
softheheroe
s
or
he
r
oi
nes,s
uc
h
a
s
J
ane Eyre,
E
dward
Scissorhands,HarryPotterVan
Helsing;Somefilmsare named after the place or time thestory happened, such as Grand Hotel
，
Pearl
Harbor
，
The
Apartment
，
Con
Air
，
Sahara;
Still
some
aft
e
r
the
pl
ot
,
The
C
ol
e
，
Die
H
ard
3
，
Brief
Encount
e
r
，
A
Lot
L
i
ke
Love;
and
som
eaf
terthetheme,Serendipity
，
Ghost,theti tlesareveryshort,oubtedlytherearealsosomerelative
longones,evena complete sentence.
For instance,
Wh
e
n a Man
Lov
e
s
a Wo
m
a n
，
It Happened
One
Night
and
I
Know
W
hat
You
Did
LastSumme
se,therearemoresh orttitlesthanthelongones.
Besides,
phrases,
especially
nounphrasesareused inalargenumberinfilmtitles,suchasAWalkintheClouds< br>，
DanceWith
Wolves
，
A
lmos
t
F
am
ous
，
H
om
eAloneandIn< br>t
he
B
edroom.I
n
Engl
i
s
h,
noun
i
spredom
i
nant
,be causeitprovidesamorevariablechoice
delyusedtode scribeactions,
changes, emotions and soon.
1.2
Artisticf
e
atur
e
s
The film is a modern art which has its unique artistic characteristics, and the movietitles
can
fully
reflect
its
artistry.
Generally
speaking,
the
artistic
of
the
movie
title
is
embodied
intheskillfulus
eof
rhetoricalde
vi
ceswhich
a
reoft
e< br>na
dopt
edin
E
ngli
s
hmovie
or
ical
devices
can
make
the
title
more
vivid
and
attractive
so
as
to
get
a
better
effect
of
publicity.
The
oftenusedrhetoricaldevicesinthemovietit lesincludemetaphor,personification,oxymoron,contra
st,
irony,
rhyme
a
nd
so
on,
ea
c
h
havi
n
g
it
s
s
pe
cia
l
f
eat
ur
e
a
n
d
effec
t
.
Take
i
r
onyfo< br>rinstance,ironyisamethodofhumorousorsarcasticex pressioninwhichtheintendedmeaning
ofthew
nyu sedinthemovietitlescanlea
d
t
he
audience
to
dee
ply
tho
u
g
ht
an
d
inspire them t
o
watch the fi
l
m. F
or
anot
he
r example,the use of metaphor in
movie titles can concisely and clearly reveals the theme of the film,firing people's imagination.
At the same time, the cantabile and vivid language guidestheaudience to enjoy the charm of art.
For example:
Sense and
Sensibility(alliteration)Tiger!
Tiger!
Tiger!(repetition)True
Lies(oxymoron)
OneFlewoverthe
Cuckoo’s
Nest(metaphor)
Th e
Green Grass of Home(alliteration)
Old Wives for New(contrast)
O
bv
i
ou sly,theuseof
r
het
ori
caldevicesmakes thefilm
t
itleconci
s
e
,
viv
i
dand
l
ife-
l
i
keas
wella sarousesthe
audience’s
s,theuseofrhetoricald evicescanreach
‘F
ive
Beauty’:
beautyi nassociation--simile,beautyinchange--irony,beautyi n
balance--
c
ont
rast,
b
eautyi nempha
s
i
s
--re
pe
ti
t
ion,a
nd
be
a
utyinsound--
a
le
audiencesmeetwiththemovietitleswithskillful rhetoricaldevices,theywill
step
into
thetheater with theircuriosity.
1.3
Culturalfeatures
A
considerablenumber
of
films
employa
brand
of
Anglo-American
culturalidioms,allusi onsandslangs,whicharetheembodimentofthemainmanifes tationsofAnglo-
American
cultu
r
e
--
the
es
senc
e
of
t
h
e
Engli
s
h
Languag
e.
T
he
main
function
of
the
fil
m
i
s
to
bea
reflection
of
reality,
reproducing
the
events
the
majority
of
people
pay
close
attention
to.
Allgood movies are products of the combination of a particular cultural and ideological trend
of
theti mes.
T
hatthecul
t
uraless
e
nce oft
hef
ilmcanbew
e
llrefl
ec
te dby
t
h
e
m
ovi
e
t
itles< br>i
sjust
attributedtothe
useoftheseidio ms,allusionsandslangs.
It
is
knownthat
Britainand
the
United
States
are
mostly
Christian,
which
has
a
great
influence
on
《
their
films.
七
A
lot
宗
ofallusionsareorigi
n
atedinB
i
bl
ea
ndChristianmy
t
holo
g
y,whi ch
pl
ayasi
g
ni
f
icant
rol
ein
t
heformi
ng
of
eSeven< br>philosophy
in
dark
罪
》
,afamo us1995psychologicalthrillerasan
example.
This
film
tells
a
great
crime
story
of
colors
with
a
strongvisualimpact
.Ac
r
az
ykill
e
rrega
r
de
d
h
i
m selfasGod,mu
r
de
r
ingpeopl
e
o neby
one
accordi
n
g
t
othe
s e
ven
Catholic
death
penalties,
which
are
gluttony(
饕
餮
),
greed(
贪
婪
),
sloth(
懒
惰
),
lust(
淫
欲
),
pride(
骄
傲
),
envy(
嫉
妒
)
and
wrath(
暴
怒
).
Seven
is
a
very
mysterious
religious
figure(I tis
showed
f
ullestinthe
?Old
Te
stamen
t
?,
s
uch
asthatGod
cre
at
ed
A
dam
with
se
v
en< br>days,Adam
m
ade
of
Eve
out
of
the
seventh
ribs,
Satan
is
the
Fire
Dragon
with
seven
heads
in
its
original
image,etc.)Inthefilm,
?seven?is
omnipresent :sevensins,sevenpenalties,sevenrains,thesev
ent
h
da
y
the
s
to
r
ytookplace
an
d
even
theend
o
f
thestoryhappenedin
se
ve
n
o’cl
ock
i
n
t
he
seventhday.
?
S
even?implies
sanotherfilm
Ame
r ican
Beauty
《
美
国
蔷
薇
》
whose
title
has
the
same
origin.
American
ful,holy,onbehalfofth enoblesacr
edlove,ingtomythology,agodoflovewant ed
to
pick
a
rose
to
his
lover.
As
he
was
too
excited,
his
finger
was
punctured
by
thestem,his
blood
sprinkling
on
the
rose
petals,
making
the
white
flower
red.
Then
the
god
of
love
sloverknewwhathadhappened,shewasso
touched
that in return she decided to devote her whole love to the god. So later the red rose
represents
the
pure
and
perpetual
love
and
is
very
popular
among
young
lovers.
The
film
drewa< br>nanal
o
g
yb
et
w
eenther
os
e
a
ndthe
l
overan
de
xpre ssedthe
i
r
g
oodfeeli
ngs
t
ow
ardse
a
chothe
rviarose,
makinga combinationofthebeautifulflowerandthebeauty.
In
addition
to
theallusionormythology,alotof
informationa lidiomsandslangsalsooftenappearinthefilmt
itles ,
s
uc
h
asFirstWivesClub
《
发
妻
俱
乐
部
》
,a
com
edy
w
hich
t
olda
s
t
or
yt
ha
tr
e
unit
e
dby
thedeathofacollegef riend,threedivorcedwomenseekreve
ngeonthehusban dswholeft
?firstwives?are
differentfromi tsmeaninginCh
ineseculture.
A
fourth ex
a
mpl
e
is one of the c
l
ass
i
cal films in Ame
r
ica, The Third Man
《黑狱亡
魂
》< br>,
whic
hwastranslatedto
《
第
三
者
》
atfirst,whosetitlebeingmistakenforafilm aboutmarriageand
ly,
?
T
h
e
Thi
rd
Man?stands
forthethirdwitnessofthe a
cc
i
dentin
t
he
f
n,
Rambo:FirstBloodha
d
al
w
aysbe
e
nt
r
a
ns
l
a
tedto
《第
一
滴
血
》
,
which
wasamist ranslation.
?Firstblood?is
anidiominEnglish, meaningwinthefirst battle.
2.
Principlesofmovietitles translation
Generally
speaking,
the
movie
title
has
the
functions
as
summing
up
the
thrust
of
thefilm,
ref
lecting
the
fil
m
st
yle
and
setting
the
keynote
.
W
i
t
h
some
lyr
ic,
thril
l
i
ng
or
dram
a
ti
catmosphere,
functions
mentioned
reflect
the
principles
of
translation,
that
is
principle
ofinformational
func
tion,
pri
nc
iple of
a
es
t
het
i
c function and princi
pl
e of imp
e
rative func
t
ion.
2.1
The principleof informationalfunction
Informational
function
refers
to
the
message
conveyed
by
the
language
itself.
Thewriter
hol
ds
that
i
t
’
s
b
e
st
to
adoptli teraltranslationto
m
ake
the
v
ersi on
c
losest
to
the
o
rigi
na
l
meaning of the movie titles. If some movie titles cannot be translated literally, the
translator
erwhichmethod
i
s
adopted, t
h
e
t
ranscript should s
how
the
ori
gi
na
l
m
eani
ng
a
s
muc
h
a
s
it
c
an. Here ar
es
ome
examples:Roma
nHolida
《
y
罗马假 日》
,America
’
sSweetHea
rt
《
s
美国甜心》
,America
nBea
uty
《美国大美人》
, Six Days Seven Nights
《六天七夜》
, Scent of Women
《女人香》
, LoveStory
《爱情故事》
, Wa ter World
《水世界》
, Air Force One
《空军一号》
, BraveHeart
《勇敢的
心》
, Dance with Wolves
《与狼共舞》
, The Silence of the Lambs
《沉默的羔羊》
and soon.
2.2
The pr inciple of aestheticfunction
Aesthetic
function
is
reflected
in
the
adoption
of
various
language
forms
whichlargelystimulate the imagination
of the audience
and their
desire
for watching
as well
as
give
etranslatorhave
themthe
enjoymentofartand
ranslationprocessis
justaprocessofcreating artand
mple,whentranslatingalovecomedyAMonthbyt heLake,th
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