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As Indonesian cinema goes global, subtitlers remain behind the scenes
As Indonesian film gets more attention from movie buffs worldwide, so does the need for quality subtitling, but the industry remains immature with a lack of standards.
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Movie industry representatives join a panel discussion on subtitling at Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta on Saturday. (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)
As Indonesian film gets more attention from movie buffs worldwide, so does the need for quality subtitling.
The term quality here implies that the subtitle not only translates what is spoken in an accurate and easy-to-read way, but that it also aptly conveys the emotions of the characters and the nuances of the whole movie.
That requires skill and extensive experience from the subtitler, but also enough time to complete the task.
“In our case, subtitling is often the last thing [on people’s] mind,” said Rizal Iwan, a subtitler whose latest works include Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, which was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and screened in the US and Canada last year.
Rizal said that, even though the goal of subtitling was to remain invisible to the viewer so as not to distract from the experience of the move, the job should not be underestimated.
“It’s important for the filmmaker to sit together with the subtitler and watch how the work looks on screen or at least make time to review and communicate with the subtitler,” said Rizal, who is also a writer and actor.
“A single, overlooked slip-up in the subtitle may see a film dropped by a festival committee. One cannot put the blame on the subtitler alone, because it’s supposed to be teamwork.”
