Firefly Lost in French Translation

Bushwhacked

This article is part of a series of reviews analysing the translation work for the French dubbed Firefly series and movie(s). It is intended for anyone who would like to know a little better how a French audience would perceive Joss' wonderful creation.

Introduction to this series
Previous review: The Train Job
Next review: Shindig

General comments

Another good translation work for this episode. Of course, considering that there is less dialog and humour in it, one would expect such a result.

For a second time in a row, most of the Chinese lines have been preserved. However, there are a few mildly important omissions or errors, so I'm not giving it a perfect score.

As a side note, in this episode I noticed that quite a few "Sir" said by Zoe have been replaced by "Mal". It lessens the respectful and military attitude of Zoe towards Mal. I'll try to keep this fact in mind when reviewing future episodes. I'm curious to see if this is prevalent throughout the series.

The Chinese roster:
Kept - When Jayne sees the derelict ship.
Kept - When Mal finds the corpses.
Omitted - When Wash asks about the gun shots over the com.
Kept - When Wash learns of the attacker's identity.
Kept - When Mal learns about the survivor's mutilation.
Kept - Back on the bridge, when Jayne refers to Harken.

Translation score: 4/5
Chinese score: 5/6

Chosen Excerpts

The various excerpts analyses are formatted like this:
In red is the original line.
In blue is the French translation replacing the original lines.
In green is my English translation of the French lines.
In regular text is my personal comment on the translation work for the excerpt.

SIMON and INARA
- I don't know if I'll be able to help her here. And I need to help her.
- Simon, you are.
- Je ne sais pas comment je vais pouvoir l'aider. Je me sens tellement coupable.
- Ne dites pas ça voyons!
- I don't know how I will help her. I feel so guilty.
- Don't say that!
This is a significant addition to this character's psychology. I don't think he ever expressed this kind of guilt in the series.

JAYNE
Then he decided to take a swim, see how fast his blood would boil out his ears.
Quand il s'est retrouvé seul, il s'est tellement ennuyé qu'il a voulu voir du paysage.
When he found himself alone, he got so bored that he decided to explore the landscape.
No comments.

MAL
That ship was hit by Reavers.
Son vaisseau a été attaqué par des Ravageurs.
His ship has been attacked by Ravagers.
The problem is that they used the word "Termite" in the pilot, not "Ravageur".

MAL
Reavers might take issue with that philosophy. If they had a philosophy. And if they weren't too busy gnawing on your insides.
C'est une philosophie qui ferait rire les Ravageurs, s'ils avaient une philosophie au lieu de passer leur temps à massacrer les autres.
It's a philosophy that would make the Ravagers laugh, if they had a philosophy instead of passing their time slaughtering others.
The important allusion to cannibalism is missing.

MAL
Reavers sometimes leave 'em behind for the rescue ships.
Les Reavers en posent quand ils quittent un vaisseau.
The Reavers sometimes install them when they leave a ship.
Talk about confusing the audience! What's a Reaver? I thought they were called "Termite"... No! Wait... "Ravageur". Of course, the context is clear and the viewer should easily make the connection.

BOOK
Don't be a fool, son.
N'aie pas peur, mon fils.
Don't be afraid, son.
No comments.

HARKEN
Siblings. Adult siblings.
Et j'ai parlé d'adultes. Il est médecin.
And I talked about adults. He's a doctor.
No comments.

SOLDIER
(Silence) (When he reports what he has seen in the infirmary.)
Monsieur. Infirmerie.
Sir. Infirmary.
This scene in French is slightly strange. These two words are uttered very clearly and loudly, but we don't hear any other words. Hardly enough for Harken to understand what happened.

ZOE
Fight with him sometimes, too.
Ça m'arrive très régulièrement.
It happens very regularly.
It seems that French people are more prone to domestic fighting!

ZOE
We're very private people.
Il s'agit de ma vie privée.
It concerns my private life.
It lessens the humour of Wash's interrogation that immediately follows.

WASH
Have you ever been with a warrior woman?
La souplesse d'une femme guerrière, je vous raconte pas.
The flexibility of a warrior woman, you can't imagine.
This is more funny in French, but, I had some troubles translating "je vous raconte pas". It's an expression that conveys a variety of emotions and meanings. I don't think that "you can't imagine" does it justice.

MAL
May have been on the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.
On a pu perdre la bataille, mais la cause est restée bonne.
We may have lost the battle, but the cause remained good.
A great retort slightly dumbed down in French.

(In French, you can hear no screams during the survivor's attack on the medical personnel.)

RIVER (to Simon, upon their return inside the ship)
Coming back.
Il ne revient pas.
He's not coming back.
This is supposed to be an indication of River's ability to sense the survivor's return. It was spoiled by inversing its meaning in French.

ENSIGN
(We don't understand what he's saying to Harken.)
Le blessé, il s'est enfui de l'infirmerie. Il a disparu.
The wounded, he escaped from the infirmary. He disappeared.
They've done it again! Inventing a piece of dialog where there is none in the original version. Strange!

That's it. Thanks for reading!

Michel

Previous review: The Train Job
Next review: Shindig