Firefly Lost in French Translation

Ariel

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: Out of Gas
Next review: War Stories

General comments

My rating is on the fence for this one. But the bottom line is that there are many gross mistakes that change the story and the characters' motivation. This episode is a little better than the worst so far, but I must put it in the "bad ones" bin. The fact that there is no Chinese doesn't help either.

Interestingly, they replaced the "amygdala stripping" reference with an "arachnoid operation" to explain River's condition. I've done a bit of research on the arachnoid [mater] but was unable to learn if it is a biologically valid explanation. Maybe some of you will be able to enlighten me.

Translation score: 2/5
Chinese score: 0/4

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.

JAYNE and KAYLEE
- Smells like crotch.
- Jayne!
- Well, it does.
- C'est ton haleine qu'on sent, là?
- Jayne!
- Il ne se lave pas les dents.
- It's your breath we smell, now?
- Jayne!
- He doesn't brush his teeth.
Not really funny in French and we lose the link with the previous Simon and River exchange. The scene doesn't flow!

MAL, JAYNE and WASH
- Could've gotten off with Shepherd Book at the Bathgate Abbey. You could be meditating over the wonders of your rock garden right about now.
- Better'n just sittin'.
- It is just sittin'.
- Toi tu aurais dû descendre à l'abbaye San Sebastien. Tu serais en train de méditer sur ton sort en désherbant ton jardin potager.
- J'ai besoin d'action.
- Tu n'es pas tout seul.
- You should have got off at the San Sebastien abbey. You would now be meditating on your fate while weeding your vegetable garden.
- I need action.
- You're not the only one.
This is again less funny and the added complaint from Wash doesn't go well with its body language. Also note the puzzling but completely inconsequential abbey rename.

WASH
Can I use "Companion" as a verb?
Je ne savais pas qu'il fallait un permis.
I didn't know a licence was needed.
It already was established, since the beginning of the series that the companion guild was much regimented. Wash should know better. That being said, I don't think this line could have been translated as-is in French.

INARA
All Companions are required to undergo a physical exam once a year.
Toutes les prostituées doivent passer un examen médical une fois par an.
All prostitutes must pass a medical exam once a year.
They've used the term "compagne" before. Inara should have used it here. This is an unforgivable mistake for this character.

JAYNE (talking about leaving River and Simon)
Might even pick us up a reward for our troubles.
Après tout le mal qu'ils ont fait, ça serait normal.
After all the evil they've caused, it would be normal.
In my opinion, the reward allusion was the most important notion here.

MAL and WASH
- Alliance territory. Ain't any jobs worth havin'.
- Nor the last three places we been.
- Sur ce territoire, tout travail est bon à prendre.
- Pourquoi on n'est pas venu avant alors?
- On this territory, any work is good.
- Why didn't we come before, then?
No, no, and no. It is exactly the opposite of what he's saying.

SIMON and WASH
- Whatever the take, more than enough payment for what I have in mind.
- So the medvault's not the job?
- Quelle que soit la prise, ça vous rapportera bien plus que ce à quoi je pensais.
- Cette fois, va falloir nous en dire plus.
- Whatever the catch is, it will get you even more than what I was thinking of.
- This time, you'll have to tell us more.
Firstly, these sentences don't make much sense. Secondly, leaving out the medvault question makes the following response from Simon a bit disorienting for the audience.

MAL (about the stolen drugs)
And folks on the rim could use it.
Une petite goutte d'eau dans l'océan.
A small drop in the ocean.
Here, in French, our heroes are less heroic.

JAYNE
Hell, I don't know. If I'd wanted schooling, I'd have gone to school.
J'en ai marre de ton truc, là. J'arrête, c'est trop dur.
I have enough of this. I give up, it's too hard.
We're losing non trivial information for this character.

SIMON and JAYNE
- If those officers hadn't been armed, I think you'd have had a chance.
- Guy shoved me, I shoved back. Not like I was trying to mount a rescue.
- Still. I appreciate you trying.
- Ils ne sont pas armés. Je crois qu'on a une chance.
- Il m'a doublé, je le doublerai. J'ai fait tout le boulot pour lui.
- C'est vrai. Je comprends ta colère, et je la partage.
- They're unarmed. I think we have a chance.
- He double-crossed me, I'll double-cross him. I did all the work for him.
- That's true. I understand your anger, and I share it.
Big, big mistake. It clearly states that Simon knows that Jayne has betrayed them and he accepts it matter-of-factly. At the risk of repeating myself, it's a very stupid mistake.

MC GINNIS
We got it all down.
On les a descendus.
We shot them down. or, more probably, We brought them downstairs.
I put the two possible meanings because, at first, I really understood that they killed them. In French, this expression is almost always used in this fashion.

RIVER
Two by two. Hands of blue. Two by two. Hands of blue.
Ils sont revenus. Ils sont revenus. Les mains bleues. Ils sont revenus.
They came back. They came back. The blue hands. They came back.
Yet, they translated as-is the "two by two" expression in "The Train Job". Why not here?

WASH
We'll be out of atmo in five minutes.
Tu permets que je reprenne mes esprits? Merci.
Do you allow me to get my wits back? Thank you.
I'm having a hard time finding a reason for this change.

MAL (responding to Jayne protesting that the alliance arrested him)
Which is what happens when you call the feds.
Oui. Tu les as appelés et, donc, ils t'avaient localisé.
Yes. You called them and, so, they located you.
But that was Jayne's plan! This is not a good retort from Mal.

Thanks for reading!

Michel

Previous review: Out of Gas
Next review: War Stories