Foreign Film Sub-titling
"It's a piece of cake" is an expression often heard in foreign films. Suppose it is dubbed on Korean TV as "It's like eating cooled porridge," few Korean viewers can guess the original English expression. Demands are rising that foreign films are sub-titled on TV instead of being dubbed. Of course, some are opposed to it on grounds that "dubbing is another form of creation." But the current trend, prevailing among generations familiar with English, calls for sub-titling, reasoning that "one can enjoy the original films to the maximum and learn English as well." The viewing rate is high on the film programs of the Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) which sub-titles all English-speaking foreign films. Viewers' web site bulletins too are full of "requests for sub-titling."
In June last year President Kim Dae-jung instructed a cabinet meeting to "work out a formula not to dub foreign films in Korean when broadcast, but sub-title them." Nothing has changed since, however. Culture and Tourism Minister Park Jie-won conveyed the "presidential instruction" to the broadcasting stations, but gave it up in the face of objections from the latter that "the broadcasters' programming rights are not subject to restrictions." "Riding on the globalization mood in 1994, one film was sub-titled every month," recalls Kim Ki-hong, director, broadcasting division, at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. "But the attempt came to an end in the face of group protests from dubbing artists... The government can hardly instruct broadcasting stations to do something one way or the other on a matter on which they have inherent rights."
EBS is the only station in the nation that sub-titles all English films. The other stations, following a few unsuccessful attempts, have settled down to dubbing. Five to six years ago when the globalization campaign was on, KBS attempted sub-titling mainly action films with less dialogue. But it suspended the attempt on grounds that "it's inappropriate for a public broadcaster to broadcast in English in place of the mother tongue." KBS is now sub-titling musicals like "The Sound of Music" only. Sometimes it sub-titles part of a foreign film. With "The Godfather," for example, KBS has sub-titled the whole scene of Al Pacino's exile in Sicily with a view to vividly conveying the original's atmosphere when dialogue shifted from English into Italian.
MBC and SBS also dub all English films. MBC, in an exceptional case in the 1990s, sub-titled the entire American series of "Beverly Hill" as the series was addressed to a young audience and because it suited the globalization trend. It also exceptionally sub-titled "Apollo 13" as a special feature for New Year's Day last year. The production team is said to have judged that a dubbing of the film, besides being difficult to execute, was quite liable to hurt the atmosphere of the original. Comments like "appreciated the film with a sense of reality," and "please sub-title all films in the future" adorned the web site bulletin.
The biggest hurdle to the sub-titling of foreign films, the producers cite inconvenience on the part of the audience. In our living room culture in which TV is regarded as "radio with screen," they explain, it is difficult for viewers to watch TV while eating. The advantage of TV film over a video film is "dubbing service," which can hardly be taken away from the viewers, they add. "Sub-titling of a foreign film invites a flood of protests that 'reading sub-titles leaves us with no extra energy to enjoy the film,'" says Lee Chang-woo, MBC film department director. "The principal role of TV films is not "studying," but entertaining. Hence no audience views can be ignored."
Also serious is a backlash from dubbing artists. The local production of a foreign film now costs W10 million on average. About 60 percent of the cost is payed to dubbing artists. One of the reasons for EBS to initiate sub-titling English films in 1994 was to save costs. Dubbing artists' job opportunities are falling not only with TV, but with radio as well. If all foreign films are sub-titled under such circumstances, experts say, 500-plus dubbing artists will be deprived of employment. "This also constitutes a reason making sub-titling difficult," film producers say.
Dubbing is essential to safeguard "cultural identify" like France and Germany, some assert. At this juncture in time when English is becoming a world language, they add, the broadcasting stations should rather safeguard the mother tongue. "Dubbing is not merely translating, but a creative activity rendering a foreign film into a Korean version," maintains Ha In-sung, KBS film production director. "As a public broadcaster, we are responsible to safeguard the identify of our language." Viewers wanting to study English may choose dual-broadcasting channels, he adds.
Nonetheless, demands are expected to increase further among the young audience that English films are sub-titled. For the number of viewers who want to see foreign films in the original are rising in line with enhanced English skills thanks to the Internet and business activities overseas. "English films on Korean TV dubbed in Korean have too many errors and awkward expressions in translation and skip dialogue too often," complains Kim So-yun, a 30-year-old office worker. "Sub-titling may be burdensome for some at the beginning, but they are bound to get familiarized with it ." A viewer observes in a dispatch to the KBS web site bulletin, "It's entirely because of dubbing that the TV series the 'X Files' was accused of being tasteless. It's quite natural that the original figuring out the culprit through the nuance of dialogues between the actors is rendered boring since the dubbing has been done based on a clumsy translation." Another viewer requested that "if not sub-titling, please feed the text of the original to the PC network."
Programme directors in favor of sub-titling are also on the increase. "PDs too are in favor of sub-titling from the perspective that it minimizes impairing of the original meaning," says An Kwang-hwan, MBC programming and planning officer. "If a film program targeted at a specific group of viewers comes along, it should be possible to sub-title it."
