Taiwanese Crime Movies

[Mariela Coxon]

Ifind same-language subtitles/captions for films and TV programs incredibly helpful and don't see eye to eye with some who suggest that they are somehow only for the hearing-impaired. For languages I know and speak well, I find that having both the sound and the written text complements my understanding so that I can be less focused. Accents across the English-speaking world are diverse and subtitles help me gain better appreciation of films and TV programming from other regions.

And as for languages that I am learning, subtitles are a valuable learning tool to check that I have heard a phrase correctly (often I discover that I know all the words in question but did not perceive the word boundaries correctly) and to note any words that I am unfamiliar with.

With respect to dubbing of films and TV programs in mainland China, actors are dubbed over all the time because of their (what is deemed strong) non-standard accents. On certain TV entertainment programs, there have been episodes which featured actors of popular TV dramas re-enacting lines in their heavily-accented Mandarin, which the audience finds hilarious because they are used to hearing their dubbed voices.

I do not recall the regulation in question, but as a matter of course, films released in mainland China cannot contain more than a certain amount of non-Manadarin topolect, which it seems would apply this film in question.

In countries that routinely dub all foreign language productions that sort of thing happens. For instance, the Switzerland-set episodes of the crime procedural Tatort are shot in Swiss German and broadcast this way in Switzerland. For Germany, they are dubbed into Swiss-accented Standard German. The Qubcois TV series Minuit, le soir was dubbed into Metropolitan French for broadcast by France 2.

In a similar vein, I have the impression that British productions that are intended for export take care to use internationally comprehensible English. A striking recent example was Gangs of London, which given the setting should have been all impenetrable Cockney, but surprisingly wasn't.

For instance, the Switzerland-set episodes of the crime procedural Tatort are shot in Swiss German and broadcast this way in Switzerland. For Germany, they are dubbed into Swiss-accented Standard German.

In Austria, TV productions are generally shot in Standard German with occasional limited code-switching even if in reality everyone would be speaking their dialect. Nobody blinks an eye; TV is socioculturally classified as belonging to the formal, supraregional register.

The movie "Daughters of the Dust" is in Gullah, a creole of English and west African languages. The auteur chose not to provide subtitles. Some reviewers actually appreciated this, finding that experiencing the emotional content of some scenes without fully understanding the dialogue was actually gratifying. Given my left brain personality, I found it frustrating, although the emotional arc of the story did come across.

Subtitles are useful if you want to listen to music and occasionally do something on the computer at the same time. Accepting multiple inputs makes me feel a little like David Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth.

Regarding David Marjanović's question about the gap between Taiwan Mandarin and "mainland Mandarin" in the film in question, I think the short answer would be that comprehension in this case suffers mainly because, as David puts it, "the protagonist peppers his speech with Southern Min". The longer answer would include: What exactly is meant by "mainland Mandarin" and "Taiwan Mandarin"? If the answer is the standard varieties as promulgated by the respective Ministries of Education (which, to be sure, only a minority of speakers on both sides have full control of), then I think comprehension is actually no problem. And if we mean Guoyu/Huayu and Putonghua as spoken by college graduates below the age of 50, then again, I think comprehension is no problem. The situation could be compared with that of speakers of American and British English.

The Hong Kong movies I've seen usually have Standard Chinese and English subtitles. However, I occasionally encountered movies, The Queen of Temple Street for example, subtitled in Colloquial Cantonese and English.

Thanks to Netflix and Amazon this is becoming a reality. My kids usually turn on English subtitles for English shows, despite being native English speakers with fine hearing. It is actually interesting to discover how much dialogue you miss without realising it without subtitles.

Having looked up the dialogue, the character says, "I've been tricked! I've been had! I've been taken for the fool that I am!" I don't think the rephrasing was for any particular audience, but simply part of a repetition to show the character's distress.

Taiwanese director, mastering crime and suspense stories. In 2015, his short film, The Death of A Security Guard, won Best Short Film at 52th Golden Horse Awards. In 2016, his debut feature film The Tag-Along garnered 4 award nominations. He also received a nomination for Best New Director at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards. Furthermore, this film has smashed box office records of horror movies in Taiwan for over ten years. In 2017, feature films Who Killed Cock Robin and The Tag-Along 2 were released and nominated for 8 rewards in 54th Golden Horse Award in total. In 2021, his film "The Soul" was nominated for 11 awards at the 58th Golden Horse Awards, and himself was nominated for the Best Director, Best Visual Effects and Best Adapted Screenplay Awards. His first series "The Pond" was selected in the 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. In 2023, his latest film "Marry My Dead Body" was released and ranked among the top ten highest-grossing films in Taiwan's cinematic history. It won the Best Screenplay at the 25th Taipei Film Awards, and was nominated for the Best Narrative Feature, the Best Director and 6 other awards at the 60th Golden Horse Awards.

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