Let the Wrong One In (Subtitles are Important, Kids!) UPDATE: Magnolia Don't Care

Let The Wrong Subtitles In To LET THE RIGHT ONE IN?!

If you're an avid reader of this or just about any other horror web-publication, then no doubt you've heard plenty about the Swedish indie-vampire flick LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - a somber, haunting & beautiful tale directed with finesse by Tomas Alfredson. In the last year, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN has quickly garnered "cult" like status among genre & movie fans alike. It managed to top the "best of 2008" lists for just about every horror website out there, and has become a favorite for the entire ICONS staff here. So, naturally, we were all rather excited that the film finally was released last week here in the US on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

I personally decided to host a screening of the DVD with a handful of friends that had yet to experience LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. (Mind you, I'd already had an advance early screener copy of the movie for months and had seen it twice during it's limited theatrical run, so it's safe to say that I knew the film rather intimately. We were all excited to watch a top quality DVD version though in the comfort of my own home.)

About 20 minutes into the screening, I was absolutely horrified.

The subtitles had been drastically changed since the last time I saw it, and dare I say... had been completely dumbed down? Sure, the basic gist of what the characters were saying was kind of there, but missing completely was the dark humor, subtleties and character nuances which made the movie so powerful and a favorite amongst audiences last year. I tried to carry on and ignore it, hoping that only a few of the translations were off... but... I was wrong. Just about the intent of every single line of dialogue was completely off and ruined the movie.

It became so frustrating, that I stopped the US DVD, got my original screener copy & we continued by watching that version instead. I realize now that sadly for everyone else out there, they don't have this option.

geezer9687 wrote:Sure Donte, wait for the remake

“We’ve been made aware that there are several fans that don’t like the version of the subtitles on the DVD/BR. We had an alternate translation that we went with. Obviously a lot of fans thought we should have stuck with the original theatrical version. We are listening to the fans feedback, and going forward we will be manufacturing the discs with the subtitles from the theatrical version.”

mfrendo wrote:I just wrote Magnolia Pictures, who released the DVD, and went off.

NSpan wrote:
besides this screw-up, i'd say Magnolia is a pretty cool company

Yes the bloggers are having a field day on this one. Normally they like to pick on the English Dub tracks, but in this case it’s the subtitles. Obviously online tend to get rowdy and bandwagon mentality without knowing all the details. The current subtitle track is not altering the context of the film at all, in fact it’s a more literal translation than any prior version of subtitles. It’s not a defective or faulty subtitle file. Just more literal and larger in size for the small screen. Both English and Spanish subtitle files were produced for this dvd release. Frankly it’s not all that uncommon to have the subs vary from prior releases, typically go unnoticed as subs are purely a translation of film dialogue. This wouldn’t have been a blip had it not been for one particular horror blog doing a side by side and claiming that they are wrong. They are not. We are not doing a recall or anything of that nature, again, these are not defective. Title came out two weeks ago and general public don’t notice and don’t care – bloggers are well known for jumping on something, making an issue of it and moving on. We have decided that based on the feedback that we will be making a running change, so that going forward (once inventories deplete), we will be making that subtitle version available. Options in set up will be; English Subtitles / English (theatrical) Subtitles / Spanish Subtitles”

The current subtitle track is not altering the context of the film at all, in fact it’s a more literal translation than any prior version of subtitles. It’s not a defective or faulty subtitle file.

NSpan wrote: of course the original Ong Bak, a fun horror experiment: The Signal.. and TimeCrimes--which i haven't seen yet, but i got it in my netflix queue