"Because I have a voice." With this it marks the core message of the award-winning film "King's Speech".
Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter, "King's Speech" is a Britishly produced film about the British royalty back at the dawn of World War II. The story mainly tells about how did Prince Albert, Duke of York, overcomes his stammering condition whenever he gives speeches, and later becomnig King George VI, one of the beloved kings in England of all time. The film had won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay awards in the 83rd Academy Awards. "King's Speech" was first released in the United States on September 6th, 2010, and lather on March 3rd, 2011 in Hong Kong. With is huge success in the Oscar Awards, this film was one of the top to-see films for Hong Kong audiences.
When the film first appeared in Hong Kong, I guess the most discussed topic about this film is its Chinese translation of the name title "王上無話兒". Often, people were discussing that the Chinese name of this film had led them to think of something else. Hong Kong people usually laugh at the translated Chinese names in mainland China, for example: "新鐵金剛之擇日再死" (HK: "新鐵金剛之不日殺機" ), "來捉我啊! 如果你可以" (HK: "捉智雙雄" ). Hong Kong people (including me) are usually proud of ourselves and think the names that we think of are "cooler", and those in mainland China are simply too lame. However, with this "王上無__話兒", we really could not help but laugh at ourselves.
Considering Hong Kong is a former British Colony, one might thought that a film about the British royalty might bring about the sting of the colonial past. But as I glance through most Hong Kong film critics platforms and forums, most of the comments about "King's Speech" are mainly positive. Though people tend to skip the political part of the film, and discuss directly about the actors, or the deepness of the script, in which people mostly depicted it as "a man's courage to overcome his weakness". The culture odor is blurred and diminished, audience might as well enjoy the film even if it is not about British royalty, as long as there is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter in it, with the theme about some great man acknowledging his weakness and overcoming it.
When the film first appeared in Hong Kong, I guess the most discussed topic about this film is its Chinese translation of the name title "王上無話兒". Often, people were discussing that the Chinese name of this film had led them to think of something else. Hong Kong people usually laugh at the translated Chinese names in mainland China, for example: "新鐵金剛之擇日再死" (HK: "新鐵金剛之不日殺機" ), "來捉我啊! 如果你可以" (HK: "捉智雙雄" ). Hong Kong people (including me) are usually proud of ourselves and think the names that we think of are "cooler", and those in mainland China are simply too lame. However, with this "王上無__話兒", we really could not help but laugh at ourselves.
Considering Hong Kong is a former British Colony, one might thought that a film about the British royalty might bring about the sting of the colonial past. But as I glance through most Hong Kong film critics platforms and forums, most of the comments about "King's Speech" are mainly positive. Though people tend to skip the political part of the film, and discuss directly about the actors, or the deepness of the script, in which people mostly depicted it as "a man's courage to overcome his weakness". The culture odor is blurred and diminished, audience might as well enjoy the film even if it is not about British royalty, as long as there is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter in it, with the theme about some great man acknowledging his weakness and overcoming it.
Trailer:
Kristel Chung (#1039 0371)
I love your observation on the translated titles of imported films, as they are actually good topics for study about transcultural consumption. The “naming strategy” of foreign films in Chinese titles reflects how we integrate local cultural practices into a foreign cultural product. Only people with competence in Cantonese language can decode the meanings properly.
ReplyDeleteThe point on blurring and weakening cultural odor is very inspiring. In fact, the selective attention and perception of audience (ignoring the political tension conveyed in the film) always happen to Hong Kong people. What are the reasons and implications behind this reading practice? Are we really apathetic towards political issues? Does it relate to the hybridized cultural identities embodied by us?