2.6.1 Reconstruction of Cultural Image
Foreign films need to be translated into Chinese if these and other art forms are to be introduced to Chinese audiences.Translating films has much in common with other types of literary products.They express people’s thoughts,feelings and emotions through the use of vivid language.To some degree,however,film translation may differ from other kinds of translation,because the former ought to be audio,visual and understandable to the audience.
Chinese uses a different language system from that of English; Chinese is based on pictography whereas English is based on alphabetic writing.This significant difference between language systems means that E-C film translation work is very difficult.Throughout the history of film translation in China,the older generation of translators has produced a significant body of excellent translation work for foreign films which,in turn,provides us with many valuable resources to inform further discussion.
There are two typical examples worthy of discussion.The first of these is the famous film，Waterloo Bridge，which is a tragic love story.The original title of the film refers to a specific venue （the bridge） that provides both the prelude and finale of the film.Mindful that a Chinese audience would likely have no idea about the bridge in question （it is located in central London），the translator concerned avoided a literal translation of the original title as it may have put off the potential audience.For this reason，the translator chose “《魂断蓝桥》” as the film’s Chinese title which means “Heart-broken on Blue Bridge”.To explain，the first two Chinese characters mean “heart-broken” （mostly related to loss of lover） which implies the tragic ending of the love story.While the “Blue Bridge” refers to a Chinese traditional love story，“蓝桥会” （Meeting on Blue Bridge）： two lovers made an appointment to meet each other on the Blue Bridge.So “Blue Bridge” is much familiar with the Chinese audience instead of “Waterloo Bridge”，and furthermore，“Blue Bridge” means lovers’ appointment literally.This Chinese title perfectly consolidates the Chinese culture and the American film.(https://www.daowen.com)
Another example is the film，Bathing Beauty，which is a comedy about a girl who is good at swimming.In Chinese，“出水芙蓉” can perfectly express the meaning of the original name，because “芙蓉” is ancient Chinese for a lotus that lives in mud but whose bloom is spotless.In Chinese，a simple but innocent girl is often described as a lotus.
The two film titles mentioned above demonstrate how the translators have ingeniously located specific Chinese cultural features within their translation,thereby successfully reconstructing a comprehensible,familiar,and acceptable cultural image appropriate to the target audience.Indeed,the method of reconstructing a cultural image is frequently used in film translation because it is reliable in successfully resolving the problems with cultural differences and attracting bigger audiences.