DREAMS LIVE ON

DIMITRY DRAGUNOV connects his work to his dreams of movie-making. believe there are two kinds of dream jobs.

The first kind is the unattainable one, the ultimate dream. Perhaps ‘unattainable’ is too strong of a word since, in theory, every goal can be achieved. But we all know that with some jobs the chance of you actually getting to your desired place is one in a million. To me that would be film directing.

The second kind is the dream job that is within your reach. You may have to look hard for it. You may have to wait months or perhaps even years for the right opportunity to present itself. You may have to combat feelings of frustration and desperation before you find it… but it’s there. There for you to grab onto it and not let go. To me that is film translation.

I’ve been obsessed with moving images since early childhood. I suspect (or at least hope) that every person has something in their lives that just clicks with them the way nothing else does. For me it’s always been cinema. This magical mixture of all art forms has been captivating me for decades and its miracle shows no signs of diminishing. In fact, time only makes its grip stronger. And since it’s only natural to try and turn your passions into something that you can actually do for a living, I kept wishing for nothing but a job that would somehow be connected to the world of movies.

While I never got to direct a film or even finish writing one (despite the muse gifting me an occasional idea) my prayers were answered when I stumbled upon a job opening having to do with translation of entertainment content. It was mainly for non-fiction TV programs with a possibility of movie assignments in the future. Turning on channels like National Geographic or Discovery and seeing – or, more accurately, hearing – the fruits of my labor was a point of immense satisfaction and pride. To quote my parents: “He finally found himself.”

I suppose my employers were happy with me as well... After about a year of me doing all sorts of TV shows they finally decided to assign me my first movie. Just before I opened the assignment e-mail my imagination went into overdrive trying to predict what piece of cinematic artistry would be my entry into the realm of professional film translation. The movie turned out to be “Allan the Dog” – a bawdy VOD comedy about a guy and his (of course) talking pet falling in love with the same girl. Picture, if you will, a much cheaper and less amusing version of “Ted” with bad puppets instead of expensive CGI. What fun! I was ecstatic.

In my job we can receive three types of translation assignments: for dubbing, for subtitles and for voice-over. The former is undoubtedly the most difficult one because you have to recreate almost the entire soundscape of the movie in written form. I say almost because this refers only to sounds made by people – there’s no need for me to put in every slam of a car door or every dog’s bark. It is, however, required to make a special note of each cough, gasp and other human sounds heard throughout the movie. The notes are then taken care of by the actors during the actual dubbing. Essentially I have to work not only as a translator but also as a sound detector which can be a mess and a half, especially when you’re dealing with crowd scenes.

Thankfully my first assignment wasn’t quite as tough. “Allan the Dog” wasn’t going to be shown in theaters so I had to prepare translation for voice-over. This means not having to worry about the sounds (since the original track remains intact) and being a little less precise and more concise while working with the lines. The process was fascinating and strange – imagine making an instant switch from nature documentaries to sex jokes and swearing! The bizarreness of the experience was only increased by the fact that I was recovering from the side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine which my body did not take kindly to. The delirium of interpreting a dog puppet’s profanity-laced rants with a 102°F fever is something that’s simply impossible to forget.

“After “Room 203,” I’ve always been happy to work on horror films despite the genre itself being my least favorite. They tend to have numerous things in common which are very beneficiary to someone in my profession. They’re usually about 90 minutes long, they’re not too talky, the dialogue is often simple and there are plenty of scenes which specifically rely on the lack of any human sounds.”

____ Author

But the job was done. My employers didn’t provide any feedback regarding the quality of the translation which essentially meant they were fine with it. Even so, a few months went by before I got another movie to work on, a small horror picture entitled “Room 203”. This was my introduction to translation for dubbing –to that joyous experience of not only adapting the dialogue in the fullest manner possible but also of catching and putting down every sound made by the characters.

I went a little overenthusiastic on my first try, writing descriptions which were a touch more elaborate than required: “emits an unpleasant throat noise” instead of a simple “growls,” “loudly screams while getting hit” in stead of just “screams” and so on. A classic case of overperformance caused by my desire to do good. Looking back, the assignment seems to have gone over well because it resulted in a flow of movie offers which has over time become more or less steady.

The busiest sound tracks are often found in animated films which seem preoccupied with filling every minute with as much aural content as possible so as not to bore their core audience. Action-heavy movies differ too. I’ve observed that the less sophisticated and less expensive examples of the genre sometimes attempt to hide their cinematic shortcomings by overcompensating in the sounds department. A lot of “gasps” and “grunts” for me to write down with those ones.

An unexpected side of translating movies for a living is that you end up feeling like a filmmaker yourself. Remember the process involves dissecting films into the tiniest of fragments and having to jump back to the same lines over and over again in order to get them just right. As such you can’t help but start imagining yourself as an editor, albeit one that can’t actually reassemble anything. You quickly start noticing the mistakes, the limits of individual directors’ visions and the effort (or lack thereof) on the actors’ part in a way that’d be impossible to grasp if you were watching the film in one go.

In fact you become a bit of a performer yourself – an armchair thespian if you will – having to act out dialogue in order to ensure that your adapted phrases fit the necessary time-frames. Doing scenes as if you were an actor is also immensely helpful in assessing whether what you’ve come up with sounds like normal speech at all.

As a viewer I’ve often observed that translators make dialogue a tad too stilted and unnatural. “People don’t talk like that” is a criticism that’s frequently directed at scripts anyway. The problem is only exacerbated when those scripts are turned even more mechanical by the translators. My job is to let go of all inhibitions and to make the on-screen conversations as close to real life as possible. Unless, of course, the nature of the film dictates otherwise. You may have a degree from the best university, but if you don’t have an ear for everyday human banter, translating movies won’t be a good fit for you.

Recently I’ve discovered another wonderful virtue of this work – its ability to help you see a filmmaker with new eyes. Having done a fair share of cheesy genre movies, I received an assignment which turned out to be my most difficult and the most rewarding one to date. Upon opening yet another assignment e-mail, I was shocked to see that my new project was “Triangle of Sadness,” winner of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

This marked the first time I was to work on a film that I actually wanted to see which inevitably increased my inner sense of responsibility. Unfortunately I couldn’t watch it in its entirety before starting the translation because of time constraints.

Instead, I had to jump into a movie that I’d been genuinely curious about but per the process of my work: second by second, line by line, sound by sound.

“Triangle of Sadness” is directed by Ruben Östlund whose previous films include “Force Majeure” and “The Square” (another Cannes winner). Neither of those I particularly appreciated, finding them to be somewhat laboriously paced and overly clinical. I wasn’t sure what to expect from his latest offering and may have even approached it with a bit of skepticism. But as I was slowly making my way through the film I found myself feeling a terrific rush of joy upon the unfolding of each new scene – a joy that was amplified by consistent bursts of laughter.

The more this movie went on, the more

“Girl In Rothschild,” collage painting in modern art style by Danor Shtruzman. Public Domain, via Flickr.

I began to think that this methodical and gradual, scene by scene grind might actually be the best way to watch Östlund’s movies (and I’m only half-kidding). It allowed me to experience a deeper connection with the material and to fully appreciate the way Östlund revealed his ideas through the tiniest of characters’ phrases and gestures. Moreover, it sparked the desire for me to revisit the director’s previous films and to continue exploring his filmography. (I’ve indeed started doing so by watching and admiring his 2011 film “Play.”)

Even though the verbose nature of “Triangle of Sadness” coupled with my tight assignment schedule made the task especially challenging, it is the one I’m proudest of so far. Bringing a film to the audiences in the most accurate manner is something that I always cherish. But bringing a great film to the audiences? I consider that a privilege! From “Allan the Dog” to a Palme d’Or winner... Now that’s what I call career trajectory.

I can’t predict which movies await me in the future but the prospect of seeing that e-mail with a new assignment continues to fill me with a peculiar combination of anxiety and elation. What will it be next time – a piece of Z-grade action schlock with Antonio Banderas (so far I’ve done two) or another festival hit? Will it make me fall in love with a filmmaker I used to dislike, or will it just confirm some of my biases?

I don’t know the answers to these questions and that’s among the greatest aspects of being a film translator –the process doesn’t change and yet the work is filled with surprises. Sometimes my mind comes back to that original, ultimate dream of making movies. Yes, sure, one day it’d be nice to stand behind the camera and tell my own stories. But when I stop and look at what I have in front of me, I come to only one conclusion: the dream breathes and lives on right here.

“Print shows a letter in the form of a rebus portraying Britannia as a mother urging her daughter America to jilt the Frenchman she is planning to marry and stop rebelling.” 1778. Library of Congress. Public Domain, via PICRYL

“Painting of the Dadiani Palace by Gigi, a 14-year-old painter who suff ers from autism and lives in Zugdidi, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti.”

Communications Department of the Administration of the President of Georgia. Wikimedia Commons; CC BY SA 4.0

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Book cover illustration by an unknown artist for Popular Lectures on Human Nature by Prof. W.G Alexander. Public Domain via Library of Congress. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.”

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DR. TARAS ROMASHCHENKO, PhD in Economics from Ukraine, writes from inside the war-torn country.