I Segreti di Brokeback Mountain

Dave and I went to the Odeon near Piazza Repubblica to see "I Segreti di Brokeback Mountain." For the first time in a long time, they showed the Italian subtitles for the movie. I even learned one expression that I'll probably never use, "il raduno delle pecore" (herding the sheep).

I love how sometimes the Italians modify the title of the film so that it's a little more specific. They didn't keep the name, "Brokeback Mountain," they added "the secrets of" in front of it. They even added a subtitle for the movie, which was "L'amore è una forza della natura" (Love is a force of nature). Of course, I don't know if there was a subtitle for the film in the US, but I never heard about there being one.

I enjoy reading the subtitles to see how the dialog is translated. It's a habit I picked up when I was living in Paris. I used to go to the movies with my friends at the movie theaters on the Champs-Elysées and the American movies were always in English with French subtitles.

It's rare to have Italian subtitles for American/English movies in Florence because most people are used to the dubbed versions. Almost every movie and TV show is dubbed, and done quite well too. The translators, I've heard, pick words that will fit the actor's lips. They try to cut down the length of the sentences so the actor doesn't stop moving his/her lips while the dubbed voice keeps going.

I don't see many movies with subtitles except on my satellite TV (SKY) at home. Sometimes it's nice, but unfortunately, the spoken translation is not exactly the same as the subtitles so it can be a little odd at times. The meaning is, of course, the same, but the choice of words can vary a little.

There are many films coming over the next two months, but none with subtitles. On the days that there are subtitles though, I've noticed an increase in attendance. It's hard to tell if it's because of the subtitles or if it's because of the popularity of the film.

Share your comments for this blog post on the Living in Florence's Facebook page. Grazie!

Back to Top