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【Abstract】As regard to the disunity in translated version， this thesis discusses and compares the different translation methods applied and the different features of the versions in the three regions respectively， and holds that the differences in socio-cultural context are the main reasons for the disunity. Proceeding from the features and functions of the film title， this thesis analyzes the main translation methods and strategies applied in the translation of English film title. The merits and limitations of each method are discussed. This thesis intends to argue that the translation of English film title should be under the audience-oriented principle through adopting translation methods properly.
【Key words】film title； translation； methods
1. Introduction
With the rapid economic and social progress， China has witnessed remarkable changes in its people’s lives over recent years. People become more and more internationally-minded than ever before. Over the past decades of reform and opening up to the outside world， with China’s more frequent cultural， economic and political exchange with foreign countries， foreign films and TV plays， particularly films in English language， have entered the China’s market and held a very important position in Chinese people’s recreational life.
Film is one of the most influential mass media. As an audiovisual art， it follows and reflects people’s life. It is a product of particular culture， but there’re only very few people who can understand original English films. No matter how perfect the original works are， they have to be translated to reach the Chinese audience of vast size. So translating foreign audiovisual arts has become a significant activity in promoting cultural exchanges. With more and more foreign films introduced into the Chinese market， film translation has been attached increasing attention. However， film translation is far from being explored， especially in the translation of film title. The famous professor of film translation Qian Shaochang said， “People always pay less attention to film translation than literary translation. This is not suitable to the social role of film translations.”（錢绍昌，2000：61）
Being a special and significant part of film translation， the translation of film title， however， is an area far from being explored. A good film with an unforgettable title translation would be worldly famous and can exert great influences upon generations of people. On the contrary， a poor translation may fail to attract audience， mislead the audience， but degrade the value and beauty of the original film on the whole. But the reality is that the translation of film title at the moment is in a state of disorder and disunity. Sometimes the audiences are completely confused by the translated version. Therefore， it is really high time to give enough attention to the field of the translation of English film title. 2. Translation of Film Titles
2.1 Transliteration
Transliteration is a method of translation. As a phenomenon of language， it deeply reflects the trace of cultural exchange. The early translation of Buddhist sutras has made full use of transliteration， even created many words. Now there are many transliteration emerging in large numbers， such as “E-mail” （伊妹儿）， “Hacker” （黑客）， “copy” （拷贝）.
Transliteration is the product of cultural exchange； at the same time it provides an effective approach to cultural exchange. Movie is also a cultural phenomenon. So transliteration in the translation of English film title is effective， but few people use it.
In particular， the name of person or place in the titles tends to be transliterated when the film is adopted from world famous or classical novel， and the novel’s name is kept as film title， because such names have been familiar to and memorized by the audience as literature readers， and the success of the literary works can have a positive impact on the box office of such films. If they are translated in other ways， the moviegoers may take it as an ordinary film and might as well feel no interest in the film. Therefore， many films adapted from famous literary works just follow the transliterated names of the original， such as Romeo and Juliet is translated into “羅密欧与朱丽叶”， Tess into “苔丝” and Jane Eyre into “简爱”.
2.2 Literal translation
In dealing with the translation of film title， we should be convinced that the work which should be done is to translate the titles rather re-entitle the movies. As titles usually aim to bring an image as well as connotation to the audience， literal translation is widely applied so long as it is not concerned with the very obstacles in terms of either language or culture.
1） Named by character’s name
Some films were named by character’s name， especially some famous works， and then we can use literal translation. For example：
Sister Carrie 嘉莉妹妹
Dr. Edward 爱德华大夫
2） Named by character’s nickname
It is interesting to translate literally those films. Just as Rain man （雨人）， it has nothing to do with rain， it is vulgate of infantile autism. From this film title we can know the leading character is a man who is unsocial. The film Sleep-less in Seattle （西雅图未眠人） further prove it. Through literal translation we can know the theme of the title.
3） Named by summarization
Some film titles summarize the films. Such as American Beauty， Dance with Wolves， Instinct， The Fifth Element， we usually translate them into “美国丽人”， “与狼共舞”， “本能”， “第五元素”. 2.3 Free translation
Free translation is used in film title translation mainly to convey the meaning and the spirit of the original title without sticking mechanically to the form. This method is most frequently applied when it is really impossible for the translator to use the methods previously discussed. Or， if it is literally translated， the version will be incomprehensible to the audience or highly ambiguous， dry and awkward.
Take the following four titles as examples. If these titles are translated literally， most probably， the audience will still be confused by the clueless or awkward versions. Then the translation fails its functions as a film title.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 飞越疯人院
Terms of Endearment 母女情深
Reds 烽火赤焰万里情（TW）
Traffic 毒网
2.4 The Combination of literal and free approaches
The combination of literal and free translation is a technique that frequently applied in the translation of film title. For some titles， literal translation or that with amplification may seem dull or awkward in the target language， or it still poses difficulties or barriers for the audience to understand the title， even running the risk of distorting the meaning and then misleading the audience. In such cases， the literal translation fails the functions that a title has， hence literal translation combined with free translation， or free translation is needed to fulfill the task.
The strongpoint of this technique is that literal translation can deliver the literal meaning of the title at the surface level， and at the same time free translation expresses the implied meaning of the title in a depth. Such a combination can transmit the message to the most extent and add to the artistic appeal of the title. Most successful renderings of English films have fully demonstrated this.
Take Shooting First as example. It is translated into “先發制人” instead of “率先开枪” or else. The phrase “先发制人” not only fully expresses the surface meaning of the original title， but also dig further into the implied meanings of the title， which is to “shoot first to take the control”.
The translation of Blood and Sand “碧血黄沙” serves as another good example. It is a movie about a young man， Juan Gallardo， a poor boy who realizes his lifelong ambition to become the most famous matador in Spain. If the title is slavishly translated into “血与沙”， the version is 100 percent faithful to the original but tends to be unattractive. The translator does a good job by adding two color words， “碧” and “黄”， based on the content of the film. The Chinese characters “碧血” originate from Zhuang Zi （《庄子·外物》）， a classic of traditional Chinese literature. The book recorded a story of Chang Hong （苌弘）， a faithful and patriotic politician of the Kingdom of Zhou， who devoted his life to his country. It was said that three years after his death， Chang Hong’s blood turned into “green jade” （“碧玉”） （原文：“苌弘死于蜀，藏其血，三年而化为碧”——《庄子·外物》）. Since then， people would use “碧血” to symbolize sacrifice of one’s blood or life for justice and honorable causes， or the strong loyalty one holds towards his career.
【Key words】film title； translation； methods
1. Introduction
With the rapid economic and social progress， China has witnessed remarkable changes in its people’s lives over recent years. People become more and more internationally-minded than ever before. Over the past decades of reform and opening up to the outside world， with China’s more frequent cultural， economic and political exchange with foreign countries， foreign films and TV plays， particularly films in English language， have entered the China’s market and held a very important position in Chinese people’s recreational life.
Film is one of the most influential mass media. As an audiovisual art， it follows and reflects people’s life. It is a product of particular culture， but there’re only very few people who can understand original English films. No matter how perfect the original works are， they have to be translated to reach the Chinese audience of vast size. So translating foreign audiovisual arts has become a significant activity in promoting cultural exchanges. With more and more foreign films introduced into the Chinese market， film translation has been attached increasing attention. However， film translation is far from being explored， especially in the translation of film title. The famous professor of film translation Qian Shaochang said， “People always pay less attention to film translation than literary translation. This is not suitable to the social role of film translations.”（錢绍昌，2000：61）
Being a special and significant part of film translation， the translation of film title， however， is an area far from being explored. A good film with an unforgettable title translation would be worldly famous and can exert great influences upon generations of people. On the contrary， a poor translation may fail to attract audience， mislead the audience， but degrade the value and beauty of the original film on the whole. But the reality is that the translation of film title at the moment is in a state of disorder and disunity. Sometimes the audiences are completely confused by the translated version. Therefore， it is really high time to give enough attention to the field of the translation of English film title. 2. Translation of Film Titles
2.1 Transliteration
Transliteration is a method of translation. As a phenomenon of language， it deeply reflects the trace of cultural exchange. The early translation of Buddhist sutras has made full use of transliteration， even created many words. Now there are many transliteration emerging in large numbers， such as “E-mail” （伊妹儿）， “Hacker” （黑客）， “copy” （拷贝）.
Transliteration is the product of cultural exchange； at the same time it provides an effective approach to cultural exchange. Movie is also a cultural phenomenon. So transliteration in the translation of English film title is effective， but few people use it.
In particular， the name of person or place in the titles tends to be transliterated when the film is adopted from world famous or classical novel， and the novel’s name is kept as film title， because such names have been familiar to and memorized by the audience as literature readers， and the success of the literary works can have a positive impact on the box office of such films. If they are translated in other ways， the moviegoers may take it as an ordinary film and might as well feel no interest in the film. Therefore， many films adapted from famous literary works just follow the transliterated names of the original， such as Romeo and Juliet is translated into “羅密欧与朱丽叶”， Tess into “苔丝” and Jane Eyre into “简爱”.
2.2 Literal translation
In dealing with the translation of film title， we should be convinced that the work which should be done is to translate the titles rather re-entitle the movies. As titles usually aim to bring an image as well as connotation to the audience， literal translation is widely applied so long as it is not concerned with the very obstacles in terms of either language or culture.
1） Named by character’s name
Some films were named by character’s name， especially some famous works， and then we can use literal translation. For example：
Sister Carrie 嘉莉妹妹
Dr. Edward 爱德华大夫
2） Named by character’s nickname
It is interesting to translate literally those films. Just as Rain man （雨人）， it has nothing to do with rain， it is vulgate of infantile autism. From this film title we can know the leading character is a man who is unsocial. The film Sleep-less in Seattle （西雅图未眠人） further prove it. Through literal translation we can know the theme of the title.
3） Named by summarization
Some film titles summarize the films. Such as American Beauty， Dance with Wolves， Instinct， The Fifth Element， we usually translate them into “美国丽人”， “与狼共舞”， “本能”， “第五元素”. 2.3 Free translation
Free translation is used in film title translation mainly to convey the meaning and the spirit of the original title without sticking mechanically to the form. This method is most frequently applied when it is really impossible for the translator to use the methods previously discussed. Or， if it is literally translated， the version will be incomprehensible to the audience or highly ambiguous， dry and awkward.
Take the following four titles as examples. If these titles are translated literally， most probably， the audience will still be confused by the clueless or awkward versions. Then the translation fails its functions as a film title.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 飞越疯人院
Terms of Endearment 母女情深
Reds 烽火赤焰万里情（TW）
Traffic 毒网
2.4 The Combination of literal and free approaches
The combination of literal and free translation is a technique that frequently applied in the translation of film title. For some titles， literal translation or that with amplification may seem dull or awkward in the target language， or it still poses difficulties or barriers for the audience to understand the title， even running the risk of distorting the meaning and then misleading the audience. In such cases， the literal translation fails the functions that a title has， hence literal translation combined with free translation， or free translation is needed to fulfill the task.
The strongpoint of this technique is that literal translation can deliver the literal meaning of the title at the surface level， and at the same time free translation expresses the implied meaning of the title in a depth. Such a combination can transmit the message to the most extent and add to the artistic appeal of the title. Most successful renderings of English films have fully demonstrated this.
Take Shooting First as example. It is translated into “先發制人” instead of “率先开枪” or else. The phrase “先发制人” not only fully expresses the surface meaning of the original title， but also dig further into the implied meanings of the title， which is to “shoot first to take the control”.
The translation of Blood and Sand “碧血黄沙” serves as another good example. It is a movie about a young man， Juan Gallardo， a poor boy who realizes his lifelong ambition to become the most famous matador in Spain. If the title is slavishly translated into “血与沙”， the version is 100 percent faithful to the original but tends to be unattractive. The translator does a good job by adding two color words， “碧” and “黄”， based on the content of the film. The Chinese characters “碧血” originate from Zhuang Zi （《庄子·外物》）， a classic of traditional Chinese literature. The book recorded a story of Chang Hong （苌弘）， a faithful and patriotic politician of the Kingdom of Zhou， who devoted his life to his country. It was said that three years after his death， Chang Hong’s blood turned into “green jade” （“碧玉”） （原文：“苌弘死于蜀，藏其血，三年而化为碧”——《庄子·外物》）. Since then， people would use “碧血” to symbolize sacrifice of one’s blood or life for justice and honorable causes， or the strong loyalty one holds towards his career.