Film Blurb:
A linguist is recruited by the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecrafts land around the world.
Translator/Interpreter Bio:
Character: Louise Banks
Played by: Amy Adams
Plot function: Main Character
Character bio: Louise Banks is a linguistics professor at a university, and has previously worked for the U.S.A government and/or military on interpreting assignments requiring top security clearance.
Languages:
Mother tongue: English
Secondary languages: Heptapod B (the aliens’ written language), Farsi, Chinese, Sanskrit, likely others
Translation/Interpreting on Screen:
(1) Dr Banks’ Office
Languages: Heptapod A to English
Linguist: Louise Banks
Format: Consecutive interpreting
Setup: Audio recording
Delegates: Two heptapod aliens and U.S.A. Military
(2) Chamber in Alien Ship
Languages: English and Heptapod B (aliens’ written language)
Linguist: No one actively translates or interprets, as only single words are spoken to create base lines for learning.
Format: Single word translations
Setup: Face-to-face
Delegates: Louise Banks and Abbott & Costello
(3) Army Base
Languages: English and Heptapod B (aliens’ written language)
Linguist: Louise Banks
Format: Text translation
(4) Army Base
Languages: Chinese (assumed Mandarin) to English
Linguist: Louise Banks
Format: Simultaneous interpreting
Setup: Audio recording
Delegates: General Shang and U.S.A Army
Talking about Translation:
(1) Louise Banks Discusses Translation From Sanskrit
(2) Ian Donnelly Explains Heptapod Language and Writing
Accuracy of Interpreting Shown:
- Military interpreting of audio recordings
The portrayal of military recordings being translated by an interpreter seems quite realistic, especially by highlighting the problems that will stem from recordings being hacked or obtained by spys. Not all words/content that is spoken may be completely understood due to lack of context for the speech. Louise Banks translates what she can, but highlights that it’s not clear what the “sets” being spoken about are.
- Two Heptapod languages, and learning Heptapod B whilst translating
As the film details the learning of Heptapod B (the aliens’ written language), and ultimately using that language to converse with the heptapod aliens through writing, there is not really any spoken language interpretation as it is all written down.Heptapod A (the aliens’ spoken language) is used a lot in the film, but Louise Banks is only seen to understand this language right at the end of the film when she is enveloped in the mist within the alien ship. No interpretation takes place, as the aliens speak in Heptapod A and Louise Banks speaks in English. Through assumed understanding of overlaps and equivalence across Heptapod A, Heptapod B and English, or perhaps through some other forces at work that are unexplained, the spoken part of their conversation seems to proceed unhindered.
The vast majority of translation work that takes place in the film is from the written Heptapod B, and this is completed through long study of the language and eventual understanding of the writing form’s consistent parts. Once this understanding is mostly achieved, a computer program does the work of breaking down the aliens’ Heptapod B writing in real time for the English-speaking humans to understand, and also converting English text inputted by the humans into written Heptapod B by combining the consistent parts for the Heptapod B words already known.
Interpreting Challenges:
- Lack of Proficiency and Incomplete Understanding
Louise Banks highlights the importance of fully understanding the aliens’ language before asking important questions. Using the fictional story of how kangaroos got their English name, she urges the military to give her time to learn more about the language and truly understand how to speak it and comprehend what everything means. Louise’s incomplete understanding of the aliens’ language leads to the word for “tool” or event “gift” being initially translated as “weapon”, highlighting the importance for a translator or interpreter in knowing that each word or phrase in a language doesn’t always have a one-for-one equivalent – how one word in Heptapod B doesn’t quite meaning a single word in English (it has a sense of “gift” and “tool” and “weapon”) can be seen between many language pairs.
and - Stress
Louise is seen to be tired and stressed as she works non-stop to learn and translate the aliens’ written language. As the language slowly reveals its secret to her, she is seen to be physically drained and looks very overworked. Working too many hours without rest is detrimental to all translation work, particularly for simultaneous translation whereby breaks are needed much more often than with text translation. Being overworked and fatigued would normally lead to errors in translations, reduced attention span, and other barriers to communication and translation.
Gallery:
[KGVID gallery=”true” gallery_thumb=”150″]
Credits:
Release date: November 2016
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Produced by: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde
Written by: Eric Heisserer (based on Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang)
Production/Distribution: Stage 6 Films, FilmNation Entertainment, Lava Bear Films, 21 Laps Entertainment, Sony Pictures Releasing, Paramount Pictures
Rent/buy this title: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arrival-Amy-Adams/dp/B01N3T4ITZ
Translation on Screen 