From a viewer’s perspective, this film definitely exceeded my expectations. It held my attention throughout and I would happily watch it again. 12 Angry Men is a film about 12 jurors who must decide whether a man is guilty of murder, the punishment for which is execution. To begin with, 11 of the 12 are in favour of a guilty verdict, and must persuade the twelfth man to agree with them.
According to IMDb, the film is often used in business schools to demonstrate team dynamics, and I can see why- the entire plot is a character study that focuses on the way we can influence others’ decisions. It’s this aspect which is interesting from a subtitler’s perspective. As each man argues his case, the nuances of his tone, pace and word choice suggest the extent to which he is sure of his own decision. Elements of doubt which are detectable in a speaker’s utterance must also be made available to the target audience, ideally without making it more or less obvious.
Watching 12 Angry Men has shown me how delicate a task subtitling can be, and I now understand the need for an awareness of interpersonal relationships when subtitling. I still don’t know exactly which techniques subtitlers use to overcome these issues, so that’s something I’m going to look into.
Katie Translates 