'Do-ol' Kim, Yong-ok, emeritus professor at Sunchon National University, translates the film 'The King and the Clown' (director: Lee, Joon-ik; production: Eagles Pictures ? Cineworld). The title Kim chose for the film's foreign version is 'The Royal Jester'.
"We had to translate the film into English to submit it to the Cannes International Film Festival and release it into foreign markets, and Professor Kim, Yong-ok offered himself as the translator", director Lee said. Currently, the initial translation has already been finished.
Professor Kim saw the film in January when it just started screening. So much impressed by it, Professor Kim met Lee and the production team, and stressed on the importance of translation to ensure that the world's understanding of Korean culture is correct and accurate. When Lee asked him for help at the time, he delightfully volunteered.
This is Kim's second translation of films ? the first film he translated was 'Chihwaseon' by director Im, Kwon-taek, who received the Best Director Award at the 2002 Cannes International Film Festival.
In an interview, Kim said, "Just a little bit more of care enriches our culture. The way the world understands our culture depends on how it is translated or interpreted. It is the responsibility of literary men to show such care and lead in the cultural awakening".
A report said that the reason why he used the title of his translation as 'The Royal Jester' was because it made the film to be understood in three levels: first, the king's clown; second, the kingly clown; and the third, the circumstances in which the king is the clown. This conveys well the various approaches to the story the film takes on.
"If it is to be translated simply as 'The King & The Jester' or 'The King's Jester', the meaning that the original title bears may be undermined", Kim said.
"While 'The King and the Clown' is a historical drama, it often uses modern language, which calls for careful word choice. The translation of the film should be simple, archaic, and elegant. I chose words that are as old and archaic as those of Shakespeare or of a Greek ballade, but expressed most of the film's sentiments through modern words", said Lee, revealing that he exhausted every possible literary resource to make the film.
Meanwhile, Professor Kim carefully ensured that the translation accurately depicts the history of Joseon and King Yonsan for the sake of foreign viewers. "Foreigners do not have any clue to what the Joseon Era was like or who King Yonsan was", said Kim.
"I made sure that with this translation, foreign viewers will better understand the film in the way they have understood that even 'Joseon Sillok', an official record of the era of the Joseon period, deals with King Yonsan in various viewpoints".
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