7．3．4 Film Translation in Brief电影翻译简介
Film translation started way back with silent movies．However，during the era of silent movies，translation was relatively easy．The so-called inter-titles interrupted the course of a film every few minutes，so the target language titles were easily translated and put in place of the original ones．The problem arose with the appearance of“talkies”in the late 1920s．Initially，the American film companies produced the same film in various language versions using the same set and scenario but different directors and actors．However，this was a very costly option．Moreover，the films did not win over the public and were of poor artistic quality．The problem was solved by France where studios were founded to produce dubbed versions of films instead．
When it comes to translating foreign films，there are many reasons that contributed to the fact that France decided to adopt dubbing．First，the people of France always felt that the country had a cultural mission within the film art form．The French were deeply concerned about the purity of their culture and they always wanted to protect it from every foreign influence．Second，French was historically a successful instrument of political and cultural centralization．Moreover many French speakers believe that their language is superior to any other language and hence film translation or dubbing is important．
With France came Hollywood in film translation and it occupied a major potion of the film translation market．Hollywood，in order to avoid any interruption in its dominance of the international film market，took up voice dubbing and subtitling．
The introduction of talkies exerted a far-reaching influence over both larger and smaller countries．As film production costs rose，it became increasingly difficult for smaller countries to export their productions．These countries were so limited to their small domestic markets that their home production decreased and led to a rise in film imports．With film imports，dubbing of films in regional languages increased．Larger countries tended to dub imported foreign productions，while smaller ones settled on subtitling．
While initially the American(Hollywood)rigned over the film market，the European countries like France，Italy，Germany and Spain in 1950s took protective measures to lessen the influence of American films in their territories．For instance，import quotas were imposed special taxes to protect domestic production．At the same time，domestic film production in regional languages in France，Italy，Germany and Spain was supported by the government through various subsidies and loans．By that time it was evident that film had become an extremely influential and profitable medium．Soon，countries like India，China，and other South Asian countries moved into film production and translation．
Film translation plays a vital role in making people realize the importance of culture and language and respect the culture of other countries．This is one of the easiest way to shrink the virtual world beyond one could imagine and break the barriers with the art of language．Whether domesticating or internationalizing in its approach，any form of audiovisual translation or the transmission of cultural values in film translation plays an important role in developing both national identities and national stereotypes．