Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Subtitling test
Poster: José Henrique Lamensdorf
Post title: A snappy tale
You land in an unfamiliar country, go through immigration and customs, and exit the airport. On the street, you hail what you think is a cab; at least it has a piece of newspaper written "cheap taxi" on the windshield. You step in, and the driver is a teenager. Though you think he looks too young to be driving, you don't want to appear bigoted about the local ethnic features.
You tell him the name of the hotel where you have a reservation, and ask him how much he'll charge for the ride. He says, "Any cab would charge you $50, but I'll take you there for $5. Hang tight!"
No chance for you to ask anything else. He gets the vehicle into motion screeching tires, shooting you against the upholstery. He goes zigzagging between lanes at breakneck speed.
When you eventually manage to brace yourself and fasten the seat belt - which he is not using, of course - you tell him, "Hey, I came from overseas, but driving this way in any country would cause you to lose your license!"
While doing a quick swerve and missing a lamp post by half an inch, the kid yells, "I don't have a license to lose, I'm only 15!"
You try to convince him, "But your mom or dad's car will be towed, and you'll get into all kinds of trouble."
And then he nails it, "It's not our car. It's stolen! What did you expect for a $5 ride?"
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Preposterous? Definitely!
Yet nowadays too many movies get subtitled like this.