Really Someone

I recently saw the French film In The House (French title Dans La Maison) and was describing it to a friend.  When I mentioned the lead character's profession, I had to catch myself.  He teaches literature and composition in high school, and I almost called him an English Teacher. But that's not what he does, right?  And I don't think I can call him a French teacher.  (Is that even an expression in France?)

Of course, translators have these problems all the time.  And sometimes you pick up on the choices they make.  For instance, this movie featured some discussion of grades, but while the subtitles read "A" and "B" and so on, they were saying numbers.  Do they have letter grades at the lycee?

The most obvious difference I ever saw (and hear) between what's on screen and what's at the bottom was in The Diving Bell And The Butterfly.  In that film, the protagonist has a stroke and can only communicate by blinking his eye while an assistant goes along the letters of the alphabet.  So as he's spelling out French words letter by letter, the translator has him spelling out English words letter by letter.  We make allowances, of course, but even the best subtitles take you out of the film a bit--these kept reminding you you were watching a film.