“Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes.” – Gunter Grass
Set against the backdrop of a war torn nation the film “Translation” ventures even deeper to the problem of communication between two different people from neighboring countries.
A group of Turkish healthcare professionals try to cross the border but their Kurdish guide doesn’t understand Turkish. The film begins with a telephone conversation that clearly states that the said team needs to hurry in order to cross the border safely. The situation becomes tricky for the interpreter when the Kurdish guide reply’s with an untimely joke. The story leaves a huge message about the necessity of proper translatin and therefore highlights the true worth of language.
From the opening frame the film was shot like video footage’s captured for the purpose of documentation by an individual or a group of people of similar interest.Using hand held frames can sometimes be a little bit tricky as there cannot be any proper set of guidelines although there are hundreds of examples of success and failure as well. The apparently amateurish frames with proper jerky movements however leave a deep impact on viewers helping them to relate with the gravity of the situation. The hazy and grainy visuals even specifies the time of dawn without even mentioning it.
The use of sound effects plays a huge role in the film. Breathing sound,the sound of footsteps on snow adds proper merit to the visual. Instead of any BGM the use of cell phone “beep” sound not only seems fascinating but also keeps the flavor of the narrative intact.
The film “Translation” reaches out towards some fundamentals of human expressions and the atrocities to establish connection between the two different entities. Most of the conflicts in the history of human civilization were caused by a misunderstanding or miscommunication even leading some of them to bloodshed,genocide and war. The film shows the “what if” moment for an interpreter where he has to make a tough choice between translation and free translation and accept the consequences of that choice. Looking forward to see more from Omar Faruk Baran.
WUIFF DEPTH REVIEW ON PROJECT “Translation“
DIRECTED BY Omer Faruk Baran
COUNTRY Turkey
REVIEWED BY Abhijan Basu (Honorable Jury, INDIA)
WUIFF December-January SESSION 2021-22