A translator’s review of “Arrival”: truths and misconceptions about translation [contains some spoilers]

by Marina Spanou

I recently watched the film Arrival. From the moment I found out that the protagonist was a translator/interpreter, I was very curious about its linguistic approach on a very common movie subject, i.e. aliens.  I must say that, barring a few common misconceptions and clichés, I wasn’t disappointed at all. I will try to limit the spoilers for those of you who haven’t watched the movie yet, but if you’re one of those people who don’t even want to know the characters’ names before watching a movie, better skip this article and come back after you’ve watched it.

The movie goes like this: a few alien spaceships appear floating on top of the earth, in various countries (that’s not really a spoiler, it literally happens in the first 2 minutes). The military recruits renowned linguist and academic Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams) to help them understand what the creatures want and why they’re here. So far so good…only wait, here comes:

Misconception no 1: translators (must) speak every language there is

At the beginning of the movie, Amy Adams is giving a lecture on Portuguese and its differences from other Romance languages. Therefore it’s safe to assume she’s an expert on Portuguese and possibly some -if not all- of those languages. Later, when the military comes to pick her up, they mention that she had done Farsi translations for them in the past. To test one of her colleagues’ – who is also her competitor for the post- aptitude for this job, she suggests they ask him the word for war in Sanskrit -so we can safely assume she speaks that too. Finally, a bit later in the movie, the colonel asks her to translate something from Mandarin. So, to sum up, this woman speaks English, Portuguese (presumably Spanish, Italian and French too, maybe even Romanian and Catalan), Sanskrit, Farsi and Mandarin and I guess the list goes on…

This is a common misconception about translators. Although Louise Banks is a linguist and it is logical that she should speak a few languages, this is how many people perceive translators in general. Many (if not most) talented and successful translators only translate from one foreign language to their native tongue (what? Only one?) and even if we do speak more than one language, most of us end up translating from two or three at most. The professionalism and skills of a translator does not depend on the number of languages he/she speaks. What matters most is his/her ability to convert meaning from one language to the other; that is the main skill that takes you years to master and separates professionals from amateurs.

Misconception no 2: testing someone’s ability as a translator based on his knowledge of certain words

I must admit I was a bit annoyed by this part of the movie too. Granted, knowing the right word for “war” and being able to distinguish between subtle differences in a language is definitely important if you’re going to take part in negotiations with another species (as I also mention below), but using this knowledge as the only measure of someone’s professionalism or aptitude is very misleading.  It’s a common question asked to translators “What’s the word for X in [insert language you translate from here]”, followed by meaningful looks when you don’t know the answer. Translators are not dictionaries; they are so much more than that. Not to mention that the aliens did not speak Sanskrit, so I don’t really see the point of asking this question in the first place.

Truth no 1: translation is an infinitely important process that requires constant attention

Perhaps one of the most important messages of this movie is that how you choose to translate –or interpret- certain words can have a huge impact on important decisions and ultimately on human survival (if we are talking about a war-or-peace situation). At some point, the aliens use the word weapon, and although other linguists choose to perceive this immediately as a threat, the film’s protagonist wonders if they may be trying to refer to a tool or means. This is extremely interesting for a linguist, although its massive importance may escape an unsuspected viewer: words may have different meanings or connotations in different languages, so how you choose to interpret them in your own can make a huge difference in the outcome of any discussion.

Translators and interpreters play a crucial role on the success or failure of relationships, discussions, negotiations, marketing strategies, and much more. This may seem more obvious for interpreters, as they are the ones who are present at high-level discussions that often determine the future of countries or alliances. However, translators are no less important in this respect; one wrongly translated word can lead to diplomatic episodes, lawsuits or other undesired outcomes for everyone involved. And, to cite a more day-to-day case, an incorrectly translated website or product description can cost a company valuable business and an organization precious support or media coverage. Therefore, one of the things the film teaches us is “choose your translator wisely”.

Truth no 2: translation is ultimately and foremost communication

This was –unsurprisingly- my favourite take away from this movie. When watching it you become acutely aware of the importance of translation for human communication –or interspecies, when this need arises I guess. When Dr. Banks arrives at the alien spaceship, humans have no idea what the aliens are saying or what they want, but through a series of well thought-out steps and processes, she manages to understand their language by creating correspondences with English and finally to have meaningful, if short, conversations with them. Thus it becomes clear that being a translator requires far more than speaking a foreign language; to be good at what you do, you need to have a deep knowledge of what translation is, an understanding of how language works and how to interpret a certain meaning in your own language beyond the basic correspondences one can find on a dictionary or on machine translation programmes. You have to understand that a weapon does not always mean “a machine used to kill someone”, but it can mean many different things in different contexts; just think of the phrase “Communication is a powerful weapon in today’s interconnected world”.

Controversial theory: the “Sapir-Whorf hypothesis”

Finally, the film is largely based on the “Sapir-Whorf hypothesis”, according to which languages shape the way we think and see the world. I am not going to elaborate on the role the theory plays in the movie, because it would be a huge spoiler. However, I will mention that although this theory is largely contested today (you can find more information about it here), it is very positive that it was mentioned in such a major film, hopefully triggering the interest of viewers in linguistics, the science of language, that is so often overlooked.

To sum up, regardless of whether you are a sci-fi fan or not, I think that this film offers a glimpse of what being a translator really means, which can only be a good thing for us translators aiming to promote our profession.

Have you watched the movie? Did you spot any other mishaps or truths about translation? Let us know in the comments below.