Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of my favorite art experiences of all time, and the scenes between Evelyn and Waymond in the Wong Kar-wai-inspired parallel universe are my absolute favorite moments of the movie.
Watching the film for the second time yesterday, however, I was surprised to discover what I would call a critical mistranslation in my favorite scene. Here is what Waymond tells Evelyn:
| English Subtitles | Spoken Chinese | Direct Translation of Spoken Chinese |
| I wanted to say… | 我想告诉你…… | I want to tell you… |
| In another life, | 如果有来生， | if there were another life, |
| I would have really liked… | 我还是会选择和你一起， | I still would have chosen to be with you, |
| just doing laundry… | 保税， | doing taxes, |
| and taxes with you. | 开洗衣店。 | opening a laundry. |
This feels like a critical difference!? “I would have liked” carries very different meaning than “I would have chosen.” And for a movie with such specificity in every detail, I can’t help but feel that this mistranslation must be deeply intentional, perhaps tapping into some subtle cultural sensitivities.
I’m reminded of a conversation that I had with a friend about anime voice acting, and how one of the reasons why viewers often prefer subtitles over dubbed voices is that voice actors seem able to express an authentic emotional intensity in Japanese that feels exaggerated when translated into and expressed in English. I wonder if something similar underlies this translation—a recognition that in English, or in English-speaking cultures, something as intense as “I still would have chosen to be with you” wouldn’t be as deeply felt as “I would have really liked.”
Thank you to Bill, Jack, and Sam for inspiring this post.