'Parasite' translator bridges the linguistic gap from Korean to English

Darcy Paquet, the American subtitle translator known for his work on "Parasite," discusses his role in translating Korean films to English. He is praised for capturing cultural nuances, making these films more accessible to global audiences.

Darcy Paquet [CHOI YEONG-JAE]

“The American subtitle translator who made ‘Parasite’ (2019) an Oscar-winning film.”

“A film critic who knows more about Korean films than any other Korean.”

These are a few of the many phrases used to introduce Darcy Paquet. Paquet is an American film critic and a subtitle translator, well known for translating Korean scripts into English subtitles while keeping the cultural context in mind.

Paquet is best known for having taken part in creating English subtitles for director Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite.” In other words, he was the one that enabled global audiences to “overcome the 1-inch-tall barriers of subtitles,” as Bong famously said when he received the Oscar Award in 2020.

As Paquet became busier after the success of “Parasite,” he’s been flying across the globe, participating in numerous events. He recently returned home from Hong Kong after attending a conference titled “The Origins of the South Korean Film Renaissance.”

“My son teased me, asking if I was some BTS member,” Paquet said with a chuckle.

Paquet is not only an ambassador of Korea’s independent films, but also an actor, who has appeared in a handful of films and television drama series.

As a translator, Paquet was behind many of Bong’s films including “Memories of Murder” (2003), along with “Ode to My Father” (2014), “Assassination” (2015) and “The Handmaiden” (2016).

Paquet is recognized and appreciated for translating Korean movies in ways that are easier for foreigners to understand than if they were translated literally. For example, in the film “Memories of Murder,” detective Park Doo-man, played by actor Song Kang-ho, asks the suspect of a murder case if he has eaten. The line would sound totally out of the blue if it was literally translated as such into English, even though the line sounds natural to Koreans. It is in instances such as these that Paquet shines. He translated it as, “Do you get up early in the morning, too?” to sarcastically ask the suspect if a murderer like himself is an early bird. He also coined the famous portmanteau ramdong by combining the words ramyeon and udong in the film “Parasite,” even though the same dish was called jjapaguri in Korean.

Darcy Paquet plays a supporting role in the Korean film ″The Taste of Money″ (2012). [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

His translations don't stop at just capturing nuances in Korean wordplay, however.

Paquet's years of having lived in Korea and understanding of the culture and history also helps him find English words or phrases that, though perhaps not a literal translation, help get the point across even better. For example, to translate hakikjin, which appears in “Parasite,” he simply described it as “a crane’s wing formation” in English. Hakikjin is the strategy of dispatching fleets in the shape of a crane, which was used by admiral Yi Sun-sin in the 1592 Battle of Hansan. He was also praised for translating actor Song Kang-ho’s line in “Broker” (2022) in which he called himself “the stork twins,” using the myth more popular in the West that storks deliver babies. The literal translation would’ve been “Misters of Samsin,” referring to the Korean myth of Grandmother Samsin, a goddess of childbirth.

To hear more about what his career has been like in Korea for the past 20 years and his affinity for Korean films, the JoongAng Sunday, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, recently sat down with Paquet, who is also a professor at the Busan Asian Film School, for an interview. The following are excerpts of the interview with Paquet, originally conducted in Korean, which have been edited for length and clarity.

Q. What work have you been translating these days?

A. I try to be careful about revealing the title of the films I work on, because the minute I reveal what I’m translating, people will know what stage of production it's in. Moreover, I don’t necessarily work on one film at a time, especially during this time of year, as December to February is the busiest time for translators.

Why is winter the busiest time for translators?

In order for films to be submitted to the Cannes Film Festival, held in May, the English subtitles have to be completed by the end of February at latest. This is why I turn down any business trips or offers to hold classes during winter vacations, so I can focus on translating. In 2021, I translated director Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” (2022), director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Broker” (2022) and director July Jung’s “Next Sohee” (2023). Last year, I translated five films in five weeks, including films such as director Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb,” director Kim Chang-hoon’s “Hwaran” and director Um Tae-hwa’s “Concrete Utopia.”

It seems like you are completing one work per week. Do you have any free time?

I work day and night because these works that I do have deadlines. I translate until late at night, get a bit of sleep, wake up at six the next morning and start from where I left off. I had so many business trips this year that my son complained a lot. I have two sons — the oldest attends high school in the United States, and the younger one is here in Seoul. I’m planning to go to the U.S. with my family in February when all my translating jobs are done.

A scene from director Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” (2022) [CJ ENM]

Is there any particular line from a recent work that has stuck with you?

Not one particular line, but every line from character Song Seo-rae in “Decision to Leave” holds a special place in my heart. Seo-rae is a Korean-Chinese who isn’t fluent in Korean. Actor Tang Wei, who played the character, isn’t fluent in Korean in real life either, which allowed her to express the character more realistically. I tried my best to capture the feeling of her unnatural Korean, as I am also a person whose mother tongue isn’t Korean. The work itself was fun from a translator's perspective, regardless of how the audience responded to the translation.

You translated the odd Korean expression, machimnae, used often by Seo-rae in “Decision to Leave,” as “at last.” What’s the story behind that?

The literal translation you would find in the dictionary would be “finally.” But I didn’t want to use that word because it sounded too natural, like conversational English. To make sure it sounded as odd as it did in Korean, coming from a person who isn't fluent in Korean, I wanted to use expressions that were more common in written English. People who aren’t native speakers often use expressions and vocabulary that sound quite unnatural in normal conversation, and I wanted to emphasize that.

Translator Darcy Paquet sat down with the JoongAng Sunday, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, for an interview on Nov. 24 at a small cafe in Jongno District, central Seoul. [CHOI YEONG JAE]

What first attracted you to Korean films?

The Busan International Film Festival [BIFF] was the beginning of it all. I first arrived in Korea in August 1997, and BIFF was held the following month. While enjoying the event, I felt so much energy, and people’s affection toward the films was something that I’ve never felt anywhere else. Korean people’s love for films left a strong impression on me. Remarkable films kept coming out, and people talked about films all the time — inside cafes, around theaters and on the streets. It was a time when people who didn’t watch films couldn’t participate in conversations.

A scene from director Bong Joon-ho's ″Memories of Murder″ (2003), which Darcy Paquet translated [CJ ENM]

How do you feel about Korean films going downhill?

It’s a hard time [for Korean films]. Korean films have grown for the last 25 years, with the scale of production fees and screen premieres getting bigger and bigger. There is a growing concern within the film industry as the number of moviegoers declines. But it was like that in the past as well. The year 1997 was a difficult time for Korea, as the country was hit by the Asian financial crisis. Though the film industry was also going through a difficult time, the desire to produce new films was very high. Talented directors could receive investments. That's why innovative films such as “Memories of Murder” and “Save the Green Planet!” were able to be created and premiered in 2003. Now we are facing many difficulties again, but at the same time, it’s a desperate time for new attempts.

Some say that this downfall is due to the emergence of streaming services such as Netflix. Do you agree?

I don’t agree. It could be an acceptable argument if it was talking about the U.S. market. The United States has a strong culture of inviting friends over to their houses and watching films together. On the contrary, Koreans generally meet their friends outside of their homes. Korean culture hasn’t changed much even after Covid-19 social distancing measures were lifted. Cafes are still packed with people.

So are you saying that the main problem is the content itself?

Yes. I once thought that the pandemic was the reason for the decrease in the number of moviegoers, but once I thought about it more, I realized the problem lies in the essence of film itself. There were a lot of films that failed before Covid-19. The public’s interest in films decreased not because the quality of the films was lacking, but because films with similar storylines and styles kept coming in. Over the past few years, we’ve seen so many sequels from hit films getting released — and this isn't just limited to Korea. [Producers and directors] wanted to take the easy and safe option. Meanwhile, the attention moved to streaming platforms because they began releasing experimental and exciting works. People will return to theaters when interesting films come out again.

What films do you recommend watching?

I recommend director Kim Mi-young’s “A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea.” The film was first screened at the 2021 BIFF and was awarded a DGK Megabox Award during the event in the same year. The film premiered in theaters on Sept. 27. I also recommend director Cho Hyun-chul’s “The Dream Songs,” which premiered on Oct. 25. The film follows the perspective of two young women telling the story of two high school girls. That's also a work that I translated.

Do you have any advice for aspiring film translators?

Translating films falls into a special category in translation. The lines delivered by the actors are rhythmic. Translators should translate while still considering the flow, instead of just focusing on the lines. Audiences can experience a range of emotions while watching a film, even if they don't understand the language. The film's atmosphere can also be delivered through the facial expressions and voices of the actors, which a translator can lose track of when focusing only on the text. Anyone who is interested in film translation should encounter and experience different fields and types of translation first.

HWANG KUN-KANG [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]