In Pursuit of the Cinematic Experience: Film Translation in the Late Silent Era

Silent film translation was a dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon. Films were not only inherently translatable and widely adapted, but the film text itself was ultimately shaped by the specific context in which it was exhibited (Vasey 1997). Adapting a foreign film demanded a high level of expertise, encompassing complex operations such as translation, film editing and dialogue writing. This study focuses on the “adaptive strategies” (Adamson 2019, 32) used by film translators to tailor silent films for international audiences, enabling them to transcend their original cultural boundaries. Its aim is to contribute new insights into the localisation of film media during the silent era by examining the translation and reception of Charlie Chaplin’s cinema in Italy. Drawing on archival sources and contemporary periodicals, the study explores how Hollywood films were reworked and reframed to align with local audience expectations, while also interrogating the notion of translation in the silent film world.