No matter which language it is in, and no matter which languages you can understand as an audience, there are some films that you can easily understand the scenario with just jests, mimics, and manners. However, the language is sometimes a barrier in films. It is a barrier in Confessional as well. The provided subtitles are not talking to the audience. In a complex script as this film has, the dialogues become the essence of the film. When the translations are not done well, the spectators become completely deaf to motion pictures.
The movie Confession is set in Hong Kong in part. From the looks of the sets and costumes and the movie’s title, one can piece together that the main theme is the suicide of the girl we meet at the beginning of the movie. Suicide is a big sin according to the Catholic Church, and one can presume by the look of Father Ma’s clothing that he is a part of the Catholic clergy. What seems further puzzling is the character of the photographer, who witnesses the death of the girl in the church and starts following her sister by deciphering a message he intercepted. What is his agenda? What is the list he is talking about? What is the imaginary war Father Ma and the sister talk about? The director’s choices for the plot come across as too loose and without a good framework, because the movie is very hard to follow and understand.
Taking into consideration the problems with the bad translation, it is hard to form an opinion on motifs and script. The overall atmosphere has an interesting and drawing mystic, especially for the audience who enjoys a good mystery.
The translation is definitely one thing which decreases the quality of this film. It had way too many plot holes that were impossible to fill in from the context or the sets or non-verbal cues from the actors; not to mention the cultural barrier. But then again the translation might not be the only thing to blame. The editing and photography weren’t really top notch, and one can’t help but think that maybe if the directing were better it would be easier to understand more of this short film – bad translation not-with-standing.