"A Language Only You and Eight Other People Understand ..."

Ok, this doesn't really concern literary translation, but it's exciting to see that a UN interpreter is the focus of Sydney Pollack's new movie, a political thriller called, well, The Interpreter. And she's played by Nicole Kidman. In the trailer Kidman wears sensible (but sexy) black and white clothes, glasses, and no make-up. She has her straight blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, lives alone, and spends her nights sitting at home playing the recorder. An accurate thumbnail of most translators and interpreters. Right.

Translating lacks glamor (not that all translators do ...), but hey, now we've got Nicole Kidman as our pop culture matron saint. The movie opens April 22. Sean Penn and Catherine Keener are also in it.

Sabine