Flower Moon Lost in Translation

Killers of Osage Voices in Dubbing

Abstract

In recent years, multilingualism and third language (L3) have become integral to film narratives, shaping characterisation, plot development, and story-world construction. The representation of multilingual elements in dubbed versions of polyglot films is therefore crucial. This study examines the rendering of L3 in two Persian-dubbed versions of Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), a film distinguished by its deliberate use of Osage. Comparative analysis shows that the two studios adopted markedly different strategies. One version retained traces of L3 through “preservation” or “quantitative reduction,” maintaining a degree of linguistic and cultural otherness. The other largely “neutralised” multilingualism, in some cases, producing cultural interpolation and mismatches between the “non-verbal visuals” and the “verbal-auditory” track. The findings indicate that both technical and ideological manipulation shaped these choices.

Lay summary

In many recent films, characters speak more than one language, and this multilingualism is an important part of how the story is told and how characters are developed. These films often include a third language (called L3), meaning a language other than the main one used in the film. One example is Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), which uses English and the Indigenous Osage language to reflect the cultural identity of its characters and setting. This study looks at how two Persian dubbing studios translated the multilingual elements of this film for Iranian audiences. Dubbing means replacing the original spoken dialogue with translated speech in another language—in this case, Persian. I compared the two versions and found that each studio made different choices. One version kept parts of the original multilingualism, either by fully preserving it or by reducing it without completely removing it. This helped maintain a sense of cultural diversity. The other version, however, removed most of the multilingual content. As a result, there were moments where the foreign cultural elements—such as the appearance, setting, or ethnicity of the characters—no longer matched the Persian dialogue, which could cause confusion for the viewer. I believe that both technical issues and ideological choices influenced how the translations were made. This research shows why it’s important to consider how different languages are handled in dubbed films. These decisions can affect how audiences understand cultural identities and the original meaning of the film. The findings are useful for translators, dubbing professionals, and anyone interested in how language, culture, and media come together.