I downloaded Sluzhebnyiy Roman (Offfice Romance) from Memocast, but somehow messed up on the subtitle file. It was too late to go back and re-download it.
I probably could have asked the Memocast people for help, but instead I found English subtitles elsewhere. Unfortunately, they were in two files, while the movie was in one.
And the timings were way off — the words appearing well after the words were spoken. I didn’t mind that too much for language-learning purposes. Using the first of the two files, I got a chance to listen and process what I was hearing before getting to see the subtitle. But this wouldn’t do when Myra watches the film with me.
It didn’t take long to find a tool to help fix things up. I used Subtitle Workshop from URUworks. I learned about it at the Videohelp.com forum, where there was also a good description of how to use it to combine two subtitles files into one.
That program can also be used to fix the timings. I plan to use it for other subtitle files whose timings are just fine. I can use those files as is when watching films with Myra, but create a separate version with long delays for use when I’m trying to work on my Russian listening skills.
Office Romance is an Eldor Ryazanof film. It’s not quite as good as Irony of Fate or Railway Station for Two, but it is definitely worth watching. I don’t know if it’s giving me an accurate idea of what an office worker’s job may have been like in 1980s Russia, but it seems to be a plausible if partial picture. Russia doesn’t have Scott Adams and Dilbert to chronicle such a culture, but it has Ryazanov.
Reticulator
///I don’t know if it’s giving me an accurate idea of what an office worker’s job may have been like in 1980s Russia… ///
Actually, it's 1977
///….but it seems to be a plausible if partial picture.///
Interestingly, what do the things seem as questionable to you? and why?
Actually, in this case none of it seems questionable. I haven’t lived there, nor have I read that kind of detail about life in Russia, so it all seemed plausible to me.
I want to be careful, though, that I don’t depend too much on what I learn from movies.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned to a co-worker who was originally from Russia that I was thinking of doing a bike tour there. He immediately tried to talk me out of it, saying it was a bad idea, it was too dangerous, it was not like in the movies, etc. (We had previously talked about Russian movies, and he had helped me a little bit with the language.)
Well, I have to admit the movies help make me interested in going for a visit, but it probably isn’t safe just to go by what I learn from the movies, any more than you would get a complete and accurate picture of life in the United States from American movies. Yes, one can learn from watching movies, but the movies aren’t reality.
Because I spend so much time watching Russian movies, I need to keep reminding myself of that.
(When I explained to my co-worker what kind of bike tour I was thinking of, he calmed down. It’s one of those sponsored by the Russian Cycle Touring Club)