Emotions recovered in translation : on artistic audio description and translation of humour

The subject of this paper is audio description (AD) or – more precisely – an artistic AD, by which I understand the AD the language and form of which are adjusted to the product it accompanies, which not only informs about the content of the visual layer of the movie, but is also able to recreate its unique character. The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of some scenes of the film The Intouchables and a Polish AD prepared for the film. The aim of the study was to establish how much the authors of the latter were able to preserve from the original character of the film (and especially from the emotions and humour included in its scenes), how much was lost, and why. Although the AD for The Intouchables is written in a rich and colourful language, it can be classified as traditional. This, in turn, may be a starting point to consider whether giving it a more artistic form has a potential to contribute to a better rendition of filmic humour. The conclusions of the study are part of a wider reflection on the ability of AD to influence the mood of the audience. This is why, the text is additionally illustrated with a number of examples from Polish and foreign ADs (which can be perceived as artistic ones) prepared for various movies of different genres.