| Watching foreign films is a good method for people to learn foreign languages. In recent years, the increasing enthusiasm of people in foreign language learning brings the popularity of foreign films. Many people, especially the young and some foreign language learners, like foreign films very much. But different people need different kinds of films. Some people are interested in subtitling films while others prefer dubbing ones. Subsequently, film translation becomes crucial. However, although almost all the foreign films are translated in some certain ways, their translations, more or less, could not satisfy everyone, and there exist some problems in them. Besides, China's studies of film translation have been lagging behind those in foreign countries, especially in European countries. That is the reason why the author chooses the two versions of the film The Sound of Music, the subtitling version and the dubbing version, for a comparative study. The subtitles, both Chinese and English, are from Fei Niao BT Group, a fansub group from the internet, and the dubbing version is produced by Shanghai Film Dubbing Factory. And this thesis focuses mainly on the comparative study of Chinese subtitling and dubbing.The theory applied in this thesis is Relevance Theory (RT), proposed by Sperber and Wilson. RT, a pragmatic theory intended for interpreting communication, has already been applied to film translation study due to its strong explanatory power in ostensive-inference communication and has already achieved some success in this field. Based on the studies of film translation which have been achieved in China and foreign countries, this thesis tries to explain the translations in the two versions of The Sound of Music with RT. Their similarities and differences are expected and their advantages and disadvantages are put forward respectively by comparing examples of the two versions.Thirty-four examples are chosen from the two versions of the film at random. After a comparative study of these examples, the author finds out some similarities and differences of the two versions of this film. They are similar in their principles, natures, features, constraints and strategies, and their differences are as follows. The first is their different degree of authenticity, the second is the vulnerable feature of subtitling, the third is the adjustment problem of length and content in dubbing, the fourth is that Chinese subtitling uses positive translation mainly while dubbing uses negative translation, and the last one is dubbing's supplemental and explanation translation.In addition, their advantages and disadvantages are found out too. The subtitling version is more authentic than the dubbing one and more suitable for English learners, although there are some problems, such as the spelling mistakes and accuracy of translations, in it. Even so, the dubbing version still attracts people for so long time mainly because of its easy-to-understand translations. Furthermore, dubbing films themselves have two more merits. They could protect our national language effectively, which is the subtitling one could not do. And they could help to disseminate cultures, because they are suitable for almost all of the audiences. But there still exist some disadvantages in the dubbing one. For example, the lyrics have not been translated, some translations are not satisfactory enough, and it is not as authentic as the subtitling version. Finally, the author suggests that Chinese subtitles be added in the dubbing version, which could also help the deaf or some people with hearing problems while watching.In conclusion, RT has strong power in explaining film translation. No matter it is subtitling or dubbing, its purpose is to achieve optimal relevance by making the communicative intention of original language understood by target audiences. Furthermore, strategies of film translation should be made full use to help audiences to understand the original language better, so that the communicative effect is improved.
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