Martial arts and philosophy, history and absurdity — *One Knife, One Heaven* explores the Eastern themes of revenge and forgiveness through a distinctive narrative style. When LI TRUST’s subtitle team took on the international subtitle production for this film, the primary challenge was a dialogue system that blends classical Chinese with modern vernacular. The characters in the film speak in markedly different ways: some use a classical literary tone, others respond in street-level vernacular. This deliberate linguistic contrast is a key tool the director uses to shape character identity. The central difficulty in translation was preserving these layers of language difference in the English subtitles. LI TRUST’s translators adopted a “register stratification” strategy, designing corresponding English expression systems for characters with different speech styles. This ensures the English subtitles not only convey the content but also retain the original film’s stylistic layering. Deliverables include the English subtitle SRT file, a production notes document, and a bilingual comparison version for distributor review.