Movies: With or without subtitles?

[Pacion]

Do you enjoy them? Any favourites? Why? If you had an option to choose between dubbing or subtitles, which one would you prefer and why?

(For the smart Alexs, no, British movies DO NOT count as a foreign language film :lol: )

I amended the Subject from "Foreign Language Films"

[pygmalion]

I've seen a few British films subtitled in English. Not sure why! :shock: :lol:

If I had to pick, I'd go for subtitled any day of the week. I pick up a lot through vocal inflection, and dubbing obscures all that.

Faves? Manon du Source somes to mind. A couple of French films that are complete unto themselves, but interrelated. And then there was Burnt by the Sun, a movie about a Russian war hero living in Stalin era Russia.


and plenty more. :wink:

[Genesius Redux]

Anything by Kurosawa.

"Cinema Paradiso," "Life is Beautiful"
"Amelie"
"La Cage aux Folles"
"La Retour de Martin Guerre"
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Does "M" count as a foreign language film? It was German, but it was a silent film, allowing later editors to put in English titles.

[pygmalion]

That's why I pick subtitled. By the time I'm finished watching, I've become part of the film, and forgotten all about the language it's filmed in.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the only "martial arts" film I own. Magic!

And I trust you, of course, GR, but it's hard to remember Amelie or Life is Beautiful as foreign language. Were they really? I loved them both.


Then there was the red, white and blue trilogy. I enjoyed those as well, but if I remember correctly, I liked white the best.

[Pacion]

Manon du Source somes to mind.

:shock: Oh, I cried! And the second one, which I don't remember the name of just now (will have to google :lol: ) made me cry even more.

I felt so sad for Gerard Depedieu. I almost wanted to "marry him myself" just to take away the pain of his unrequented love for Manon. :cry: And that gesture of love he did - sewing her ribbon to his breast :shock: oh, such a gesture of love :cry:

[pygmalion]

I loved that movie! :cry: :D

[dancingdragon]

Ditto to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Life Is Beautiful. As a linguist I have to say I can't stand dubbing - I like to be able to listen to the language even if I don't always understand it. And if it is a language I can speak, I like to test myself!

I read on the net recently that [Brit Movie] Gosford Park had subtitles for the American audience, since the accents were too obscure for you guys to understand. Can anyone back that up? I thought that was unbelievable.

[pygmalion]

Yes. It had some subtitles, which totally shocked me. I've been watching British television most of my life, and I found the subtitles annoying at best , offensive at worst. However, they were there. I have no idea why. The accents seemed quite natural to me, as (in addition to my telly exposure) I've known many a Brit. Who in the world would need such subtitles? I can't imagine. :?

[SDsalsaguy]

:lol: Reminds me of when I saw The Crying Game years ago... after it was over i turned to the friend I'd seen it with and asked her what she'd thought of it. She said that it had been really hard to understand their accents for the first half or so until she got used to them. Having grown up with an Irish nanny I was like "accents? what accents?" :lol:

[danceguy]

I really like Run Lola Run...and its best with subtitles and not the horrible voice overs in English! :shock: :x

What's that other movie...oh yes, Tampopo...brilliant! Always makes me hungry for ramen though. ;)

[salsachinita]

On top of everything else mentioned, I'd love to add one of my personal favourites: "Eat, Drink, Man, Women".

(It is directed by Ang Lee, same guy who did "Couching Tiger, Hiddend Dragon".)

And listen closely to the soundtrack (composed/arranged by a French I think).....there is a lot of mambo (homage to Tito Puente) with traditional Chinese instrument as part of the orchestra....

One particular track 'inspired' the "Sex in the City' theme....

*I just LOVE foreign/arthouse films.....too bad I don't meet enough people to go see them with :roll: *

[danceguy]

I'll go with you Salsachinita! :D

[pygmalion]

On top of everything else mentioned, I'd love to add one of my personal favourites: "Eat, Drink, Man, Women".

(It is directed by Ang Lee, same guy who did "Couching Tiger, Hiddend Dragon".)

And listen closely to the soundtrack (composed/arranged by a French I think).....there is a lot of mambo (homage to Tito Puente) with traditional Chinese instrument as part of the orchestra....

One particular track 'inspired' the "Sex in the City' theme....

*I just LOVE foreign/arthouse films.....too bad I don't meet enough people to go see them with :roll: *

Did you see the hideous Latino/American remake? What was it called? Grr.

[Pacion]

I was recently reminded that in Norway/Scandanavia, they use subtitles instead of dubbing. Which is one of the reasons, if not the main reason why, IMO, a lot of Scandanavians speak such good english :oops:

[Sagitta]

Subtitles any day.

I saw Run Lola Run, and Amelie too. Let's see...I liked Chocolat. I know a little French and so was even able to get a little *******er with that!! :)

[Flat Shoes]

I hate dubbing. I don't like subtitles when I understand the language. I find myself reading them even when I don't have to.

And Pygmalion, subtitles in the same language are for the hearing impaired.

[Pacion]

Flat Shoes, subtitles have also been used where the accents are a bit tricky to catch :wink:

I know a little French and so was even able to get a little *******er with that!! :)

Enquiring minds would like to know, what phrases you remember in French :wink:

[Sagitta]

Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir!! ( :P That's for asking! :) )

Actually I can understand more when I read then when people speak. But, basic stuff, such as what's your name, where is ____?, I'm okay, and how are you?, it's hot, cold...I'm hungry, thirsty. I went somewhere last night...I'm sure you get the drift. I really should practice it as I've lost a lot of the little that I learnt. :(

[Pacion]

Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir!!

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: Just as I thought :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Funnily enough, I think I 'understand' more when I hear a different language rather than when I read it. :?

[dr daffy]

i don't have a problem with subtitles so i wouldn't mind watching movies with them even though i don't remember seeing any, lol. i've got a hearing loss so i need to have captions when i watch tv anyways, so i suppose i'm used to things like subtitles :P

[pygmalion]

And Pygmalion, subtitles in the same language are for the hairing impaired.

Yes. Closed captioning. It works pretty well at the gym, too, when there's a lot of music and five different TV stations going simultaneously.

That's not what I meant, though. I mean, I've seen television shows in which people are speaking perfectly understandable but slightly accented British English, when for some reason American TV people figured subtitles were needed. Uh... why, when it's basically the same language? Incidentally, I've also seen the same thing when people with heavy Ebonics or Appalachian accents are speaking on TV. Subtitles. Like it or not, they're speaking English. *shrug*

And, ironically, I've seen entire miniseries on PBS in which people spoke with a really heavy Welsh, Scottish or Irish accent, but no subtitles were used. You get used to it ... eventually. :oops: :lol:

[Pacion]

It is the 'eventually' that I don't have patience with :lol:

[Genesius Redux]

Incidentally, I've also seen the same thing when people with heavy Ebonics or Appalachian accents are speaking on TV. Subtitles. Like it or not, they're speaking English. *shrug*

The best parody of which is still in Airplane. "Excuse me, maybe I can help. You see, I speak jive...." :lol:

[pygmalion]

LOL! I'd forgotten about that scene. It was hilarious. :lol:

[Pacion]

:lol: :lol: