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Does watching a film using subtitles lessen the experience?

posted 10 years ago by ccccometti
16 replies | jump to latest

It is my opinion that when watching a foreign film that requires the viewer to follow along using subtitles the ability of the viewer to address the quality of the film is significantly hindered. For example, how is a viewer suppose to judge the quality of the acting when he/she is not familiar with the language being spoken in the film but is instead reading the words as they come across the screen. What do you think? Do you think that repeated viewing of foreign films gives one a better ability to judge the acting despite being in a foreign language?

Also, I would really appreciate it if you checked out my list of the 100 greatest movies ever made

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls058949608/?publish=save

I still have minor adjustments to make, but please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

[–] Dead_Head_Filmmaker 10 years ago

Love your list
Adjustments will be continual.

I have a few i disagree with, but thats what makes it great.

Check out mine
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070455564/

[–] Xellarix 10 years ago

Watching a movie with a subtitle not only hinder your ability to judge the acting quality, but you losing the actors facial expressions and as a result emotional connectedness with the characters, in addition A LOT OF actual meaning of the words is getting lost in the process of translating a movie, because the true equivalent of the word and meaning doesn't always exist in the culture and language of the foreign movie we watching, so I think in addition to watching it multiple of times, one can benefit from studying the culture that movie is coming from.

[–] dholliday-imdb 10 years ago

It's the other way around: watching a dubbed film lessens the experience as you lose half of the original casts' performance (imagine watching Choi Min-Sik's meltdown in Oldboy but with a different actor's voice). You also lose a lot of the cultural impression, you get inferior sound mixing and often the dubbed voice actor doesn't fit the face, plus the recording may not be synchronised to lip movement properly.

Most people get used to reading subs fairly quickly, developing a skim-read technique so that you have time in between the words to look at the faces and scenery. Skim-reading doesn't mean you lose any deeper meaning, but you may find a rewatch a year or so later yields interesting dividends regarding more subtle references. Then again, you get that with films in your own language too.

It might get tricky in dialogue-heavy films/TV: must be a challenge sometimes for non-English people to read the hectic dialogue of Doctor Who and still keep track of the action. Pulp Fiction too.

Saying that, I've watched a fair bit of talky Korean, Spanish & Hungarian cinema and not had any real issues reading & watching simultaneously. The only film I can think of which had a scene where I struggled to keep up was the taiwanese Shutter: which had a group dinner scene at the beginning with them all chatting quickfire banter at the same time, with the quickly-disappearing subs only feeding us one line-at-a-time. Other than that, never an issue.

But I've always been an avid reader, so maybe those of you who don't enjoy regular reading may struggle.

It's worth the effort, tho' 

[–] neverstandinalone (641) 8 years ago

"Most people get used to reading subs fairly quickly, developing a skim-read technique so that you have time in between the words to look at the faces and scenery. Skim-reading doesn't mean you lose any deeper meaning, but you may find a rewatch a year or so later yields interesting dividends regarding more subtle references. Then again, you get that with films in your own language too."

I agree. I've been watching 'foreign' films for so long I can't remember the exact age I started. Maybe in my early 30s. I'm old as dirt now, and have been hearing deficient/impaired since my mid 20s so I think it's all in what one gets use to, whether lip-reading or subtitles, or both which is what I do.

If interested enough I usually watch particular films more than once, and on repeated viewing the subtitles tend to 'disappear' to me.

[–] Kino_Pravda 10 years ago

I don't think that I agree, except maybe when you are very first starting to watch foreign films. I've found that I can read the subtitles and look at everything else just fine.

http://kinopravda23.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/evanchester1988

[–] Bobby Briggs Briganza 10 years ago

Who said anything about dubbed?

Your film gods: Lee Van Cleef and Laura Gemser
http://tinyurl.com/pa4ud44

[–] NonNon_Jean-Francois 10 years ago

I so totally agree with dholliday-imdb - dubbing really kills the experience, and subbing doesnt take much away from it, imho.

Also, I never thought subtitles hindered my viewing experience, When the acting is good, it just transcends the screen. I'm not sure the analogy is the best, but consider The Artist http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/, shot as a silent movie: the 5 oscars it won speaks volume about the importance of acting, and acting alone,

Sure, subtitles deprive you of the feel, but facial expressions, inflexions, intonations, etc., always carry a good deal of emotions and context, which are complemented by the subtitles.

Now, the translation has to be faultless.

Cheers

[–] dreaming (43) 8 years ago

Nah---I've been watching films with subtitles for so long,I'm used to it. I prefer subbed films to dubbed films because with a subbed film you actually get a better feel for the film and hearing the actors' actual voices is always better,and a lot more fun and interesting for me as a movie viewer. I love it,lol. You also get a better feel of the foreigness of the film since it's clearly not directed at an American or English-speaking audience. Dubbing for me just takes you out of the viewing experience and put the natural feel of said film at a removed distance (unless it's an old kung fu flick,most of whom were dubbed for American distribution anyway,and not always in the best way.) And yeah,great acting always transcends the screen no what language it's performed in---I've seen more than enough awesome acting & performances in foreign films as living proof of that. But then I've always loved to read so that's why I got so used to "reading the screen", as some folks would call it.

[–] godewey (16472) 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Drmccormack (743) 8 years ago

Godewey, I agree also. I much prefer subtitles to dubbing. Years ago I watched La Cage aux Folles dubbed and I didn't understand why people thought it was a good film. Then I caught the subtitled version and I laughed like crazy. It was completely ruined by the dubbing. It is true that I miss a lot of nuances on my first viewing of a subtitled movie but I usually see a good movie more than once anyway.

[–] godewey (16472) 8 years ago

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[–] Drmccormack (743) 8 years ago

I'd much rather watch a great movie 10 times than watch an average movie once
I agree completely!

[–] CindyH 9 years ago

I couldn't have said everything you did as articulately as you said it. 

I will add one thing. I think age and experience of it makes a huge difference. Soon you learn to read them faster and an see both facial expression and tone. A few years ago, my adult children hated foreign films not dubbed. However they have since changed their mind and have realized what an asset it is to have it subtitled. You get used to it and if it's really good, I'll watch it twice so I can focus less on the dialogue and on their faces next go around.

Random Thoughts: http://goo.gl/eXk3O

[–] slimone (7996) 8 years ago

I select subtitles on almost everything because sometimes it is difficult to understand what some actors are saying either because they are in a fast conversation with someone in the film, or it's a foreign film. I'm glad I have a choice.

Some tv series have subtitles and some don't. I started the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent and the show had no subtitles, and some of the actors mumble, especially D'Onofrio.

[–] Toshtego (33) 8 years ago

My hearing being what it is, subtitles are a blessing. This exacerbated by todays mumbling actors. I never have trouble understanding Lawrence Olivier, John Gielgud or John Wayne. There is something to be said for actors who started out on the stage and learned to project so they can be heard in the last row of the house. An actor's first duty is to be heard by the audience.

My most memorable sub-title experience was in a movie theater in Reykjavik, Iceland, some years back, watching a French language film with Icelandic subtitles. They took up a third of the screen it seemed since their words go on forever.