Dubb versus Subs


Only someone who is accostumed to have everything dubbed in his life can think that a viewer cannot enjoy the "stunning visuals" and read the subtitles at the same time

CMON, I've read subtitles since I was a kid, and like someone else said already, for me (and many others - most of people in my country) its completely possible and only natural to read subtitles and see every frame!

That being said, it is OBVIOUS that everytime you see a movie with subtitles instead of dubbed, you'll get closer to "the full experience" (as the OP put it). This is so obvious that I cant even understand how u people are arguing about it. Hearing the original voices gets you closer to the original making of the film, so WITHOUT a doubt, reading subtitles makes you closer of the original film.

Dubbing the film is like adding another layer on top of it. A layer that most of the times wasnt the director that put it or had anything to do with it. Sure, Myazaki may have said that he agreed with a specific dubb version - I mean, what do you expect? He knows that a dubbing must occur because thats the only way most of americans and brits can see his movie.

Lol and some people even complain about subs saying that they wanna see a movie and not read a book. What total ignorants! Did they ever read a book to say a thing like that??

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I really disagree. When you are watching a film made in a language you do not speak, in a cultural context you do not understand, there are no really good options, only bad ones to choose from. The very act of translation itself really removes one from the original meaning, not to mention subtle cultural signals.

In addition, if there is great cinematography (or in this case, beautiful painted/drawn art) involved, the subtitles mar the composition of the image and draw the eye to a single spot on the screen during dialogue-heavy scenes.

Sure: the original foreign-language dialogue is the real thing and the dubbed replacement is not; but it's only the real thing to you if you can listen to it and understand it in that language. Hearing the spoken language as gibberish while reading a rough translation of it at the bottom of the screen does not mean you are listening to it, really receiving it, in its original form.

Nevertheless, for a live action film that is not in English (or French, which I speak fluently enough), I will choose subtitled over dubbed because dubbing looks ridiculous when the sounds do not match the actors' lips. I am well aware though that I am not getting the "real thing"; and for some movies (that are visually striking but also have a lot of dialogue) I may give up on them rather than take in this substandard experience.

in a case like this where we are talking about an animated film, I strongly believe a well acted dubbing is the "least worst" option.

I consider myself a film buff and in my early days as a cinephile I felt it important to watch a lot of subtitled foreign films because that was what intellectual film lovers did. But as my love for cinema has grown and become refined, I have changed my views about subtitling. Fortunately, there are a great number of quality independent films made in English, as well as a solid oeuvre of French cinema.

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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

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