Reply With QuoteNot at all. I’m a big fan of the Scandinavian ‘noir’ stuff, e,g. The Bridge, The Killing, Borgen etc, all of which is subtitled. They are not films but well worth watching.
Or does anyone else avoid films containing subtitles?
Watched a film the other night called "The Kings choice" that contained Norwegian and German languages that translated into English subtitles and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Now I'm thinking how many other good films have i missed out on by not watching once I've realised they are in subtitles.
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Not at all. I’m a big fan of the Scandinavian ‘noir’ stuff, e,g. The Bridge, The Killing, Borgen etc, all of which is subtitled. They are not films but well worth watching.
Last edited by dejjl; 4th February 2018 at 09:22.
That's funny ... being a non-native speaker myself, I watched films with subtitles all the time. Worked the best when I could follow the spoken language reasonably well already, so the subtitles were a bit of an aid only. I find them a bit more distracting when I don't know anything of the language yet. Nowadays I usually try to follow films or series without the subtitles. Works well for German and English, and Dutch obviously ;-)
Because the Dutch language has nowhere the same reach as German or Spanish, almost all foreign films here are subtitled and not dubbed. The exception being films and series for young children.
Last edited by johant; 4th February 2018 at 09:43.
Just started to watch Gomarrah on sky, Italian drama with subtitles yet it’s very good and now 7 episodes in...
True! We laugh at Germany trying to translate every movie! It's rather weird hearing John Wayne saying "Hände hoch, du Kumpel!" Instead of "Hands up, fellow!" When I was a young boy, the subtitles teached me English! As is with most kids over here; they understand the English language rather well before they go to school.Originally Posted by johant
Subtitles all the way!
There's one Dutch voice though, I need to mention: the Dutch voice actor playing Spongebob has managed to become even more annoying than his US counterpart!
Menno
The original “Girl with the dragon tattoo” was in Swedish with subtitles and so much better than the Daniel Craig version.
We also watched the whole of the “Fugitives” box set with subtitles; it’s amazing how quickly you forget that you’re reading and not just listening to the words.
As my wife and stepson are not English, we watch almost everything with subtitles, most of the time I do not even notice them (although this may be because they are English over English speaking maybe). I also watch lots of foreign TV and films and need subtitles for these, I would certainly not avoid a film because it was subtitled.
I tend to enjoy many films with subtitles but fall into the same trap each time.
I have my iPad / phone with me most of the time when watching tv & idly browse. It’s fine on a british film, but often did myself looking up to realise I don’t speak Scandinavian & the last few minutes of dialogue have been lost on me.
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I like a number of foreign TV series (Spiral, Montalbano) which have subtitles and these don't bother me.
I'm just getting into spiral myself and loving it. The only issue I have with subtitles is sometimes with fast action and dialogue I struggle to keep up and need to rewind.
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I like subtitled films as you are forced to concentrate and not be distracted by iphone, laptop etc. For this very reason my wife hates them. She “watches” TV while simultaneously reading stuff on the laptop.
Only two things I’ve ever watched in sub titles, this being one. Just going through the 3rd series.
The other was Betty Blue in the late 80’s - sort of thing a teenager would watch back then!
He who doesn’t want to watch subtitled films will never know how wonderful Japanese (Ozu, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, ...), Italian (Fellini!), Spanish (Almodovar, Buñuel,...), French (Carné, Clair, Clément, Cocteau, and the New wave Truffaut, Chabrol, Lelouch,...) to name just those, are.
Subtitling is a much better system than dubbing as in France or Germany because the actors keep their voice and the way they speak is part of their performance
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I would certainly agree with that, I'm still not entirely sure i could take a dubbed film seriously, another persons voice being dubbed over the playing characters voice would make the film lack sole for me, if thats the correct word
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I think if you are actively avoiding subtitled films youre missing out on some great world cinema, Kagemusha, 7 Samurai, Old Boy, Sonatine, to name a few.
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I love subtitled films. Partly because it opens the door to a huge range of excellent stuff that I wouldn't see otherwise and partly because subtitles force me to sit and concentrate on what I'm watching. This works for me because I've got such a rotten attention span that with English language films they often end up being on in the background while I'm wandering about, reading someting random on the internet, making cups of tea etc.
I’m deaf.
I have a cochlear implant which is brilliant but I still read lips/facial expressions/body language etc in real life so sub-titles are essential for me.
I mean have you ever tried lip-reading Darth Vader????
Thats exactly what happened to me with this film Dave, i just don't think I've given previous subtitled films enough chance, hence turning them off soon after starting, or more often not watching them full stop
I think what made me watch this particular film was the fact I've run out of good WW11 films to watch, plus i liked the story of this film, the fact that even though the King had no real influence as the country was run by a government he still stood his ground and didn't let the Germans use his country for a line of defence and steal the country's Iron Ore, a very moral man despite knowing his odds were not good
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Subtitles are fine, after a while you forget you are reading them and enjoy the film just as much.
Apart from the NETFLIX subtitles, i keep finding them utter crud. The man on screen has a long sentence, and then for a split seconds the subtitles flash up but not long enough to read....sods, i do not watch subtitled films on NETFLIX any more.
I have to lip read mrsv when she's furious because her accent thickens. She can will strangulation at ten paces if that's close enough ;)
Try watching Narcos without subtitles.
Subtitles don't put me off at all.
With the normal voice being used i.e not dubbed, you get the subtle nuances even if you don't understand what they are saying.
The other plus is that you have to concentrate on the screen rather than let your attention wander.
Cheers,
Neil.
I watch a lot of subtitled films and series, including pretty much all the Nordic Noir (Jordskott is still a favourite).
Avoiding subtitles I would have missed out on films as diverse as Seven Samurai, Troll Hunter, Hiroshima Mon Amour and La Grande Vadrouille.
I am on a German phase at the moment.
Just last week I watched "Er Ist Wieder Da", a film based on the book of the same name. It takes the story of Hitler waking up after 70 years and coming back into modern German society. Believed to be a comedian playing the part, Hitler becomes a celebrity through the media and Internet. It is quite a thought-provoking film, both in terms of how modern society might react to Hitler's message and also the power of the Internet.
The other German movie I watched recently is Toni Erdmann, which is a huge antidote to the idea that Germans have no sense of humour.
Can anyone remember those old war films where the actors spoke in German with English subtitles then all of a sudden switched to speaking English and the subtitles dissapeared? Almost like the film director thought you had no imagination.
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I don't mind sub titles.
Cannot believe no one has mentioned Nikita (Luc Besson).
If you dislike subtitles watch this. It has a transformational effect and opens a completely new world of film, TV and even opera to you.
Well it did me
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Good choice - forgotten that one.Cannot believe no one has mentioned Nikita (Luc Besson).
If you dislike subtitles watch this. It has a transformational effect and opens a completely new world of film, TV and even opera to you.
Well it did me
The Taxi trilogy starring Sami Naceri are good fun, as are The Raid and its sequel, starring Iko Uwais.
Another film with subtitles I watched recently was The Intouchables, a French film based on a true story about a wealthy quadriplegic and his helper - an immigrant fresh out of prison. It was a film I thoroughly enjoyed.
No subtitles = no Downfall. You cannot live the rest of your life without watching this marvellous film. And that is simply the tip of the iceberg.
There has been one or two good sounding films mentioned, I fancy Watching Downfall now :) and the one willie_gunn mentioned about Hitler in the modern day sounds unusually interesting.
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I'd second that about Er Ist Weider Da. It is a good film (but a better read).
Lots of great subtitled films out there and as others said u have to concentrate in order to read them whereas with English films it's easy to half follow them when watching at home
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We just caught up with The Team that we recorded ages ago, it's a Europe-based TV thriller series, so characters swap between Danish, German, Flemish and French locally and then interact with the other countries characters in English!
Surprisingly, as mentioned, it's seamless after a while and you don't notice the change.
You do need to pay more attention to things with subtitles (you can't read on you iPad and perk up if you hear something significant, of course), but otherwise it's no problem.
I enjoy a lot of subtitled TV series, most already mentioned.
I would, however, disagree on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - To my surprise I thought the Daniel Craig film was better than the Swedish TV production.
For me the TV series seemed to be a strict rendition of the book whereas the film captured the essence better. The TV series was worth a watch though, especially as it covered all three books.
M.
Last edited by snowman; 5th February 2018 at 12:24.
I tend to avoid them, as I am either working - or playing on here when I am watching films these days.
It's just a matter of time...
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