I love movies - subtitles or not. Like Phil, I honestly get lost in the
subtitles. The reading and watching are so engrossing that by the end of
the movie I am almost completely unaware that I have been reading at all.
Not to diminish others, Eastern films are captivating!
I will say, however that I can verify that the subtitles are not always
completely accurate. How could they be? Being "sufficient" in French, I
have yet to watch a French movie where the translations are completely
accurate. In fact, there are times when what was printed was decidedly NOT
what was said. I would imagine that that holds true for other languages, as
well (imagine having to translate "flat-foot floogie with the floy-floy...is
my spelling bad?). But the "spirit" of the film remains true. Proving, I
believe, that what we "take-in" is so much greater than just what we
understand in our own language. Isn't that part of what makes movies great?
TGormley
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Edwards Cinema Arts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:36 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Subtitles
The first subtitled film I ever saw was SEVEN SAMURAI, the 205 minute
version (because the print was an original from Japan brought in by the
then distributors here because they believed in such stuff), in 35mm at a
screening by the film society at Sydney University one Saturday afternoon.
It was about 1964... I was certainly no older than a young 15 at any rate.
I'd read about this "great movie" in several movie history books I had
been devouring since I was about 10 or 11. I thought I'd better get myself
along to see one of these "foreign films" I'd been reading about. I
thought it was going to be a chore. You know - you have to see this
because it's "art" and famous and film history. I figured I'd be bored
stiff. And you know, it was sub-titled... one of those fillums with
writing down the bottom of the screen. I only found out when I got there
that it was well over 3 hours... sheesh.
So I emerged 205 minutes later totally gob-smacked. After 10 minutes I
hadn't even realised that I was watching and reading simultaneously. If
there's anyway I can see a film in its original language with subtitles,
then that's what I'll go for - whatever it is.
Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shelly Whitworth-King" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:12 PM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Subtitles
In non-English films in general, the quality of the subtitles is
sometimes an issue for me. It is often apparent that what is being said
in the film and what the subtitles say are not the same thing. Much can
be lost.
I am fully aware of the limitations of subtitles, but I do think that
sometimes the standard could be raised. It is an art in itself really.
Shelly
----Original Message Follows----
From: Toochis Morin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: Toochis Morin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Subtitles
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:01:01 -0800
The characteristic about both films: Letters from Iwo Jima and
Apocalypto is that they are much like silent films and you can follow
them easily. There isn't heavy dialogue and yet it has made both films
quite compelling.
Toochis
channinglylethomson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: The
main problem I have with subtitled movies is that I prefer to
"watch" a movie rather than "read" a movie. That said, it's definitely
an acquired skill that becomes easier -- but never as easy as watching
a film produced in your native language.
Channing Thomson in San Francisco
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