Foreign films sometimes get discredited by teenagers and college students because of one very specific reason: subtitles.
The criticism comes from a lack of understanding, resulting confusion, and the distraction that may come with a foreign film. Apparently there is just too much going on. A foreign language is being spoken, the score is blasting in the background, and at the same time, you still want to pay attention to the cinematography of the film.
So in some ways, it isn’t surprising that some people develop a dislike for having to read subtitles while juggling all the other aspects of film. It’s also strange that we aren’t willing to work our brains a little more in order to open our minds and observe the culture established in a foreign film, especially since the language is part of that culture.
Last year at the Seattle International Film Festival, I saw a foreign film titled “Price of Fame.” The trailer made the film look historical, hysterical, political, and heart-warming. All of which turned out to be entirely misleading.
The film turned out to be generally terrible, mostly due to the film being boring and disorganized. However, I can honestly say that the dreadful parts of the film were entirely unattributed to the presence of subtitles.
The subtitles actually added to my enjoyment of the film. Well, maybe the subtitles themselves didn’t, but what came with the subtitles definitely added a level of amusement that would have simply been nonexistent if it weren’t a foreign film.
While there may be moments when I missed some dialogue or feeling behind the story, I was also able to gain perspective on the French language and Swiss society that was displayed throughout the film. Instead of looking at the overstimulation of a foreign film as negative, I look at it as an enlightening experience. In this one film, I realized that reading the subtitles while immersing myself in a culture I know nothing about makes the perplexity totally OK.
It’s unfair we automatically consider subtitles as a reason to not see a film. We should judge films by the quality of the writing, the visual attributes, and the emotions the movies bring out, rather than simply slandering films because there are some words written at the bottom of the picture.
Reach writer Rebecca Gross at arts@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
