# Are you willing to watch foreign films with subtitles?



## i_am_Lois (Jan 30, 2014)

Some foreign films are very well made & interesting. They can be ruined though, if dubbed with voices that sound ridiculous. I don't mind subtitles as long as I'm not expected to speed read. The film with subtitles I enjoyed most was Chinese movie called Raise the Red Lantern. On IMDb it's given a rating of 8.3.


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## Old Hipster (Jan 30, 2014)

Of course! I watch foreign films and the subtitles never bother me. Unless the background is such that sometimes you can't read them. 

But sometimes I will turn the dubbed selection on, the voices can be a crack up.

I also love and watch silent movies.


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## Falcon (Jan 30, 2014)

:noway:

I'd spend too much time reading the subtitles to enjoy the picture.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 30, 2014)

I'm used to it from a fairly young age, as I used to go to Chinatown to watch the kung-fu movies. 

In fact, sometimes the best part _was_ the translations! layful:

I'm not a big fan of Conan O'Brien, but he did a funny take-off on a popular Chinese soap opera - the funny stuff starts about 2 minutes in ...

Conan and Andy Dub "Pearl"


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## Diwundrin (Jan 30, 2014)

I watch a few on the Tele, some are worth the effort of paying the extra attention, some not.  I've seen a few from the M.East and Brazil and the Scandanavian regions that were fascinating.  Not into Asian ones so much, but one from, or set in Thailand or Cambodia or somewhere about village life was illuminating.  So different to the West yet on a human level so very much the same.  

I like them as a window on how the rest of the world really lives on the level we don't usually see.  I like to see what's in the kitchen in Sweden or Cairo,  bit of a voyeur?  Don't care about the plots so much. 

One from the M.East about an old hulk of a ship that was turned into a kind of hotel for the dispossessed by it's old skipper was a memorable one.  It had no real plot that I could discern, other than the threat of the ship being broken up for scrap. It was otherwise just the day to day doings among a group of people trying to make a new life for themselves while living like rats in a leaky old ship.  The skipper came across as a comparatively kindly man but also a ruthless one when crossed.  Seemed to sum up life there pretty well to me.

Cinema Paradiso was a little gem from Italy.  About a kid addicted to movies who eventually became a  director of them. It focused on his childhood and magic of movies to a kid and the villagers he was raised among. It was a delight.

One from Nordic regions was among the most emotive movies I've ever seen. It was about a village on an island that was to be flooded by a new dam.  It dealt with the trauma of the villagers whose families had lived there for umpteen generations.

One old lady used her last vestiges of energy to clean that ancient log house from top to bottom.  It shone as it hadn't for a century. She put flowers in a vase on the old dining table, picked up her small suitcase, stood in the doorway looking back into her families home, smiled, nodded and turned to walk down to the ferry.  Behind her the authorities put the house to the torch and it burned behind her.  I still tear up at that scene.  She gave the house the best send off she could.   God I'm goin' soft. aaaagh.

Too much dialogue puts me off, I like the ones that don't need a lot best.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 30, 2014)

Diwundrin said:


> Too much dialogue puts me off, I like the ones that don't need a lot best.


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## Diwundrin (Jan 30, 2014)

Smartarse!


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## i_am_Lois (Jan 30, 2014)

Thanks for the laugh Phil. I enjoyed watching the Conan dubbing skit.


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## Warrigal (Jan 30, 2014)

I don't mind watching subtitles at all and agree that foreign movies can be very good.
I agree 100% about _Raise the Red Lantern. _It really opened my eyes to the plight of women in a totally paternal hierarchical society.

Like Di, I also watch films these days for the background settings.


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## Casper (Jan 30, 2014)

_*Same here......I watch quite a few on TV and really enjoy them. :iagree:*_


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## That Guy (Jan 31, 2014)

Love 'em!  But, sometimes the subtitles can be difficult to read.  It's best when they are boxed in yellow so it's easier to see.


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## Phantom (Feb 2, 2014)

Good old Inspector Rex :clap:


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## That Guy (Feb 2, 2014)




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## DorothyinOz (Feb 2, 2014)

I didn't like foreign films much when I was younger, but now I like all kinds of movies.  Foreign ones are particularly interesting because of the different culture.


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## Jambi (Feb 12, 2014)

Das Boot


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## RedRibbons (Feb 17, 2014)

Falcon said:


> :noway:
> 
> I'd spend too much time reading the subtitles to enjoy the picture.



Me too, although I have watched a few that were really good.


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## Warrigal (Feb 17, 2014)

I watched an exquisite Turkish film recently about a couple of village children, big brother and little sister, whose mother had died and who were being cared for by their maternal grandfather. Their father, nominally their guardian, wanted nothing to do with them since taking a new wife and the old man was very frail, having had a stroke. 

The relationships in the film needed very little by way of dialogue; the love of the children for each other and for their father and grandfather was expressed in their eyes and gestures and the sadness of the little girl as her father passed her by as if she were a stranger was heart rending but she never uttered a word. You could almost read the grandfather's mind as he searched for ways to secure the children's future, knowing that he would not be able to raise them for much longer. In the end, the film had a very poignant climax, the like of which we never see in Hollywood productions.

It can be very worthwhile watching foreign films with subtitles.


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## frank55 (Feb 19, 2014)

Oh, there are marvellous foreign movies, I recently enjoyed some by a German-Turkish filmmaker called Fatih Akin - I think the dubbing takes away a lot of the atmosphere and intention of the movie. So, unless you speak the language, subtitles are the only way to go. Although it's true that sometimes it's all too fast, especially with the French movies, they're a country of fast-talkers


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## Justme (Feb 19, 2014)

I rarely watch films, but if I do I definitely wouldn't watch ones with subtitles, too much hassle.


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## vickyNightowl (Feb 23, 2016)

There are so many amazing foreign films,some of my favorites: 
Vie en Rose
Lust Caution
City of God
The Brand New Testament


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## fureverywhere (Feb 23, 2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xbmalDOuc

The first foreign language film I ever saw. No idea who Simone Signoret was...no idea what a Madam was. But wow, I knew I was seeing an exceptional performance. Now I have closed captioning on most shows. My hearing is shot...and I blame Deep Purple.


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## vickyNightowl (Feb 23, 2016)

fureverywhere said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xbmalDOuc
> 
> The first foreign language film I ever saw. No idea who Simone Signoret was...no idea what a Madam was. But wow, I knew I was seeing an exceptional performance. Now I have closed captioning on most shows. My hearing is shot...and I blame Deep Purple.



I can't open the link,is it Madame Rosa?


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## Cookie (Feb 23, 2016)

Love foreign films and subtitles no problem - I don't even realize I'm reading them. Lots of good stuff on Netflix.


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## FazeFour (Feb 23, 2016)

Most foreign films are so much more interesting than the stuff Hollywood keeps regurgitating, I actually seek them out on On Demand, Netflix, and etc.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2016)

I've seen a lot of great subtitled films.  Two that come to mind are a Danish one called 'Babette's Feast' and a German one 'Das Boot'.  We've seen a lot of them on Netflix.  

I refuse to watch those which are dubbed.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2016)

Can anyone recommend some good foreign subtitled films?  I can look on Netflix to see which ones we've seen and recommend some. 

I normally play on laptop while watching tv, but with a subtitled movie you obviously have to give it your full attention.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2016)

Thought on another one:

Aftershock - 2010.  A Chinese film about an earthquake and a family's drama.


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## FazeFour (Feb 24, 2016)

Ameriscot said:


> Can anyone recommend some good foreign subtitled films?  I can look on Netflix to see which ones we've seen and recommend some.



Anything with Mads Mikkelsen in it!! He is one sexy Swede! Wish I could remember some titles. "Flame & Citron" is the only title I can recall. I liked it, but it isn't one of my Mads top five.

He's done American films, too. Just remembered - he was Dr. Hannibal Lector on the TV series Hannibal.


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## Jackie22 (Feb 24, 2016)

I watch foreign films a lot, and I always use the subtitles and closed caption so that is not a problem....using Netflix, I've been able to find some really good ones...love Netflix.


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## AprilT (Feb 24, 2016)

FazeFour said:


> *Anything with Mads Mikkelsen in it!!* He is one sexy Swede! Wish I could remember some titles. "Flame & Citron" is the only title I can recall. I liked it, but it isn't one of my Mads top five.
> 
> He's done American films, too. Just remembered - he was Dr. Hannibal Lector on the TV series Hannibal.



For sure, I second that, he's a fine actor.   Mad's has been in some fantastic films foreign and other depending your local.  

=============================================================================================

Have the time, I don't remember if a movie had subtitles or not, I've watched many foreign films, I'm not bothered by subtitles, I just know I'm going to have to hunker down if I want to get all the details and verbal nuances.  The ones that sometimes give a little difficulty are the French ones as the subtitles go by really quickly as they speak a bit faster than some others.  I've watched movies from other countries since I was a youngster, I was just curious that way if something happened to be on the screen that looked interesting, I'd pause the channel and watch and read along with the subtitles.  

I'd have to think hard to remember which movies I saw had subtitles though, it's just not something I think about when choosing a film I think I may want to see.


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## vickyNightowl (Feb 24, 2016)

FazeFour said:


> Anything with Mads Mikkelsen in it!! He is one sexy Swede! Wish I could remember some titles. "Flame & Citron" is the only title I can recall. I liked it, but it isn't one of my Mads top five.
> 
> He's done American films, too. Just remembered - he was Dr. Hannibal Lector on the TV series Hannibal.



The Hunt is one of my favorites of his.




Ameriscot ,here are some titles:

La Vie en Rose
Life is Beautiful
The Sicilian Girl
Coco Before Chanel
City of God


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## AprilT (Feb 24, 2016)

vickyNightowl said:


> The Hunt is one of my favorites of his.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The Hunt was one of the one's I first thought of.  Good choice.    I've yet to see him give a bad performance in anything though.  He really killed as Hannibal.


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## vickyNightowl (Feb 24, 2016)

AprilT said:


> The Hunt was one of the one's I first thought of.  Good choice.    I've yet to see him give a bad performance in anything though.  He really killed as Hannibal.



Yes,he is a very good actor,I watched a few episodes of Hannibal,maybe I should catch up.

He was also in Rhiannas music video "Bitch better have my money" lol


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## Lon (Feb 24, 2016)

I sure do. My profound hearing loss makes it necessary, in addition, there are really some outstanding foreign films.


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## AprilT (Feb 24, 2016)

vickyNightowl said:


> Yes,he is a very good actor,I watched a few episodes of Hannibal,maybe I should catch up.
> 
> *He was also in Rhiannas music video "Bitch better have my money*" lol



Yes, I know, he was just as good in that.  LOL!

PS, Hannibal was good the first two seasons, it went downhill season 3, I didn't watch more than 4 episodes of season 3 it was so bad, but not because of Mads, it was the writing that went wrong.


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## Peppermint Patty (Mar 13, 2016)

Nope.  I want good old USA English.  I watch for fun, not culture.  layful:


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## jujube (Mar 13, 2016)

fureverywhere said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xbmalDOuc
> 
> The first foreign language film I ever saw. No idea who Simone Signoret was...no idea what a Madam was. But wow, I knew I was seeing an exceptional performance. Now I have closed captioning on most shows. *My hearing is shot...and I blame Deep Purple*.



You too???  My ears rang for three weeks after a Deep Purple concert.  There HAD to be permanent damage.


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## ronaldj (Mar 13, 2016)

I just watched Seven Samurai with sub titles two nights ago, one of my favorite movies


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## NancyNGA (Mar 13, 2016)

I'm a *very* slow reader.  Not just making that up.  I don't even have patience with comic strips that have more than two or three frames---I want to jump to the punch line.  So, no, subtitles don't work well for me.


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## vickyNightowl (Mar 13, 2016)

Blue is the Warmest Color

Nice,beautiful film.

Not for everyone though.Racy scenes.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 14, 2016)

I just finished binge watching a ten part series shown on BBC called Trapped.  It's a big hit and took place in Iceland and was subitlted.  

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/feb/15/last-nights-tv-trapped-review

You can watch it in the US as a FB friend said she's been watching.


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## geenee (Mar 20, 2016)

Ameriscot: I think I'd like that. I just finished watching Borgen, a Danish series with English subtitles about a woman prime minister. It was different and I enjoyed it, especially since I have trouble hearing dialogue these days and should look into getting hearing aids.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 20, 2016)

geenee said:


> Ameriscot: I think I'd like that. I just finished watching Borgen, a Danish series with English subtitles about a woman prime minister. It was different and I enjoyed it, especially since I have trouble hearing dialogue these days and should look into getting hearing aids.



Not sure how you can get Trapped in the US (?).  We watched it on BBC.


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## RadishRose (Mar 20, 2016)

Yes, I do often, but I like to go back alot to soak up the shot; scenery, costumes, facial expressions, etc.


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## ossian (Mar 21, 2016)

I love foreign drama. Often watching films and drama series. My recent favourite is The Bridge. A brilliant Swedish/Danish crime series.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2016)

ossian said:


> I love foreign drama. Often watching films and drama series. My recent favourite is The Bridge. A brilliant Swedish/Danish crime series.



Netflix?


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## ossian (Mar 21, 2016)

Ameriscot said:


> Netflix?


The Bridge was on BBC 3, I think. I watched the 3 series on 'catch-up'. I was then given the first 2 series as Christmas gifts. Witnesses on Channel 4 was a French police drama and was really good too. I have tried to get a hold of Bergen, which is another Scandinavian drama but have not managed yet. I dont have Netflix.


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