MovieChat Forums > Jefferson in Paris (1995) Discussion > Why are there no subtitles?

Why are there no subtitles?

posted 14 years ago by Sparrowhawk
7 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching the DVD of this film, and there are no subtitles at all for all the French spoken in it. Entire scenes go by with no translation. What in the world is the point of that?

[–] Exar-Sama 13 years ago

I agree. Was this film released in France widely as well? Why so much French? (Granted I liked it, it made it much more 'authentic' for me)

It seems nearly half of the film is in French, yet no subs for the French scenes. Important scenes with the king, queen, Desmoulins and others giving speeches and so on completely go past without any translation for the audience. I looked online and was astounded to see NO English subtitles for the film. I think it does a disservice really. Many of the actors speaking French did some spectacular acting from what I could see and hear.

Omitting the subtitles from this film (for an English speaking release) would have been like omitting subtitles from the Criterion release of Danton. Utterly ridiculous. Too bad Merchant-Ivory doesn't seem to care. It really detriments from the film. Maybe that's why the metascore is so low. I wouldn't have given a very good review of the film when it first came out, due to the omission of subtitles.

Team Edgington - I don't watch TB for Sookie, Eric, or BEEEL. Tiffany?

[–] vgotoe 13 years ago

The copy I got from Netflix had subs English-English & French-English.

[–] linda303 13 years ago

My netflix copy had no subtitles for the vast majority of the French speaking parts. However, I speak French that that was no problem. I loved the film and gave it an 8, but I can see how it could score low for those who missed much of the film due to lack of subtitles.

[–] goleafsgo27 13 years ago

I just watched it on TV on Flix and pretty much all the French scenes did have subtitles. Hmmmmm.

[–] hardwood53 12 years ago

I am about to stop watching it on Showtime where it is now making its rounds, as there is almost no attempt to translate the French dialog and I am missing far too much to be comfortable watching the story.
I hate it when they make us miss out on the viewing experience by not dubbing films into the target audiences language. Reading subs makes us miss the scenes.
Films have been dubbed into the target audiences language almost since the practice of foreign releases began. While this method has some drawbacks, it is preferable to showing the film with no attempt to cater to the needs of the audience.

Too many people use credit to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like.

[–] kaskait 12 years ago

I purchased the film from iTunes, their version also has no subtitles for the surprisingly extensive scenes filmed entirely in French.

I can pick out what is being said, but not very well. Subtitles would have been really nice and a big help.

I watched the film when it was first released on tape/dvd, and it did have subtitles then. Why the studio erased them is beyond me.

[–] smcbee27 9 years ago

Odd, they must have gotten your memo. Watching it now on FLIX and the French is in subtitles. So far at least. Only 20 minutes in.