MovieChat Forums > Y tu mamá también (2001) Discussion > Subtitles reduced my enjoyment

Subtitles reduced my enjoyment

posted 12 years ago by GuyOnTheLeft
21 replies | jump to latest

Some film snobs (which I'd consider myself for that matter) act as though reading dialogue instead of hearing it is a prerequisite to intellectual appreciation of cinema. But I tend to think that it mars the experience, having text pasted over top of the photography and pulling our eyes away from people's faces and whatever else is on the screen. Additionally, we are not hearing the actors' emphasis on words and syllables except in the broadest sense.

But in some films this is less problematic than in others. This one seemed particularly annoying. The timing of the subtitles seemed way out of sync with the time the dialogue was said, and there were often multiple characters' dialogue up on the screen at the same time without a clear marker as to who said what. And since this was a fairly dialogue-heavy movie but with a lot to look at on the screen--everything from characters' expressions to the landscapes (or seascapes), and the interesting background details of the bars and restaurants they visited--I found myself either missing those details or missing lines of dialogue.

Anyone else with me on this?

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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

[–] ghostface89 12 years ago

No.

[–] AlexanderSupertramp 12 years ago

No.

[–] PamBaby 12 years ago

Yes. I'd like to have both subtitles and dubbed versions available.

[–] BaconLettuceTomato 11 years ago

totally agree.

[–] cinematixx 11 years ago

No.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 11 years ago

Interesting idea! Come back and let me know how it went.

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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

[–] radonys 11 years ago

Learn Spanish. A second language doesn't hurt, as there are people who speak 5-6...

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 11 years ago

Ha, look at what happens when you assume. I speak French fluently, and I do know some Spanish, enough to follow the dialogue on "Plaza Sesamo" pretty well, but not well enough for a film in which adults speak quickly and use regional accents and slang.

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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

[–] radonys 11 years ago

Sorry for that... My mistake. I just can't stand US Americans who complain about watching a subtitled movie. 95% of all films use English language, which is the native language for about 5% of the world population. So 95% of the world population has to use subtitles for almost ALL MOVIES, and I don't hear them complaining for this. Or at least they don't brag about it on boards.

This is my personal opinion, please don't feel offended. Whether you're from the US or not.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] radonys 11 years ago

I feel great, father...

Vacation's when you go somewhere ... and you don't ever come back.

[–] filmmagnet 11 years ago

I think that even if only 5% of people have english as their mother tongue I think there are many more who are fluent in it and would be able to watch an English language movie without subtitles (though I won't try and guess the percentage). But if you look on IMDb boards for example you'll find many people who mention they're from another country yet they can obviously speak English.

[–] radonys 11 years ago

You may be right, but you may be wrong too. Those who write on IMDb boards can definitely write in English, but I'm not sure if they can speak English that good. Most of them, including me, have learned English without actually living in an English speaking country. And while they can understand almost perfectly written English, they may have difficulties in understanding the spoken one, especially in movies, which use a lot of colloquial and slang words. I mean, they get the main ideas and action, but that's not enough.
But of course, there are many non-native speakers who can perfectly understand English, but they are still insignificant.

I have the right to be wrong and nevertheless to support my ideas.

[–] Chik_Kurosaki21 10 years ago

Well spanish is my 1st language and I has hard time understanding the whole thing because the movie is mexican so they speak many mexican slang and that accent is bit hard to follow I had to put the volume really loud to understand

[–] Degree7 10 years ago

The subtitles were really adhoc and hard to follow, I agree, it was hard to tell what people were saying at times,but I also felt like it wasn't that important. The film had such a meandering quality that more was said in the actors body language and what was happening in the background than with the dialogue.

Still, the best subtitles I've ever had the pleasure of seeing were those for Slumdog Millionaire. They had different colors and everything!

Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to its awesomeness.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 10 years ago

Huh, I saw it but hadn't remembered that. Cool.

I often think too that it would be nice if they could make the subtitles look as good as the text you see in credits.

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Daily single-tweet movie reviews: https://twitter.com/SlackerInc

[–] aaron-west 10 years ago

It has been years since I saw the original DVD, but the subtitles in the Criterion version were smooth and did not seem out of synch. Some scenes are more difficult because they speak fast.

If you were going to dub the voices, you would lose the acting performances almost completely. I always go for subs if there's a dubbed option because seeing the lips and voices out of synch takes me even further out of the scene.

[–] bruce73 10 years ago

I usually have no problem with subtitles, but this was a real chore because of the pace of the dialogue. And very true how that took away from hearing speech inflections that are a large part of an actor'a performance. I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way.