People are okay with subtitles now.

[Matt]

The Hollywood Reporter sez so:

Subtitles no longer a foreign concept
By Gregg Kilday

Dec 22, 2006
Read a good movie lately? If you've been frequenting the local megaplex you probably have, since one of 2006's little-noticed trends has been the return of the subtitle.

Historically, Hollywood has shunned subtitles. It assumed most moviegoers wouldn't sit still for dialogue that had to be translated onscreen; subtitles were left to foreign films with limited appeal to smaller, more upscale audiences. But then films like 2000's sumptuous martial arts movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" -- which grossed a whopping $128.1 million domestically -- proved that you could have your subtitles and a broad-based audience, too.

This year has seen a proliferation of subtitled fare. There are such traditional foreign-language features as Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" and Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth," both in Spanish. In the French-produced "The Science of Sleep," Gael Garcia Bernal, a rising international star, speaks French, Spanish and English. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel," produced by Paramount Vantage, features a polyglot cast speaking English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Berber, Arabic and, in the case of the deaf girl played by Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese sign language. One of the movie's themes is the cost of miscommunication in an increasingly global world, and it's through subtitles that audiences keep one step ahead of the often bewildered characters.

Subtitles are showing up in less traditional fare as well. The ambush comedy "Borat" opens with a title treatment, presumably in the Kazakhstan state language of Kazakh, that is explained by English subtitles. Waiting in line in a coffee shop, Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat argues with his portly producer Azamat (Ken Davitian) in some approximation of a foreign language, subtitled for the audience's amusement.

Having dared to film an entire movie, "The Passion of the Christ," in ancient Aramaic, Mel Gibson uses a Mayan dialect in "Apocalypto," which still opened in first place at the boxoffice. The current action-cum-message movie "Blood Diamond" isn't afraid to mix in indigenous languages as it re-creates civil war in Sierra Leone. And in "Letters From Iwo Jima," Clint Eastwood films an entire war movie in Japanese.

Technological advances have made subtitles more palatable. As more theaters offer stadium seating, the old problem of the moviegoer in front of you blocking your view of the subtitles is eliminated. Filmmakers also are adopting an array of typefaces and colors that make subtitles easier to read; gone are the old days when shaky white lettering disappeared altogether whenever the color white dominated a scene.

Ultimately, movies probably have to thank TV for domesticating the subtitle. "Lost" and "Heroes," two of the hottest series of the past few years, boast proudly multicultural casts, and both shows have featured extensive scenes in which their non-English-speaking characters converse in their native tongues. Similarly, the postapocalyptic drama "Jericho" features a deaf character, played by Shoshannah Stern, and when she argues with her brother Stan (Brad Beyer) in forceful American Sign Language, their dialogue is subtitled.

"Heroes" even has served up a twist on the traditional, bottom-of-the-screen placement of subtitles. When Japanese office workers Hiro and Ando are onscreen together, the show moves around the subtitles so they appear either below or beside the character who has just spoken. Suddenly, subtitles don't look so foreign -- they're more like the dialogue bubbles in comic books. No wonder audiences don't seem to fear them anymore.

[domino harvey]

tell this to everyone's dad, who doesn't go to the movies to read. #-o

[Cinesimilitude]

I have some issues with this...

Do those movies and TV Shows contain a few subtitles? Yes, but they are mostly in english, and people have never minded that. There are little instances of subtitles in many films going back to the beginning. Are a few of them entirely in subtitles? Yes. Can you honestly say that they openly admit it in their advertising? No.

The American trailer's for these films are entirely in english, or have no dialogue at all (a la Pan's Labyrinth and Passion of the Christ). Marketing is aimed at interesting the most people possible, and currently, that's the 60%(a generously low assumption) of mindless consumers within north america, who would never go into a movie knowing it is all subtitled, thus, the article is questionable. As long as a films use of subtitles remains in the fine print, I believe they will be a divider, a cultural taboo (since I can't think of a better term for it). I honestly don't think we'll ever go into a major movie theater and watch trailers that are entirely subtitled, but I'm sure someone will point out an instance where I'm wrong, and I welcome that. My argument is simpy for major motion pictures, "Hollywood Films" as it were.

[Highway 61]

The Letters From Iwo Jima trailer features mostly subtitled Japanese, but I don't know if it's going to play in conventional multiplexes or just art houses.

[Cosmic Bus]

The American trailer's for these films are entirely in english, or have no dialogue at all (a la Pan's Labyrinth and Passion of the Christ). Marketing is aimed at interesting the most people possible, and currently, that's the 60%(a generously low assumption) of mindless consumers within north america, who would never go into a movie knowing it is all subtitled

I would've commented on this, as well. The lack of dialogue in previews for foreign films is an obvious bait-and-switch for the less informed movie-goer, and while my area is about the last place I'd call a cultural highpoint, it still makes me quite sad that, in the rare instance of a foreign film actually playing here, the local theater routinely warns potential patrons of subtitles. When I inquired about this, they told me a fairly high number of people would come out of subtitled pictures shortly after they started and demand a refund for the exact reason domino harvey mentioned: "I dun't want no woooords with mah movie!"

[marty]

"A young woman's erotic journey from Milan to Minsk."

[toiletduck!]

Gibson's the anomaly here, though. Even if the trailer didn't make use of the subtitles, it was still widely reported that Passion was in Aramaic (or at least in "not English" as far as America proper is concerned) and it sold the shit out of everything. He probably could have left the subs off like he originally wanted and still made a mint (which, as far as I'm concerned, is one of the most enticing 'what ifs' of recent years). And for the select few who managed to still be surprised by them there words on the screen, they had to have learned their lesson by Apocalypto, which also did quite well for itself. Chalk it up to the Jesus freaks and the US Weekly subscribers, perhaps, but isn't that exactly the crowd we're assuming absolutely would not tolerate subs?

A 2006 'trend'? Hardly. But Mel's got some sort of secret under his belt.

-Toilet Dcuk

[Cinesimilitude]

Actually, Christophe Gans mentioned somewhere that he was going to shoot his next film "Rahan" in alberta, starring Mark Decascos as a warrior for a native tribe that never existed. it was to be called "Rahan" and he was going to create his own language for the film and then not subtitle it for release. It's not on his IMDB, but we all know how credible that is. Hopefully it's on the way.

[Cinesimilitude]

When I inquired about this, they told me a fairly high number of people would come out of subtitled pictures shortly after they started and demand a refund for the exact reason domino harvey mentioned: "I dun't want no woooords with mah movie!"

Where I live, whenever a foreign film plays here (Hero and Passion of the Christ are the only two I think...) They put "ENGLISH SUBTITLES" in red letters on the billboard outside of the theater, with exclamation points, citing the exact same reason when questioned. On a side note, they even put on the inside billboard that Brokeback Mountain was a "Gay Drama". Next time I see something like that I'd like to ask the manager why she doesn't just put "Stars Black People!" on the appropriate titles as well.

[godardslave]

This breaking news story just in: "people can now read".

#-o

[marty]

Are subtitles a problem around the whole country or just downtown Milwaukee?

[John Cope]

Hey now, as someone speaking to you from the Milwaukee metro area I must take offense.

What do you know that I don't, Marty?

[Lino]

I'm curious: are subtitles in american theatres white or yellow?

[lord_clyde]

I'm curious: are subtitles in american theatres white or yellow?

The subtitles for Letters from Iwo Jima were white. I remember because they would blend into the waves breaking on the beach.

[kinjitsu]

I'm curious: are subtitles in american theatres white or yellow?

Both.

[scalesojustice]

on the bait and switch, i saw pan's labyrinth opening weekend on a sunday afternoon. both myself and girl friend were confused when we saw the theater fill up with hardly an empty seat in the house. we both asked each other "this is subtilted right?" although confused by the massive amount of people, there was indeed a collective groan from the audience when the first subtitles came up and a clearly audible "it's subtilted?" from somewhere in the theater. however, it was clear that halfway through the movie, the audience was captured by the film and the subtiltes didn't matter anymore.

so, i'm all for the bait and switch to get peope in the theaters to support a film they wouldn't usually go see because they'd rather watch "wild hogs" than read dialogue.

[Lino]

I'm curious: are subtitles in american theatres white or yellow?

Both.

Which one is more common? And has it always been like this?

[The Invunche]

Remember to ask about the font as well.

[kinjitsu]

Remember to ask about the font as well.

Helvetica for me. Tahoma is okay, too.

[portnoy]

I'm curious: are subtitles in american theatres white or yellow?

Both.

Which one is more common? And has it always been like this?

White is definitely more common, and I'd say 90% of foreign-language films that get play in the US are subtitled by the same company, LVT.

[MichaelB]

I guess I'm a little surprised that "youngsters" would be put off by subtitles (half of every episode of "Heroes" and the occasional episode of "Lost" are subtitled, but then every article I read sez the kids only watch the YouTubes now) and black and white (as much a common stylistic choice for films and commercials as anything else), but plus ça change...

The inescapable fact is that the overwhelming majority of the world's English-speaking population is put off by subtitles, regardless of age. It's just that the younger generation is much more likely to encounter a situation like this - i.e. a compulsory screening of a film they didn't choose themselves.

When I met my wife, she was 35 and had never seen a subtitled film in the cinema. Even now, I think the total can be counted on the fingers of one hand - maybe both, but certainly no more.

[Via_Chicago]

The inescapable fact is that the overwhelming majority of the world's English-speaking population is put off by subtitles, regardless of age. It's just that the younger generation is much more likely to encounter a situation like this - i.e. a compulsory screening of a film they didn't choose themselves.

It's true everywhere and is not limited to the English-speaking world. Dubs are extremely common outside of the United States and England.

[Paupau]

True. Portugal is one of the few european countries that doesn't dub all foreign content.

Instead, europeans have trouble with non-american films.

[Michael Kerpan]

Japan has a long history of subtitling foreign films (going back to at least the 1920s).. Dubbing (except for children's films) is the exception. Consequently, Japan has been a useful source for getting copies of French New Wave films -- often releasing things on DVD long before they showed up on DVD in the West (including France).

[Matt]

I'm seeing a lot more subtitles in trailers for new foreign films. Perhaps the stigma of subtitles is wearing off somewhat, at least to the point where distributors don't feel they have to trick people into seeing a movie by not showing any scenes with dialogue in the trailers.