Reading and watching subtitled movies

Ever heard anyone say subtitled movies are boring or hard to follow? I have many times and I often wonder why such a reaction to a subtitled movie occurs when the subtitled movie is exactly to the tastes of the person who said just that. But of further consideration I can see why.

The mostly likely reason why someone says subtitled movies are boring or hard to follow is because they're focusing almost entirely on the words flashing on the screen and hardly picking up any of the action, colour or sound that's otherwise involved. In other words, they're forced to read a book on screen and not even at their own pace. They're forced to read onscreen at the pace set by the movie and that can often be faster than liked, leading to the action of reading being done under pressure. And as you know, many things done under pressure are chores more then entertainment. Such a chore as reading a movie script as fast as possible is made even harder when the text is intermittently cut due to the layering of white on white or yellow on anything yellow toned.

I can completely understand why a subtitled movie can be boring or hard to follow if the above is the case. Saying it is boring or hard to follow for any other reason, I'm not so understanding.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you're turning away from subtitled movies due to a difficulty in reading the subtitles then a little practice is probably in order. There are far, far too many fantastic movies made in other languages to give up on foreign language movies altogether. And believe me, most remakes loose a lot in translation - of quality, of language, of acting skills and of originality amongst other things. I cannot tell you how many times I've been disappointed by remakes. There are very, very few gems in the mix.

So here's what I'd suggest. Start by learning to scan the subtitles with a quick glance while taking in the pictures and sounds. Not every clue as to what is going on is set only in the text so flick your eyes off it and then back again - repeat. Picking up that there is an argument going on is more often indicated by facial expressions and tone of voice than the words actually said. And sometimes you only need to know the topic of the argument to get the gist of the change in plot development.

If you practice scanning and flicking your eyes about you'll be able to gradually increase your ability to take in the whole movie. It might be like gaining a general impression at the beginning but it really only will take a few movies for you get acquainted enough with the process of flicking your eyes about and dividing your focus to pick up more text and more action. Essentially what you're doing is learning a new way to read and watch a story so don't give up at one subtitled movie. That's just a waste. You never gave up at just one book or just one movie so why do so for this?

If you manage not to give up and pick up the skill you'll be able to watch foreign language movies in their original glory.

These will get you interested:

Amelie

I want strawberries now.

Island Of Lost Children

Recognise him?

The Delicatessen

One of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

Taxi

Chock full of car chases.

Let The Right One In

About as spooky as they come.

Nosferatu

Beauty meets beastliness. You'll understand this only by watching Nosferatu move.

Immortal

Odd but intriguing sci-fi/fantasy mix.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Awesome action scenes and a strange plot.

Hero

Brilliant colours, great action and a fun plot.

Kwaidan

Strange and eerie.

Nightwatch and Daywatch

Complex, brilliant scenes, fast paced and beautiful. More than a little different.

Oldboy 

Brutal.

Zatoichi

Brilliant swords play, beautiful sounds, highly comedic and brutal in parts.

Plenty more where these came from!

Some are from books but all of the book to movie adaptations listed are a case of at least see these as well as read the books.

Fiction in translation

This time I'd like to write on something from a wholly personal perspective (not that I haven't inserted the personal perspective before - I definitely have - but this time I'm not just making idle side comments).

I've wanted to say something on the Anglocentric or rather English-writing-centric nature of my blog so far. I feel like there is much left to be explored when it comes to literature or anything fictional but I'm bound by the need for translation and will remain so unless I learn multiple languages. And the way my life seems to be going, I'm only likely to end up with a smattering of each that I'm constantly coming into contact with (Japanese, German, French and the like), but no real fluency in any but English. One day I might get the spare time or chance to travel that is needed to learn a language properly.

The whole situation honestly makes me wish I could live multiple lives. I can really see why people are drawn in by the idea of immortality despite its complete impracticality for the world and our own minds. The desire to know is great but the flesh is weak and will not last long enough.

Similarly, and I've been known to say this as a joke on occasion but this is honest and true, I and going to be massively pissed when I kick the bucket half way through a book because I'll never know what happened in the end. Argh! The frustration of not being able to live long enough to read all the works I'd like has me gnashing my teeth but this, this is the worst scenario. So yes, I've requested the hubby - if he lives longer than me - read the end of the story to me anyway. He's requested things related to heavy metal music so fair's fair in morbid city.

My bucket list:

Read everything.

Watch everything.

Discover lots and lots.

Know.

Anyway, I'm a fan of manga and anime although I need them translated, foreign films of all sorts (except probably romance - again) from everywhere but I need subtitles to completely understand - I have been known to sit and watch ones without subtitles just to see how much I can comprehend from action alone - and the odd translated book that makes it to the shelves of my bookstores.

Perfume being a good example, which was originally published in German as Das Parfum. I've loved the story in Perfume since I first picked it up when I was in year 11 or year 12 (the end of high school for those not Australian). It had been written in 1985 but I don't know when it was translated or originally appeared in bookstores around here. Suffice it to say that the cover scored me a lot of certain types of looks as it was this one: 

Patrick Suskind

I ended up reading it 3-4 times in quick succession (for me anyway, which means I read other books in between and this was read 3-4 times over two or so years - I remember stories too well so rereading before I've forgotten something is a bit boring) and during one read I managed to make a prospective love interest do the double take over the cover. Hehe, if you can't handle a cover like this then you're in trouble for close-mindedness as far as I'm concerned. But then, maybe it was that he thought I wasn't the type to read something with a cover like this. See? You do get judged by the covers of the books you're reading. They do make people see you in a whole different light.

Oh, and speaking of German writers, try reading these: 

Walter Moers: One of my favourite authors ever.

Oh, I wish I could, I wish I might... ah, it sucks I don't have this imaginary world as my own to play with. Oh well, I have my own little worlds in the making.

My last few crazes were and are Asian horror and westerns (plenty come out of Japan, China and Korea), anime and manga (I prefer Japanese styles but have read other similar styles). Enough that I'm running out of translated or subtitled works in manga that I'm interested in and enough that about 2 years back I exhausted the resources for Asian horror too. There are only one or two left on the shelf I haven't gotten to because the sheer volume of violence means that they are for viewing when you're in the right mood. I don't mind watching slayage any day but the extended and rather graphic torture scenes do require you to have a certain amount of mental fortitude about you when you first press play. Don't worry though, I'll watch them soon enough. And I am still searching for that Japanese horror where the little girl is super freaky. I just haven't found it yet. Though I am having fun re-watching so many along the way.

So, the original point I wanted to say: in posts such as listings of comics made into films, the comics in question are English-writing-centric. Besides, most manga fanatics wouldn't like me lumping manga in with comics. They are distinct in certain ways even if they are of the same art form. Like wood sculptures and brass moulding. You end up with a sculpture but the way you got there and what is used to construct it is different.

So for fun and a bit of blood and slaughter give this manga-to-movie a whirl. No, there aren't any slinky costumed girls prancing about so if you were dying for that then you'll just have to handle bloodshed instead (I have to say, in manga and anime the violence is not nearly as censored as in comics or cartoons. In most comics or cartoons there is violence but so many characters pop back up from the dead or near dead without issue that it hardly counts. And those slain are more often than not the baddies. Not so here.)

The Chasing World

Oh, and if you are dying for a girl prancing about in a slinky costume where the plot actually is enjoyable (yes, I realise this is a side issue at times) then try this one. It is actually very fun to watch even if you aren't just watching it for seeing her run about wearing mere (and I do mean mere) garbage bags: white, size small. They may as well be sandwich bags... Anyway, this one is great for a laugh.

As it says: Cutie Honey

So, at times and when I can I will add in a few bits and bobs to do with works in other languages, at least originally, because I just plain love them.

So forgive me for my English-writing-centric blog posts and try these fantastic comic/anime-to-movies for a bit of fun:

Death Note and Death Note II

Forgive me yet? No? Then I'll just have to keep adding things as I find them... There is another in the Death Note series called L: Change The World.

Ken'ichi Matsuyama who plays L is such a good actor. Oooh and there's this one he acted in. You'll love this one:

Any fan of heavy metal will get a laugh out of Detroit Metal City. And those you're with. Especially if you're like most heavy metal fans and have that inner teddy bear personality. I'm not knocking it! I swear! I love the inner teddy bear. I married one.