Is it only weirdos who like foreign films?

 It might seem obvious, I am one of those weirdos.  Although the scorn of others makes me feel defensive I feel the benefits outweigh the occasional flak.  The world is a big place with more things on offer than anyone has the capacity to be aware of, let alone to enjoy.  Better understanding of the other 99% of the world is not only important, but often very enjoyable.  Still many of us live in something resembling a cocoon.  

Why do you watch any movie?  Some times they amount to time fillers, but hopefully you are enjoyably entertained and you might learn something.  Viewers of foreign films will pick up differences quickly and some of them might enhance your life.  But I hope you will notice the similarities.  We all seek love, security and meaning; we all get angry, jealous and even depressed.  

Not only to understand another culture a little better, but we might also appreciate some insight to our own human nature.  Sometimes they are just from a different perspective.  On top of all that there is some creativity and FUN.  Humor is universal, but varies; some subtle, some direct and often we don't understand the context.

Subtitles distract from the action and dubbing seems incongruous.   See at bottom for efforts to ease your understanding.

A complaint of some is they can't tell some Asian actors apart from one another.  A matter of experience minimizes this natural phenomenon.  See for a personal confession:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/biased.html

Trump voiced a threat to impose a tariff on foreign films expressing the concern in economic terms.  Trump seems to look down on foreign countries, once referring to "shithole countries".  India and Nigeria release hundreds of films of various quality and interest and when you add in all the other non English countries the number is overwhelming.  I am one of those who have found more than a few gems among the rest of the world's offerings.

Censorship or standards vary from country to country and even media to media.  So you prefer good clean romance without the graphic sex?  Or, do you prefer suggestive dialogue and discrete interplay?  Or do you feel let down if there is not explicit sex?   How about violence?   Definitely censorship restricts all those things and also politics.

Here are some examples that are worth checking out

"The Secret in their Eyes" (2015) won an Oscar for best foreign film.  I have enjoyed the star Ricardo Darin in several films.   He feels he can get more challenging roles in Spanish where he already has name recognition.  Many foreign actors are attracted by bigger money in the American and British markets.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/04/ricardo-darin-brings-charm-from.html

Spanish is actually the most common European language spoken in the world, but as it is spread around the world there is a very wide range.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/07/hispanic-cinema-spans-globe.html
 

 

 

 

 This is about a man who is overlooked by his family.

 http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/05/home-comedic-clash-of-generations.html

With modern communication I was able to learn about films in a language not heard of beforehand:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/how-i-discovered-malayalam-cinema-and.html

 

My first awareness of Mads Mikkelsen.  This one only received an Oscar nomination, but other Danish films actually won.  In all his films which include English and French he always makes you believe.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/05/mads-mikkelsen-helping-denmark.html 

 

 

 

 Taiwan is a unique country.  China considers it their rightful property, but Taiwan sees themselves as distinctly different.  This film features a standup comedian who has to deal with dementia.   Having seen Ying Hsuan Hsieh in a few films, she has become a favored actress.  Not only is she a good actress she is chosen for or chooses some interesting scripts.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/forget-you-not-something-from-taiwan.html

 

More about Taiwan cinema::  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/taiwan.html

 

 

Concerned about male chauvinism.  The main focus is on female circumcision, called purification by the men.  They are Muslim, but as one women proclaims "Purification is not from Islam." and ""Our men want to lock up our minds."  Also saw "Making Moolaade" of that spoke of technical progression by Africans.  Won an award at Cannes and was highly rated by the Roger Ebert website.   Filmed in Senegal in Bambara and French languages.

 

 

 

 

 

In Africa, albinism (white skin) is a source of prejudice and also misinformation.  For instance albinos are thought to have medicinal benefits which result in their deaths.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/09/can-you-see-us.html

Filmed in Zambia.

 

 

 

 

 

 This won an Oscar using several African language with a little English thrown in.  A young boy stealing, find himself with an infant and doesn't know what to do.  Filmed in South Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Life is Beautiful" is concerned about Jewish victims in Italy during World War II.  It won 3 Oscars for best foreign film, music score, and  best actor for Roberto Benigni who also received a nomination for best director and the film for best script and best feature film.

Italy has a long film history and has contributed to the English speaking world" http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/04/italian-cinema.html

 

 

 

 

Korea is loved for its clean romances that are very well done.  But they also put out grittier films such as recent Oscar winner, "Parasite" that competed directly against American films.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/09/parasite-breaks-oscar-tradition.html

My introduction to Korean films:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/04/a-slice-of-korean-cinema.html

 An ongoing bias  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/korean-mini-series-to-watch.html

 

 

Korea also illustrates similar culture (and behavior.)  What North American is not familiar with baseball?  Well they are in Korea as well and they have prima donna players, locker room conflicts, dramatic games and this movie illustrates all that.  It also follows a typical sports plot line, except victory comes a little differently and the particular drama is unique.  One unique feature is dealing with baseball among the deaf.

 

 

 

The Iranian government was embarrassed that this won the best foreign film Oscar., but it demonstrates a human dilemma that is not all that remote from the rest of the world.  The director has done a film in Spanish.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/03/three-persian-directors.html
 

 

 

 

The Oscar winner, "CODA"  (2022) focused on a family of three deaf people and one hearing.  They had the problem of communicating with the rest of the world.  Sign language was the mechanism, but few outsiders  understood it.  Most viewers relied on subtitles to follow the story.  Typically involved conflicts within family and with the outside world.  Originally the concept came from France, "La Famille Belier" (2018)

 

 

 

"Malbatt" from Malaysia gives the perspective of the rescuers helping those downed in "Black Hawk Down"  The American version was informative, but diminished the role of the Malaysian rescuers.  Another interesting one from same event was "Escape From Mogadishu" (2021) which related about North and South Koreans uniting to escape from the same situation

 

 

 

 

 

There are literally another hundred languages from many nationalities.   I would have included more examples, but this post is long enough. 

 Dubbing allows you to more easily follow the story line, but there is a little cognitive dissonance. The voices may not match the bodies and the mouth movements aren't quite synchronized.  For instance Koreans have distinctive ways of talking; when excited the last words seem to rise in tone and they also drag out some words making it difficult to match the lip movement  Netflix is investing in dubbing.  The quality can vary greatly.  Jackie Chan has done dubbing into Mandarin and English and recognizes preciseness makes a better impression.  I have noticed American dubbers tend to over do it.

Subtitles demand concentration that may detract from the background.  Many lines are actually shortened to give you time to comprehend, but may lose depth.  Some films have adopted a consistent background .

There is not much to lose and much to gain when you watch a foreign film.  There is a gold mine of entertainment and thought provoking stories in foreign films waiting for you attention. 

January 8/26 P.S. Less than a week from my posting I encountered a relevant situation (in my mind at least).  Donald Trump has continued to say he wants Greenland and lately has been more aggressive and pointed.  My tv viewing is necessarily selective, but I have managed to watch CNN coverage and CBC.  I have noticed from CNN so far that selects interviews with American and sometime Danish politicians.  CBC is quick succession had interviews with the mayor  of a Greenland town and a former national politician who gave their perspective.  One thing that stood out for me was they were articulate in English.  The more underlying emotion was they are human.  The American media and politicians need to see Greenlanders as human beings and not insignificant creatures.  A few years ago we watched a Danish series, "Borgen" that in its last season was set in Greenland under rule by Denmark.  My post on that only mentioned Greenland a little bit, but I would encourage anyone to see the actual series as it helps make the Greenlanders seem more human.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/borgen.html

JACKIE CHAN: The Man who brought humour to the marital arts.

Martial arts films had no appeal for me, but stumbling onto a Jackie Chan movie found myself laughing.  A documentary film "Chop Socky:  Cinema Hong Kong" (2003) narrated in part by Jackie  explained a little of the film history with respect to martial arts.  The Beijing Opera had choreography practices including acrobatics,that were passed on to films.  Martial arts became very popular.  Wu xia became a popular form where movements are greatly exaggerated.  Some methods were to film backwards, to use trampolines and wires and to careful camera angles.  The Hong Kong film makers borrowed from the Japanese.  To save time fight sequence filmed once, but with different cameras simultaneously and then edited for optimal effect.

When Bruce Lee died there were a number of potential successors and Jackie thought hard how to differentiate himself.  He realized he was in the entertainment business and one of his unique qualities was a sense of humor and a detailed sense of planning.  His decision opened up the genre to humor and innovation.

Jackie was born in 1954 in Hong Kong.  His family migrated to Canbera, Australia where his parents  worked in the American Embassy, but when Jackie performed poorly in school his father sent him back to Hong Kong where he was enrolled in China Drama School, part of the Peking Opera schools.   He excelled in acrobatics, martial arts and singing.  As a youngster he admired Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd.  He performed in a traveling troop and also visited his parents in Australia, but struck for the movie industry in Hong Kong.  He took some minor roles including two in Bruce Lee films.  With the untimely death of Lee,  Jackie was elevated, but he had a different style of fighting and acting.  Hong Kong churned out films quickly to take advantage of interest in martial fighting films.  Filming often included one shot takes that required planning. 

Jackie's big breakthrough came with "Drunken Master" (1978), followed with his first directing job with "The Young Master" (1980).  A few attempts to break into the American market directly faltered.  By this time he had developed perhaps the most exciting martial art sequences in Hong Kong.  Again tackled the American market in with "The Protector" (1985 ) but felt not understood by Americans.  He toughened up his image for "Police Story (1985) that finally hit the mark.

A big American breakthrough was with "Rush Hour" (1998) co-starring Chris Tucker.  Lots of humor.  Two sequels have been produced with rumors there might be another.

Jackie combined with another martial arts hero, Jet Li for "The Forbidden Kingdom", mostly filmed in China, but really was an American teenager fantasy transporting a boy not only across the ocean, but also through time.  Good fun with lots of Jackie's trade mark fighting.

Like many actors who dislike being type cast Jackie reached out for a chance to prove he can act seriously.  "Shinjuku Incident" (2009)  proved to be a much more serious movie (about illegal Chinese immigrants in Japan) and Jackie came through as very competent.   The violence is repulsive in small sections while martial arts is not emphasized.  It was considered too violent for China and the producers decided to abandon Chinese market.  There is a brief sex scene (Jackie has mostly been a chaste kisser at best).  Mandarin  is spoken by a Taiwanese gang that detests the new Cantonese illegal and work with the Japanese Yukza.  Jackie is excellent.  Derek Yee, the director admired by Chan had wanted to offer Jacki serious role taking 10 years to research

"The Karate Kid" (2010) has had several versions.  Jackie may have waited until he was older, but took the opportunity to shift action to China.  One of the few films allowed in the Forbidden City.  The film was sort of a project of Will Smith's family with both parents doing producing and Jaden was the lead character who mentored by Jackie who also helped off reel.

"The Spy Next Door" (2010) was another of many working with young children.

"The Foreigner" (2017) had Jackie as a grieving father seeking revenge.   In this serious film he was believable, but this time innovative martial arts plays a key role.  Filmed in Britain with Pierce Brosnan as the antagonist.  Jackie gets involved with Irish terrorism.

He has been a UNICEF Good Will Ambassador and has campaigned against animal abuse and pollution and assisted with disaster relief efforts with for the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

He does his own dubbing to English and to Mandarin taking it seriously.  He makes it time consuming as he feels it makes a better impression to be as precise as possible.  I have generally favored subtitles over dubbing, partly because it doesn't seem natural, however having heard Jackie's dubbing into English from Chinese it does sound natural especially as his voice is recognizable.  Recently I was lured into a Netflix series, "Borgen" that promised new dubbing and it seems not quite flawless, but more natural.   Possibly since most Danes speak English they used some of the same actors meaning their voices match better and if great care is given the final product is easier to understand.

Surprisingly (to some) is that Jackie sings and has since his youth. Sings in many of his movies and has many albums.  In short Jackie is an entertainer in the truest sense of the word.  Here is an example of singing in a duet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxu1Oqc3m-8

The Evolution and Art of film subtitles

Do you feel shut out of some highly acclaimed movies?  Or maybe you would like to know what is really being said during the "dirty" parts?  Maybe you just want to better understand how a movie fits together.  Subtitles open up the world, but there is an art to them that can not only enhance the movie, but also further confuse the issue.


 

 "Sairat" a surprising movie in a language you are probably unaware of--Marathi.

There are really two concerns--clarity and understanding and they are intertwined.

Silent films had the problem of communicating dialogue and explaining some actions.  They chose to use a full screen for a title page with dialogue or description.  This could be to cover foreign films to the extent many Americans did not realize which country the film originated from.  Many silent films were accompanied by a musical band, but one invention cut that expense by allowing programmed music to play with the film.

If it is blurry or with confusing fonts the reader is slowed down.  If the letters blend in with the background color it will force more concentration on just reading.  Advances in chemistry applications, laser and lately digital have made reading much smoother and less distracting.   Bubbles are often used to project thoughts usually for humor.  Norwegians and Hungarians advanced the technology.

By 1903, "Uncle Tom's Cabin utilized inter titles between film scenes.  By 1909 M. N Tropp developed concept of subtitles at bottom of screen.

One of the early pioneers, Herman G Weinberg got involved with foreign films brought to the United States by re arranging German symphony music for string quartets.  When  talking pictures became more common, many foreign films became inaccessible.  In a bit of a learning process Herman subtitled over 300 movies.  With a subtitled German film the non Germans were upset that they were not understanding a joke as the German speakers were all laughing. 

"Sarah's Key" an international classic you can better understand in French and English.

To avoid taking away from other factors--cinematography, acting, scenery, costumes, etc. written dialogue needs to be concise, meaning often words are eliminated to get at the meaning.  Colloquialisms are tricky, but if not dealt with the viewer is confused.  A typo can add to the confusion.

Dubbing became popular at one time as it was thought a better way to make words clear.  Many movies are still available this way, but many of us find dubbing unnatural.  The voice doesn't always match the visual and often comes with an awkward distracting cadence.

Woody Allen is a challenge because his movies tend to be wordy.  He admired a French subtitlist who managed to captured the essence of his dialogues.

Censoring can be disastrous distorting the meaning of the script.  Sometimes the subtitlist uses euphemism for swear words. 

"Leviathan" depicts a Russia you never knew about.


 In some instances subtitles are not needed.  In some films your viewpoint is that of one of the main characters, but sometimes they are confronted with people speaking in a language they don't understand.  Often subtitles are used so you can understand an irony in the dialogue, but other times it is better if you are as confused as the protagonist.  The film credits are often left alone, but admittedly when non Roman fonts are used such as cyrilic or Asian a film buff will not learn to appreciate a particular artist who contributes to their enjoyment.

 

"Corazon de Leon" filmed twice in Spanish,  one of the most popular film languages.  See what you have been missing!








 Americans have been distrustful of Iranians.  "A Separation"  won an Oscar and in the Farsi language presents a view that shows that the people are not that much different.




The idea behind subtitles is to make a film more accessible to a wider audience.  Another neglected audience has been deaf and hard of hearing people and increasingly they have access to descriptive subtitles so they can better understand some of the underlying emotions.  SDH has increased access for more people to movies 

The point of understanding the art of subtitles is to better enjoy subtitled movies which offer a much wider world perspective for many of us:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/09/do-subtitles-scare-you-who-knows-what.html