In an article in The Guardian (9/5/15) film great Liv Ullman comments on one of my pet complaints – the paucity of foreign films shown in Great Britain and the U. S..
“[Her film,] Miss Julie was originally set in Sweden, but Ullmann’s version transplants it to Ireland, partly because its British producers wanted an English-language film. “It would be cheating for me if we did it in Sweden and they spoke English,” she said. “It would have felt strange.”
The film was released in British cinemas this weekend. Acknowledging that “probably no one would have come” if she had made it in Swedish, she said that English-speaking audiences were missing out on jewels of foreign cinema because there was an assumption that they did not enjoy subtitled movies.
Yet foreign cinema is all the more crucial in helping us understand one another in an increasingly multicultural world, she said.”
I could not agree more. Certainly it takes some initial effort to learn how to watch subtitled films, but it is not difficult. Once you get used to it, one does not even realize they are reading the subtitles. I make it a point to listen to the sound so I can try to get the cadence and inflections and put the English into those patterns. My mind has learned to merge the two processes so that I for the moment believe that the voice I hear is speaking in English. I am saddened when friends whom I know appreciate film, tell me that they didn’t see a fantastic film because it was not in English. Foreign films present the art of film so well. Why deprive yourself of such enjoyment? Moreover, as Ms Ullman states, we the viewers gain such insight into other cultures from their own portrayals. This is so much better than watching an American or British film try to imagine what the foreign culture might be like. The reverse is also true, perhaps more so.
In the article Ms Ullman also offers her views on today’s films and their approach to sex.
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