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Posted by Clem Dye on 10/25/05 15:52
The Crow wrote:
> Hi.
>
> Because of a slight flaw in my eye sight, I find it uncomfortable reading
> subtitles. This means that I have previously not been able to enjoy much of
> the best of far eastern cinmema - The Grudge, Dark Water etc etc. When they
> bought out an English language Ring, therefore, I was exstatic. Oh dear.
> Was that ever a bad film. So, being put off American remakes of classy
> eastern movies, I have not bothered with Buffy's Grudge, and will probably
> not try Jennifer Connolly's Dark Water next month either.
>
> Now, here's the thing. I note, with interest, that Play are doing the DTS
> version of the original Grudge.
>
> http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=pri&page=title&r=R2&title=186546
>
> On this page it says that the film has both Japanese and English language
> audio, presumably the latter is dubbed.
>
> Point being, has anyone seen this version of Juon, with the English language
> audio rather than the english subtitles, and is it any good? Also, which do
> you think is going to be better to watch, the superior original but with a
> dubbed language track, or the Geller remake, which might stink, but was
> always meant to be acted in English? Just a thought, with it being
> Halloween next week. Thanks.
>
>
Well, I have the original Japanese version, which I watched with English
sub-titles, my Japanese not exactly being tip-top. Ahem. I actually
didn't find the film that wonderful, but compared to the American
re-make which I've seen bits of it's far superior.
It's a shame that you can't read the sub-titles properly. That said,
both subtitles and an English language dub are, IMO, both compromises,
possibly subtitles more so because of the limited scope to include all
of the dialogue. I recall watching some French films with sub-titles -
my French isn't great (but far better than my Japanese) and on a number
of occasions I could clearly understand the French, but the dialogue
wasn't always contained in the subtitle text. I suppose that a dubbed
version might work better, assuming that the lip sync/timings are matched.
Like you, I have poor eyesight, compounded by the fact that I'm nearly
blind in one eye. I have found though that with a little practice, it's
reasonably easy to get to grips with subtitling. Some films are better
than others in this regard though, with firms from Asia having the
fastest subtitles. About 20% of my DVD collection comprises of foreign
language offerings. I always find it surprising that many people just
won't consider watching a film with subtitles - they just don't know
what they're missing.
If you have eyesight problems and can't read subtitles then a dub is the
only option for you here, and with other films. Perhaps though it might
be worth practising with a couple more subtitled films just to see how
you fare. It could just be that they don't all give you the same trouble.
Clem
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