The bilingual film enthusiast

By Colin Rae

I’ve been obsessed with movies for as long as I can remember. My collection of films includes formats ranging from cinefilm to VHS to DVD to Blu-ray. And in the age of the streaming service, I still carry on adding to my hard-copy collection – the thought of needing to watch The Odd Couple at four in the morning only to find out that it’s been removed from the streaming programme is frankly more than I can bear.

My interest in world cinema began even before I learned a second language. First-class dubbed versions are rare, in my experience, so my preference is to watch a film in the original language with subtitles. Having said that, watching the German dub of films I knew well did help me learn that language (even if it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable cinematic experience). But as soon as my German became good enough, I was happy to start watching German-language cinema without the English subtitles.

It’s not that I’m against subtitles – as I say, they give me access to work made in languages I don’t speak but still allow me to hear the original voices. And since we at Klein Wolf Peters regularly provide our customers with subtitles for their video communications, I have a great deal of respect for that particular skill. But the fact remains that watching a subtitled movie, especially if it’s dialogue-heavy, can add a layer of interference that detracts from the cinematic experience.

On the other hand, that experience can be all the more enjoyable when my linguistic worlds collide and I can watch a film shot in a mix of English and German. The best example I know is Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, and Daniel Brühl. Based on a true story about the recovery of a Gustav Klimt painting that had been stolen by the Nazis, this movie’s present-day scenes are in English while the flashbacks are in German. What really makes this work is that the German-speaking parts are, at least in the flashbacks, played by native German-speaking actors. In addition to providing a degree of authenticity that befits the subject matter, this is a joy to watch if you speak both languages: no subtitles necessary, and you can just keep your attention right on the action.

I find it fascinating to see how different movies deal with incorporating multiple languages. The Hunt for Red October definitely made some interesting choices. When we’re introduced to the Russian submarine crew, they’re speaking Russian (with subtitles in the original version). Given that this is an adaptation of a Tom Clancy bestseller, there’s no way that two hours of subtitles is going to help this film reach its mainstream target audience. Indeed, the Russian characters quickly switch to English. Some films would crowbar in some plot move to excuse the change, like introducing a non-Russian character. But where would you find one of those serving on a Soviet nuclear sub? Instead, the Political Officer challenges Connery’s patriotism by reading aloud a quote the latter had underlined in a book. The first half of the quote is delivered in Russian with the camera zooming in on the Political Officer’s mouth. But as the camera zooms out again, the officer recites the second half of the quote in English and the movie continues in that language. It should be jarring, but it’s not.

We the audience are then left with a situation that’s potentially even messier: the accents of the now English-speaking Russian characters. Sam Neill does a vaguely Russian accent, Tim Curry sounds decidedly English, and Sean Connery sounds, well, like Sean Connery. In my opinion, in most movies authenticity is both unattainable and undesirable – particularly when it comes to language and accents. In this case, having an engaging star like Connery trumps any misgivings I might have about his accent. Perhaps if I spoke Russian I’d feel different. But we’re talking about movies, not documentaries. If you can’t suspend disbelief, don’t buy a ticket.

I suppose I get a kick out of films with multiple languages because I’m now so used to chopping and changing between English and German. And one of these days, I’ll find the time to achieve fluency in a third language, and then my hobby will get even more fun. Some people learn foreign languages in order to travel, others to read great works of literature in the original language. One of my top motivations is cinema. But in that case, which language should I pick? Swedish for Ingmar Bergman, Spanish for Pedro Almodóvar, French for François Truffaut, Serbo-Croatian for Emir Kusturica, or Korean for Bong Joon-Ho? What language would you like to learn and why?