To Dub or Not to Dub?

To dub or not to dub, that is the question. And while it might seem like a no-brainer, depending on which side of the coin you reside on, it is actually a fairly complicated issue. I mean, I'm sure you're sitting there right now saying to yourself, "This guy's an idiot of course they should always…"

But always what? That's the real question. Both translate into box office; both have their fans and detractors; and both can radically affect your feelings on a film. Some people don't like to read a movie. Others don't think the mouth movements are more important than the content. So let's take a look at the pros and cons of the sacred arts of dubbing and subtitling.

Subtitling: The art of translating the words spoken as literally as possible and scrolling them along the bottom of the screen to convey them to an audience who speaks another language.
Pros: This method gets the most literal translation (as there are no corresponding mouth movements to match the words with) and can easily explain complex concepts or ideas that often literally get "lost in translation" in dubbed films. Subtitling also can cover for bad or even downright lousy acting, as the audience can't understand the delivery of the line – only the context. This is the preferred method of viewing for cinephiles.
Cons: Slow readers can miss entire patches of dialogue, or translations of fast-talking languages can get left behind entirely during long speeches and monologues. Comedy also doesn't translate very well, as the bonus of disguising a bad performance also manages to destroy a good or even funny one. Jokes are often funnier spoken than they are written. Oh, and subtitling a film means a very limited time at the box office unless the film is about one of two things - Kung or Fu.

Dubbing: The art of having new voices record the dialogue in a brand new language, often by rewriting the script to make the dialogue seem to match the mouth movements.
Pros: The method allows people to watch a foreign film just as they would watch one in their own native language. You can both take in the dialogue/story while watching the beautiful camerawork/cinematography. And comedies more readily translate across the language barrier. This is the preferred method of the mainstream, Middle American film watchers.
Cons: People chuckle when the mouth movement doesn't correspond properly to what's being spoken, so the dialogue is often truncated and occasionally completely changed. I've seen dubs in which the entire plot of the film is radically different than the original as a result of the ideas being too complicated to explain in the short time the dialogue allows. And wow, if you get bad or uninterested voice talent for the dub, the movie can sound like a couple of high school students reading Shakespeare aloud in homeroom.

Me? I fall dead between both camps. While my favorite first viewing method is always subtitling, I admit I'll skip subtitled films once it hits around midnight – especially if I want to stay awake. But often times, once I've seen a film, I'll check out the dub just to admire the cinematography… and to see if I can watch the dub as the preferred method for that film.

C. Robert Cargill - - - Email Me
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Austin-based Cargill, who not only loves but owns The Cutting Edge, writes on movies and DVD five times a week.

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