I have had a debate with some people over the years vs. the merits of subtitling vs. dubbing- see here for a representative sample of the way pro-subtitlists feel.
To me, the argument isn't even close, and one has to wonder what reality the pro-subtitlists are living in. Subtitles, to me, are akin to graffiti. There's simply no way that someone can not enjoy a foreign film less because a few lip movements are misaligned vs. a third of the film screen being gobbled up by subtitles. And when poorly done- as in white subtitles for black and white films, or poor translations, or up to 20% of speech going untranslated, or poorly written, misspelled, etc., is there really ANY argument? I don't think so.
Look at this dubbed version of a Bergman clip, from Fanny And Alexander:
Now, is there any way, if one did not know this was a Swedish film, that you can tell me this is inferior?
Many Bergman films were dubbed- especially 1960s classics. Winter Light, one of his greatest films, was dubbed, but here's a subtitled clip:
About 6 1/2 minutes in, Gunnar Bjornstrand berates Ingrid Thulin. Now, if you read the words, you may miss many of Thulin's subtleties. Here, even in a very static moment, you will miss an essential part of the tale- her character's fragility and, frankly, annoyingness being revealed to herself. In the dubbed version you can hear what is said as you peer at Thulin's face, but the subtitles make you choose one or the other.
In fact, a good thing about dubbing is that it often accentuates the uniqueness of the role an actor is playing. As example, different actors were used to dub the voice of Max Von Sydow in Bergman's 1960s films, and this makes his differing characters all the more clearly NOT Sydow than he and his own voice could do.
Here is a clip from Federico Fellini's Nights Of Cabiria:
In this subtitled version, we hear Giulieta Masina's real voice, and, compared to the dubbed version- a different actress, it is softer, which aids in the drama, but also makes the many humorous scenes less effective. I.e.- the dubbing is a wash, and the film (the script, really) rides not on Cabiria's voice, but Cabiria's mannerisms and the tale it tells.
Of course, as I wrote in the other post's argument, 'while a bad dub is worse than good subtitles, your typical dubbing is better than your typical subtitling, and a good dub job- see Bergman and Fellini, is FAR superior to the best subtitles.'
So, while one can certainly LIKE subtitling over dubbing, from an artistic standpoint, there really is no argument for subtitling's superiority.
Case closed.
