"Oldboy"

[VinegarBob]

Invariably you miss what's on the screen when you're trying to read the subs, or miss the subtitles while trying to watch the screen, or miss them both when they flash long subs up to quickly--and they're just distracting in any case.

Funny story:

I used to frequent another film forum (theauteurs - now mubi), and was heavily involved in the first 'world cup' event they held. A group of forum regulars each took charge of a country and 'managed' it (coincidentally I was the South Korea manager). The managers would pick films from that country, which would then be pitted against films from another country, with the winner being decided by the rest of the forum members watching both films and voting for which they preferred. It was a lot of fun, but there were a lot of films to get through in a short space of time in order to vote in each round. So much so in fact that on more than one occasion I actually ended up watching two subtitled films simultaneously. Now, I'm well aware of the oddness of the situation, and I'm not advocating this as a way of watching films in general as it was quite taxing, but I understood what everyone was saying and doing in both films to quite a high degree.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that this notion that subtitled films can't be properly digested because of some sort of information overload is pretty preposterous imo.

As an aside I would say that a lot of the very best that cinema has to offer isn't/wasn't made in the English language - why would anyone assume that it necessarily would be? So if a person generally avoids subtitled films for whatever reason then they're certainly missing out, as far as I can tell. Of course everything boils down to personal preference at the end of the day, but you have to wonder how a person acquires those preferences in the first place.

[Stewball]

...but you have to wonder how a person acquires those preferences in the first place.

Bigotry, prejudice and racism I'm sure.

[Paxton]

I'm willing to give Stewball the benefit of the doubt on this one for two reasons. 1. He seems legitimately interested in performances, and I certainly lose some scope on the power of a performance when I don't understand the language. I couldn't tell you if Tony Leung's delivery of certain lines in In The Mood For Love would make it even better (as is it's tier 10 in my book) because I don't even know how to read his inflection aside from screaming equals angry. 2. He did show love for Inglourious Basterds in which language is almost a main character.
Looking back on that film, Stewball, (you're review praised Waltz's performance of which the majority is not English) did you think you were missing intricacies in his performance? If it was enough there's a whole world of film you're shying away from that has a lot to offer. Like Incubus (1966) with William Shatner filmed in Esperanto.
Okay, maybe not Incubus.

[Stewball]

I'm willing to give Stewball the benefit of the doubt on this one for two reasons. 1. He seems legitimately interested in performances, and I certainly lose some scope on the power of a performance when I don't understand the language. I couldn't tell you if Tony Leung's delivery of certain lines in In The Mood For Love would make it even better (as is it's tier 10 in my book) because I don't even know how to read his inflection aside from screaming equals angry. 2. He did show love for Inglourious Basterds in which language is almost a main character.
Looking back on that film, Stewball, (you're review praised Waltz's performance of which the majority is not English) did you think you were missing intricacies in his performance? If it was enough there's a whole world of film you're shying away from that has a lot to offer. Like Incubus (1966) with William Shatner filmed in Esperanto.
Okay, maybe not Incubus.

Good question about Waltz, and I'd have to watch it again to be sure, but I feel certain that it comes down to, as I've implied, the given situation. How the subs are presented (placement, size, length, time on screen), the pace of the dialogue or mostly monologue in this instance if I remember correctly, and I almost knew what he was going to say most of the time before he said it. BTW, reading speed that Shogun brought up could, figure into it. If I'm supposed to absorb a a 2 line sub in 2 seconds, followed by several more similar to that in quick succession, I guess I am slow--sobeit, and a certain fatigue sets in in any case, even for fast readers I suspect. But then what am I supposed to do about it, say yeah, subtitles are great? (And I know for a fact that there are some situations where nobody can keep up and give the action more than a snapshot glance.)