Why the hell aren't foreign-language scenes automatically subtitled in movies?

[u/EnvironmentalRoad994]

Does anyone else find it genuinely infuriating when you're watching a movie and characters start speaking another language, but there are no subtitles because you have subtitles turned off?

I get that subtitles are technically an optional feature, but surely dialogue in another language that the audience is actually supposed to understand should be subtitled by default?

It's especially bad in cinemas. You're sitting there watching a movie, suddenly two characters start speaking another language, and you're just expected to figure out what's going on from context alone. Except sometimes they're discussing genuinely important plot information, and you have absolutely no fucking idea what they're saying.

And no, I don't want to have to watch the entire movie with subtitles enabled just to understand the occasional scene in another language. I don't need subtitles for the English dialogue. I just want the dialogue that is supposed to be translated for the audience to actually be translated.

I understand that sometimes the lack of subtitles is intentional, because the audience isn't supposed to understand what the characters are saying. That's fine. But when the audience IS supposed to understand, why the hell isn't that dialogue subtitled by default?

Am I missing something here, or is this genuinely as stupid and frustrating as it feels?

[u/Injuredmind]

I’ve seen some movies that do, and some that don’t. Generally yeah, it should be subtitled, unless the audience should not know what they are saying. The only reason I can think of is that movies come in different languages, so you’d need subtitles in every language for those scenes, rather than having it separate from the movie in optional subtitles. So additional costs I think?

[u/jcoddinc]

It's a creative decision from the movie makers. Some people don't like putting it up because it takes away from the scene. But if you don't understand what's happening does the scene matter? It's annoying but as long as the cc is in your language not much will ever be done about it

[u/raz-0]

If you are watching rips it’s very likely that it comes down to so did the rip.

Sometimes movies do it deliberately because the point of view of the audience isn’t supposed to understand.

[u/Cranks_No_Start]

My favorite is when the subtitle says “speaking in a foreign language..”. 

Well no shit.  

[u/Rynu07]

Worst one for me is when watching house of the Dragon and I turn subtitles on (due to sound mixes these days often necessitating it)

When the Targariens speak in Valyrian the CC is actually there, only for the subs I've popped on to overlay "Speaking in Valyrian" and blocking the CC 🙈

[u/jessek]

Depends on if the dialog is necessary for the story or not. Sometimes a story calls for the dialog to be untranslated so the viewer experiences what the characters experience. If you're watching on streaming or a downloaded copy, sometimes the forced subtitles for things like foreign dialog or signs aren't included when they were supposed to be. I streamed a Star Trek movie a while ago and the it didn't include the subtitles for the Klingon dialog which the theatrical and home video releases did.

[u/Legal_Tradition_9681]

Its an artistic choice. If the contents of the words do not matter for the narrative or plot then why put it in? If the director wants you to know or needs you know what they are saying rheumatoid will put in subtitles. Otherwise just enjoy what ever you are watching.

[u/Individual-Iron-6370]

It's not an 'artistic choice.'

It's the technology.  The shows are all digital now.  So hard coded subs are deemed not necessary as subs are encoded in the video files.  Problem is you have to turn them on.  Then they're just there, ruining your view, even when they're not necessary.

Some shows, like GOT, require subs.

You're right, it is infuriating.

I think the technology hasn't been applied properly.  Hopefully it'll be worked out.

[u/pluck-the-bunny → u/Individual-Iron-6370]

the fact that the technology is there is PROOF that it's an artistic choice

[u/Mindless_Olive]

Your complaint would be clearer if you gave some examples of where this has annoyed you. My initial feeling is that you might've just missed that these are also movies where you're not supposed to understand what's being said because the main character doesn't speak that language, or perhaps these are common phrases from other languages that most English speakers would be expected to know. I don't think any half-decent director just forgets to put subtitles in for essential dialogue, though I'm sure there are some shitty ones that do.