Ogawa - Subtitles in Berlin

[MiriamRohde@aol.com]

Dear all, dear Aaron
I don't really think the problem was bad subtitles. Personally, I was not in
a position to judge, because I was too busy trying to keep up with Owaga
talking. However, I think that people having to rely on the subtitles had
even more trouble keeping up, especially as the subtitles tended to come in
rather long lines.
It could also well be that they shortend the texts, in order to make them fit 
without completely dominating the frame.
Besides, the subjects that Ogawa and Oshima talked about were abstract at 
times, so that it might have been difficult to see, read and think 
simultaneously.
In fact, I wonder more generally if such an excess of dialogue or backstory
might not negatively affect the perception of the quality of a subtitled 
foreign language movie, simply because the audience hardly begins to 
understand the issues. Could this have been the problem with "KT" for 
instance, which seems to have had some success in Japan, whereas it was a 
complete flop in Berlin last
year?
Any comments?
Miriam