Generally speaking, I don’t have a big problem with subtitles. I would prefer that a movie not have them, but it’s certainly not a deal-breaker for me.
With Delphine Coulin’s “17 Girls,” though, I kept thinking about the subtitles (and how difficult it must have been for someone to do them for this movie).
Before I go any further, though, read the film’s official description:
- 17 teenage girls take together an unexpected decision that will change their peaceful little lives and leave them misunderstood by the boys and adults around them: they decide to get pregnant all at the same time. This is based on a true story that occurred in 2008.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that seems like an interesting concept for a movie. I want to know why they decided to do it, whether they actually did it and what the outcome was. If a movie can get you to wonder about that much going in, it seems like a movie well worth checking out.
However, these clips also made me acutely aware that the movie features 17 teen-aged girls talking … in a foreign language. And, many times, they talk over each other. Frankly, it seems like it would be difficult enough to keep track of 17 different girls speaking English. But when they start talking all at once, how can you keep track of who is talking and who said what, especially when the camera isn’t on the person who is talking? In the clips, you will notice that they don’t even show the name of the character who is talking in the subtitles.
If getting to know the individual girls in the movie isn’t really important, then this won’t be an issue. And that is a possibility. In fact, in one of the clips two of the girls are talking and they refer to someone as “The Goth.” If the 17 Girls can’t be bothered to learn each other’s names, then maybe it isn’t something I need to worry about either.
. . .
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I completely see what you mean.