toddly6666

I was trying to think of all the international films available on DVD in which English subtitles aren't even necessary, such as on minimal-dialogue films. Can anyone think of any international films such as this? Especially for ones that don't have English-subtitled versions or that just have better quality DVDs in their native countries? And I don't mean old silent movies a la Charlie Chaplin - I mean more recent ones.

I could only think of these:

1. Triplets of Belleville (France)
2. Divine Intervention (France/Palestine)
3. Jacque Tati films

Yakuza Bengoshi

There are a lot of modern films that are so visually driven that comprehension of the dialogue is unnecessary, but here's three that spring to mind:

Hadaka no shima (The Naked Island) (1961)
Bu san (Goodbye, Dragon Inn) (2003)
Mat i syn (Mother and Son) (1997)

toddly6666

Is Tabu: A Story of the South Seas a silent film? What is this film? Is it a live-action film or is a film composed of a series of photographs?

Yakuza Bengoshi

^It's an early talkie drama directed by F.W. Murnau. It relies to a great extent of the exotic nature of its locales and story, and may not have the same impact on a modern audience as it did on the audiences of the early 1930's. A very good film, but not Murnau's best.

Another early talkie that works without understanding the dialogue is M (1931).

visitor Q

Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle) - there are very, very few subtitles to begin with. Excellent film by the way, one strictly driven by expression and non-verbal actions.

zombeaner

3-Iron is virtually dialogue free.

tonyjg

High Tension - sure just a few french words to start....

Ambassador

No, Tabu is silent with a synchronized score (and a few sound effects). It uses title cards and intertitles for dialogue -- though the dialogue is pretty sparse, as I recall. I think it's a superb film, personally.

Are you crazy?! The brilliance of M is its innovative use of sound. In order to appreciate Lang's associative audio editing, you've got to be able to follow the dialogue.

Yakuza Bengoshi

My recollection is that the only dialogue for which understanding is essential in M is Lorre's confession; other important audio elements such as Lorre's whistling and the mother's calls for her daughter, doesn't rely on dialogue comprehension. I'm relying on memory but I don't recall any of the police or underworld's meetings or efforts require comprehension of dialogue to understand what is occuring. Maybe you can provide some examples of what you're talking about?

Ambassador

I really do recommend that you watch the film again. I'm thinking specifically of all the cross-cutting between the police and the underworld as they make separate but intersecting plans for locating the murderer. The cross-cutting makes the parallels between Schränker and Inspector Lohmann pretty clear, but the fact that they're actually completing each other's sentences (which is what I meant by associative audio editing and which you'll only "get" if you understand the dialogue) drives home the fact that they are indeed two sides of the same coin. I'd say that that's a pretty important thematic point that you'd miss if you weren't able to follow the dialogue.

As you say, being able to understand Lorre's confession at the end is also essential, as is the short postscript at the end with the victims' mothers. Plus, being able to understand the dialogue adds to one's enjoyment of the underworld milieau -- particularly the mutual respect that the professional criminals and the police have for each other (and the mutual disdain they all express for the killer).

I guess you can follow the movie's plot more or less without knowing what they're saying (especially when the criminals are trying to locate Lorre in the office building). But there's so much more to the movie. As I said before, one of the reasons that M is such an innovative masterpiece is precisely because of the way Lang uses sound (including dialogue). Along with Rene Clair and Ruben Mamoulian, Lang was the first great master of using sound and dialogue cinematically.

Yakuza Bengoshi

Okay, I'm sold. Strike M.