Stop Remaking Foreign Films and Learn to Read, Dummies
By: Another Pop Culture Blog Jonathan Wooder
Tags: Film, Filmmaking, Parasite 2019, Hollywood, Language

Upon winning the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film for Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho said, as translated by Sharon Choi: “”Once you overcome the one inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films”.

Almost overnight, these words sparked a massive fire celebrating the power of subtitles in cinema. Subtitles not only provide an entrance into a language and a culture that may be different to that of the audience, but they provide a way into the film, and the culture behind the story.

For those who are Hard of Hearing, or Deaf, subtitles, or closed/open captions, provide a way through the obstacle that a lack of auditory ability creates when not only watching films in a foreign language, but even movies in the native language of the viewer. Subtitles are good. They’re not a barrier, they are the hand to hold as you immerse yourself in the cinematic artworks of people whose cultures and societies you do not belong to.

But, alas, the English-speaking part of the world is full of dummies. It was recently reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Bong Joon-Ho is teaming with Adam McKay to adapt Parasite into a limited series for HBO.

Adam McKay, director of Vice, The Big Short, and Step Brothers

Now, look, we don’t know the details of what this is yet, but we know that McKay is adapting the film for an english-language audience, which means it will be in English. This is missing the point of the film.

Adapting films into different languages for different audiences who may not speak the original language or miss cultural symbols in the original media is nothing new. This is a part of cinematic history, the cultural exchange of stories and ideas and how they play in different parts of the world. To act as though all English-language remakes of foreign films are inherently flawed is wrong; one such example of cross-cultural adaptation is 2006’s The Departed (Dir. Martin Scorsese), a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs (Dir. Andrew Law and Alan Mak). Scorsese adapts the story for an American context, and shifts the symbols and themes to match his version of the narrative. Beyond this, though, Martin Scorsese did not remake the film simply to appeal to an English-speaking audience; rather, it was to depict the story in an American context.

(Left to Right) Infernal Affairs & The Departed

However, it is a common practice to adapt universal stories into an English-language version because of the Eurocentric belief in mainstream Hollywood film that foreign-language films are inherently “different” to English-language films; even this year, The Farewell (Dir. Lulu Wang), an American production mostly in Mandarin was placed in the Foreign-Language category, because it wasn’t in English. The number of films made internationally since the birth of cinema based upon Shakespeare speaks to the power of colonial enforcement of European art and its influence. (For a great video essay series on adaptations of Shakespeare, check out Kyle Kallgren)

This practice of remaking films made in languages other than English reinforces the alienation effect of non-American films failing to gain popularity among, let’s be honest, white people. In the last few years, we’ve seen this practice happen, from Paramount announcing a remake of the Japanese anime Your Name, to Spike Lee remaking the 2003 South Korean film Oldboy with an American cast.

To centre the appeal and accessibility of Parasite on the language being spoken in the film is missing the point of the story. Yes, it is a story with many details rooted in South Korean culture and history, but the film is about capitalism. It is about the class divides that can be seen globally; Bong, himself, said as much in an interview with Nerdist about why the film has been so successful.

“I think that’s because, while on the surface the film features very Korean characters and details, in the end it’s as if we’re all living in this one country of capitalism.” — Bong Joon-Ho

To remake the film, or expand upon it for an English-speaking audience, is missing the theme of how capitalism influences our decision making, and how we treat others. What this decision does is say that the film as it exists, in Korean/Hangul, is not understandable for a Western audience. I disagree with this sentiment; the theme breaks through the shift in language, the text appearing at the bottom of the screen acting as a guiding hand to tell the viewer “Come with us on this journey. You will understand.”.

Like the Madam peppering her sentences with english words, Adam McKay and HBO are trying to appear intelligent and cultured, while entirely missing the point of the story they seek to adapt.