Ever since Parasite won best picture in 2020 a lot more people have been venturing into the deep and beautiful world that is ‘world cinema’ or non-English films. However, some people still don't watch a film just because it has subtitles or because it is in black and white which is an absurd thing to say when films to this day are still made in black and white such as Roma and The Lighthouse (which are great films and far from boring!). However, everyone has a preference when it comes to art which is completely okay, and you are allowed to like what you like, but the issue comes when people point-blank refuse to watch a film because it is “foreign”. We need to remember that something like Oldboy may be “foreign” to us, something like Jaws would be seen as “foreign” to a Korean person, it's all about perspective. When you actively choose not to watch non-English films you are massing out on a massive amount of great and even life-changing stories.
During his 2020 Golden Globes acceptance speech for Parasite Bong Joon-Ho said “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” and he is absolutely correct. For 99% of people this is the main obstacle which stops them from watching non-English films. However, a study from Stagetext reckons four out of five viewers ages 18-25 said they use subtitles all or part of the time. So if most young people use subtitles then there should be no issue for them watching non-English films right?
Sadly it is not as simple as that. The main issue isn't the subtitles, it's that a lot of people who don't watch non-English have preconceived ideas of what those kinds of films are like. However, those ideas must have come from somewhere, but where did they come from? I have a few ideas of where they came from. The first one is lack of distribution in cinemas, even though a lot of mainstream cinemas such as Odeon and Cineworld are slowly playing more non-English films they either only have one showing or very awkward times. However, you can't put all the blame on the cinemas since they just want to make the most amount of money they can, and they know something like Deadpool and Wolverine will make a lot more money than something like Werckmeister Harmonies. My next thought is that fewer people like going outside their comfort zone when it comes to entertainment. With the rise of social media and short form content being tailored to show the user what they are interested in, fewer people want to take risks because they don't need to. After all, watching a new film is a risk, a lot of people these days don't want to potentially waste three hours of their life because they watched a film they found boring.
So how do people stop being scared of taking risks? They take risks, it's as easy as that. However, some films require a bigger risk than others. For example, I knew I was taking a risk when I watched Béla Tarr's film Sátántangó which is nearly eight hours long, is in black and white and has little to no dialogue and after seven hours and thirty minutes I loved it. However, this is just an extreme example, don't expect every non-English film to be this long and this abstract. Most are just like English films in their runtime and their themes.
So after all of this you want to watch your first non-English film, but where do you start? French new wave? German expressionism? Asian extreme? Dogme 95? There are loads of places you can start and everyone will have a different opinion as to where someone should start. As someone who is young and only really got into non-English films in the last year this is my advice. Don't worry about watching the classics first e.g. Metropolis, Seven Samurai, Persona but instead try to find something YOU enjoy and don't feel rushed to watch something because it is a “masterpiece”, watch something because YOU find it interesting. Another thing is don't watch (or claim) you have watched a really obscure film just so you can try to look cool in front of your friends (this happens more than you think). You need to remember that watching a film is something you do for yourself and not others.
So what am I trying to say? I'm not saying you have to watch some abstract German film, what I am saying is that you need to take risks in what media you consume. Break out of your comfort zone and become and become uncomfy even if it's for an hour or so, and you may fall in love with the ever-growing and fascinating world of non-English cinema.