Why subtitled films like Parasite will always struggle to win over US moviegoers – their content is as foreign as their language, observers say

Bong Joon-ho, director of award-winning and Oscar-nominated film Parasite, wants North American audiences to ‘overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles’

Yet the language of Hollywood, and of awards season, is English, and that will always be a stumbling block for films shot in a foreign language

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How ready is Hollywood to accept foreign films with subtitles on a wider basis? The jury, despite recent hits such as South Korean Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, is still out. Photo: AP

Published: 5:00am, 5 Feb 2020Updated: 5:57am, 5 Feb 2020

When South Korea’s Bong Joon-ho accepted the Golden Globe last month for best foreign language film for his widely hailed Parasite, he urged film-goers to “overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles”.

“You will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” he promised, reopening a debate that has long plagued Hollywood – can non-English films ever break into the US mainstream?

Parasite , a searing black comedy about class divisions, has earned six Oscar nominations, including for best picture and best director.

After the film captured the top prize from the Screen Actors Guild in a shock upset, some believe it could win big at the Academy Awards on February 10, but that would be history-making, indeed.

South Korea’s Bong Joon-ho accepted the Golden Globe last month for best foreign language film for his widely hailed Parasite. Photo: AFP

No non-English-language production has ever won the best picture Oscar.

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