Criterion Blu-ray's lack multi-language, how come?

[Spit_Fire]

With the exception of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which features French and Spanish subtitles. Why do catalog Criterion titles such as (Wings of Desire, Seventh Seal, etc..) only carry the usual English subtitles?

I wondered why that was, you would think Criterion being such a prestigious collection it would carry a whole bunch of important languages.

[bsweetness]

Originally Posted by Spit_Fire

With the exception of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which features French and Spanish subtitles. Why do catalog Criterion titles such as (Wings of Desire, Seventh Seal, etc..) only carry the usual English subtitles?

I wondered why that was, you would think Criterion being such a prestigious collection it would carry a whole bunch of important languages.

My guess would be that it's a further attempt to keep the discs from moving outside of the region that they were intended for since Criterion rarely (if ever) has worldwide rights when they release a film.

(Even though other languages are spoken in the region...)

[steve_dave]

Criterion rarely includes dubs of films or even subtitles other than English. The prestigious collection "title" means that they only believe in the original language being included while English subtitles are included only if the spoken language is something other than English.

Curious Case of Benjamin Button was already completed as a two disc Blu-ray set by Paramount before Criterion requested the license for the film. That is why it includes French and Spanish language options.

[Spit_Fire]

Ahhh, its definitely that then. It's truly a bummer though. The essence of real cinema comes from Criterion titles which should be titles to be seen from any culture in the world, and a bunch of audiences fail to experience them just because of their lack of multilingual tracks.

Thanks for the info guys

[BaronVH]

Yes, they are region 1 and are not staffed like the major studios. I think they do an amazing job being as small as they are and with non-mainstream titles. Plus, their employees really care about the customer and the films they release.

[Crimson King]

Because they want to present the film in its native language. PS, there are a few titles that have alternate language tracks by the way.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

Because they want to present the film in its native language. PS, there are a few titles that have alternate language tracks by the way.

He's referring to the subtitles though.... not the language tracks.

[Jeff Kleist]

Criterion is only licensed for the United States, so the best you're going to see is a Spanish option

[TM2-Megatron]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Criterion is only licensed for the United States, so the best you're going to see is a Spanish option

Canada as well; but our releases are identical... not even a french subtitle track, heh (what's Quebec to do? ).

[manicsounds]

I wish that they subtitle and caption their extras like BFI or Masters Of Cinema do....

[jerwin]

Originally Posted by TM2-Megatron

Canada as well; but our releases are identical... not even a french subtitle track, heh (what's Quebec to do? ).

Stick to french films and suffer through the lack of a Quebecois dub?

[Leeric]

They should include the subtitles of the original language the film is in (as optional subtitles). I’d love that and that would be such a respect for those non-English films. The same goes for other studios.