I had forgotten how annoying it is to have your viewing constantly interrupted by someone flogging something you don’t need
I’ve a real liking for foreign-language films; I have done since I was a teenager. I think this started with late-night French films on BBC Two in the pre-video recorder era. I’ve often impressed film buffs with my knowledge of, say, François Truffaut – a whole season of whose work I watched avidly in the early 80s solely in the hope of seeing French people get their kit off.
These days, of course, it’s different. It’s about the sheer quality of the stuff available as well as the benefit of having subtitles to concentrate on: you have to pay attention, or you won’t know what’s going on. Checking your phone, pottering about or glancing at a book is just not possible. You can’t half-watch a subtitled film; you’re either completely engaged, or not at all.
