Criterion’s 2008 release of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932) is representative of an important and subtle shift in English-language subtitling. Translator John Gudelj and the Criterion spotting/timecoding staff provided subtitles that effortlessly blend with the dialogue. This artistry makes their unique choices even harder to spot. For years translating every word as spoken has been de rigueur. This is desirable for clarity. But with repetitive dialogue, equally repetitive subtitles fail to trust the audience, detracting from rather than enhancing the film.

Early in the story, Allan Gray stops in a country house. “Guten Abend,” says the young housekeeper, to which Gray immediately responds, “Guten Abend.” The housekeeper’s dialogue is subtitled, “Good evening.” The subtitles do not repeat the banality when Gray speaks the same line of dialogue. It would be pointless. The audience has heard this common phrase and read the translation when first spoken. Nothing else is necessary. This subtitling choice is used again when Gisele sees Leone from the window. “There, outside,” she cries. “Leone, Leone!” The initial translation was necessary to communicate to viewers that the dialogue was actually a name, but when Gisele runs outside calling Leone’s name over and over, there are no subtitles. The lush imagery of Gisele running through the forest would be marred by subtitles that hammer the obvious translation. When Gisele and Gray are fog-bound in their little boat, they yell, “Hallo!” and are guided by answering cries from the opposite bank. The dialogue and context are absolutely clear without subtitles. This technique was used to poignant effect when Leone rests in bed. “I am damned,” she says. “Mein Gott, mein Gott… mein Gott.” American audiences are familiar with the German phrase. Gudelj wisely translated the first lines, “My God, my God…” As the camera pans away from Leone, she pathetically whimpers the same line of dialogue a third time. Here the subtitles are absent, allowing viewers to take in the full emotional impact of Dreyer’s images.

It is an irony of subtitles that at their best they go unnoticed. Gudelj and the Criterion staff deserve praise for doing that so well.