I am interested in the role of subtitles as a signifier for the unknown. Subtitles are integral to our understandings when watching foreign films. The relationship between moving images and texts inevitably becomes synonymous with voices being condensed to scripts on screen. To familiarise us with what we cannot understand firsthand, subtitles intentionally appear passive to interfere as little as possible with our viewing experiences. Yet, their presences are constant reminders of the process of translation, and consequently the untranslatable.

The film is an attempt to translate the word grengjai (เกรงใจ), as the point of departure to showcase the inability to fully translate anything. There is no direct translation, it only exists in English contextually. Using an official archival footage teaching Thai etiquette "มารยาทไทย" produced by the Ministry of Culture, it articulates this fear of imposing onto others that resulted in ways of being considerate or polite. However, the explanation is willingly hindered by subtitles that appear to have gained autonomy.

Unlike the word, the subtitles are ironically inconsiderate. They provide translations based on their own dispositions. Switching from Thai to English, sometimes even refusing to translate, simply stating that the spoken foreign words are inaudible. Instead of accompanying our understanding of the film as it is expected to, the subtitles have no interest in being the mediator. It is willingly withholding information from both languages, defying that they must translate any language over another.

Inconsiderate Subtitles serve as a reminder that it is simply an approximation of the meaning of its original source. The unknown, both linguistically and visually, remains unable to be fully translated.