You might think it unusual for me to start a new weekly column on books and reading with a film, but bear with me. Bong Joon-Ho, when he won his Best Picture Oscar for Parasite, said “once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films”. It led to dozens of articles about whether Americans (and Anglophone countries in general) were ready to fully embrace cinema not in the English language.