This article deals with film subtitling. The emphasis is on the pragmatic dimension of context. The article shows how the constraints of particular communicative tasks affect variously the textual devices employed both in original screen writing and in the writing of subtitles. In an earlier study, the authors observed that one area of meaning which appeared consistently to be sacrificed in subtitling was that of interpersonal pragmatics and, in particular, politeness features. In this article, the authors aim to illustrate how politeness is almost inevitably underrepresented in this mode of translating and to suggest what the effects of this might be. Additionally, they point to further research which might be carried out in this particular area of Translation Studies.