‘Snowpiecer’ as Transnational Cinema
Transnational cinema is described as “the global forces that link people or institutions across nations…decline of national sovereignty as a regular force in global coexistence” (Rowden and Ezra,2006:1), a clear example of transnationalism is Snowpiercer (2013), which has a diverse cast from well-known Hollywood actors to Korean actors. Not only this but the film tackles global problems, such as class warfare, not just Korean problems which was unusual for a film directed by someone who was more established in the Korean national cinema (Bong Joon-Ho) since a key part of Korean blockbusters was having a nationalist theme throughout the film, which is non-existent in Snowpiercer, that essentially abandons the ideas of nations altogether through the use of a universal train.
Continuing from Rowden and Ezra’s definition of transnationalism; “The impossibility of assigning a fixed national identity to much cinema reflects the dissolution of any stable connection between a film´s place of production and/or setting and the nationality of its makers and performers.”(2006:1), further solidifies the transnationalism of Snowpiercer. Starting with the cast of the film, which is extremely diverse, with the main character being portrayed by Chris Evans, an American actor, better known for playing the role of Captain America. Interestingly whether this casting was intentional or not by having Evans play the leading role it helps the audience expand further than just Korea since he’s a globally recognised Hollywood actor so it appeals to more diverse audience, who will feel more inclined to watch the film, since he’s a recognisable western actor. The franchise of “Captain America embodies US American ideology and symbolism” (Spaethen,2020:24) which further blurs the line between the different cultures in the film since the audience will associate Chris Evans’ presence as an American ideal even though the characters he plays are not related in any way. Some other notable actors from the film are Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell who are English and Sang Kang-ho who is South Korean, by looking at a few actors from the film we can see an ethnic range of the cast, but this diversity doesn’t just define transnationalism. Being a dystopian sci-fi further separates it from its nation since this genre has been infamously unpopular in Korea, so this also suggests that Bong-Joon Ho was attempting to relate to a global audience as opposed to just a domestic one. (Ye Dam Yi, 2014). There is a further divorce between the director and production; the film was based upon the French novel, ‘Le Transperceneige’ and didn’t contain any of the Korean characters, these were added by Bong Joon-Ho as a homage to his country. Furthermore, the film was shot in Austria and Czech Republic, showing how the film took inspiration from a country that wasn’t the homeland of the director and also didn’t shoot the film in his country further contributing to this international collaboration idea that transnationalism put forwards and the clear divorce between the director and production which makes it difficult to assign a nation to the film.
Additionally, the train in Snowpiercer travels around the globe, much like the film in terms of distribution and it’s actual production. The globality doesn’t end with the train, the issues both on the train and outside of it represents global issues that many countries can relate to as opposed to just South Korea as Pettigrew (2016) describes a “brilliant analogy of this socially structured train that mirrors many of contemporary civilisation’s current societal and environmental issues” A key concern that is evident in the film is the social class struggle that is a integral part of the film, where the disadvantaged class in the tail section revolt against the more privileged. This issue is seen throughout the world therefore making it more relatable for a global audience to watch and like Pettigrew (2016) suggested makes the film more interesting and appealing to those who are either interested in the action genre, as they may not have watched it if it was in another language and also for those interested in topical issues that the world is facing. Another prominent theme in the film is climate change, where an environmental disaster causes the human race to live on this train due to the conditions outside. Global warming is a big concern in the world, and this film presents what could happen in the future if we don’t take action, Frigerio (2017) suggests that this is a “good method to raise public interest about contemporary global challenges and stimulate a vibrant debate over the required solutions” in essence he’s implying that by presenting global problems in a film it can spark an important conversation between the audience, and therefore breaking barriers between the countries and to some extent creating a transnational collaborative solution to the problem that’s presented in the film.
Snowpiercer is abundant in transnational features. The film is clearly not a South Korean film nor is it a Hollywood blockbuster “it operates in a trans-national discourse that makes it culturally illegible” (Taylor, 2016) from the production that can only be described as an international collaboration to the use of the varied cast, the film’s national identity is nearly impossible to assign. Equally the content of the film which includes global issues rather than just South Korean issues sets it apart from other Korean blockbusters which seem to just focus on the nations issues and also makes the film more understandable and relatable to the global audience its seeking. Taylor’s (2016) final point of “Bong’s Snowpiercer ultimately represents a pivot outwards to the rest of the world that signals the death knell of the uniformly styled Hollywood blockbuster and the beginning of a much more complex diaspora of internationally renowned, grandly scaled, trans-national blockbuster films” sums up Snowpiercer as a transnational film and paving the way for others to break through the Hollywood barriers and reach an international audience through the use of concealing the nationality of the film and making it more appealing globally rather than just nationally.
Filmography
SNOWPIERCER, 2013 [Film], Directed by Bong Joon Ho, Stillking Films: Czech Republic
Transnational cinema is described as “the global forces that link people or institutions across nations…decline of national sovereignty as a regular force in global coexistence” (Rowden and Ezra,2006:1), a clear example of transnationalism is Snowpiercer (2013), which has a diverse cast from well-known Hollywood actors to Korean actors. Not only this but the film tackles global problems, such as class warfare, not just Korean problems which was unusual for a film directed by someone who was more established in the Korean national cinema (Bong Joon-Ho) since a key part of Korean blockbusters was having a nationalist theme throughout the film, which is non-existent in Snowpiercer, that essentially abandons the ideas of nations altogether through the use of a universal train.
Continuing from Rowden and Ezra’s definition of transnationalism; “The impossibility of assigning a fixed national identity to much cinema reflects the dissolution of any stable connection between a film´s place of production and/or setting and the nationality of its makers and performers.”(2006:1), further solidifies the transnationalism of Snowpiercer. Starting with the cast of the film, which is extremely diverse, with the main character being portrayed by Chris Evans, an American actor, better known for playing the role of Captain America. Interestingly whether this casting was intentional or not by having Evans play the leading role it helps the audience expand further than just Korea since he’s a globally recognised Hollywood actor so it appeals to more diverse audience, who will feel more inclined to watch the film, since he’s a recognisable western actor. The franchise of “Captain America embodies US American ideology and symbolism” (Spaethen,2020:24) which further blurs the line between the different cultures in the film since the audience will associate Chris Evans’ presence as an American ideal even though the characters he plays are not related in any way. Some other notable actors from the film are Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell who are English and Sang Kang-ho who is South Korean, by looking at a few actors from the film we can see an ethnic range of the cast, but this diversity doesn’t just define transnationalism. Being a dystopian sci-fi further separates it from its nation since this genre has been infamously unpopular in Korea, so this also suggests that Bong-Joon Ho was attempting to relate to a global audience as opposed to just a domestic one. (Ye Dam Yi, 2014). There is a further divorce between the director and production; the film was based upon the French novel, ‘Le Transperceneige’ and didn’t contain any of the Korean characters, these were added by Bong Joon-Ho as a homage to his country. Furthermore, the film was shot in Austria and Czech Republic, showing how the film took inspiration from a country that wasn’t the homeland of the director and also didn’t shoot the film in his country further contributing to this international collaboration idea that transnationalism put forwards and the clear divorce between the director and production which makes it difficult to assign a nation to the film.
Additionally, the train in Snowpiercer travels around the globe, much like the film in terms of distribution and it’s actual production. The globality doesn’t end with the train, the issues both on the train and outside of it represents global issues that many countries can relate to as opposed to just South Korea as Pettigrew (2016) describes a “brilliant analogy of this socially structured train that mirrors many of contemporary civilisation’s current societal and environmental issues” A key concern that is evident in the film is the social class struggle that is a integral part of the film, where the disadvantaged class in the tail section revolt against the more privileged. This issue is seen throughout the world therefore making it more relatable for a global audience to watch and like Pettigrew (2016) suggested makes the film more interesting and appealing to those who are either interested in the action genre, as they may not have watched it if it was in another language and also for those interested in topical issues that the world is facing. Another prominent theme in the film is climate change, where an environmental disaster causes the human race to live on this train due to the conditions outside. Global warming is a big concern in the world, and this film presents what could happen in the future if we don’t take action, Frigerio (2017) suggests that this is a “good method to raise public interest about contemporary global challenges and stimulate a vibrant debate over the required solutions” in essence he’s implying that by presenting global problems in a film it can spark an important conversation between the audience, and therefore breaking barriers between the countries and to some extent creating a transnational collaborative solution to the problem that’s presented in the film.
Snowpiercer is abundant in transnational features. The film is clearly not a South Korean film nor is it a Hollywood blockbuster “it operates in a trans-national discourse that makes it culturally illegible” (Taylor, 2016) from the production that can only be described as an international collaboration to the use of the varied cast, the film’s national identity is nearly impossible to assign. Equally the content of the film which includes global issues rather than just South Korean issues sets it apart from other Korean blockbusters which seem to just focus on the nations issues and also makes the film more understandable and relatable to the global audience its seeking. Taylor’s (2016) final point of “Bong’s Snowpiercer ultimately represents a pivot outwards to the rest of the world that signals the death knell of the uniformly styled Hollywood blockbuster and the beginning of a much more complex diaspora of internationally renowned, grandly scaled, trans-national blockbuster films” sums up Snowpiercer as a transnational film and paving the way for others to break through the Hollywood barriers and reach an international audience through the use of concealing the nationality of the film and making it more appealing globally rather than just nationally.
Filmography
SNOWPIERCER, 2013 [Film], Directed by Bong Joon Ho, Stillking Films: Czech Republic
References
DAM YI, Y, 2014, Locating a Transnational Film between Korean Cinema and American Cinema: A Case Study of Snowpiercer [online] [published on Plaride Journal] Available at: http://www.plarideljournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-01-Ye-Dam-Yi.pdf [Accessed 24th November 2020]
EZRA, E., & ROWDEN, T. (2006). Transnational cinema: the film reader, London, Routledge.
FRIGERIO, A, 2017, On the Verge of the Darkness: Dystopic Movies and Contemporary Global Challenges [online], 4thAugust, Available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2017/08/04/on-the-verge-of-the-darkness-dystopic-movies-and-contemporary-global-challenges/ [Accessed 26th November 2020]
PETTIGREW, I (2016), Snowpiercer in Science Fiction film and television [online], Volume 9 (1), Page 150–153, Available via: ProQuest [Accessed 24th November 2020]
SPATHEN, L, (2020), Bong Joon-Ho’s Transnational Challenge to Eurocentrism, [Online] Master’s Thesis, Chapman University, Available at: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=film_studies_theses [Accessed 26th November 2020]
TAYLOR, B., 2016. The Ideological Train to Globalization: Bong Joon-ho’s The Host and Snowpiercer. Cineaction, (98), pp. 44–48,2, Available via: ProQuest [Accessed 23rd November 2020]
