Critical Essay of Snowpiercer

Transnationalism, applied to cinema, is a concept that speaks on a recent global growth in economics and technologies that have opened traditional national borders to a global level.  In the case of cinema, it is when cultural aspects of one nation blend together with another nation's cultural aspects, such as, the use of international actors, off site filming, use of language and cultural identity.

Snowpiercer is an excellent example of a transnationalism film as it encompasses a diverse range of cast, production crew, techniques and location on a global scale. 

Bong Joon-ho

The director, Bong Joon-ho is from South Korea and Snowpiercer was his first English film.  His inspiration for Snowpiercer, came from a French graphic novel called Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette.

When speaking on the international release of the movie Bong Joon-Ho spoke of the transnational viewing by assorted countries:

"With each country, I think the destiny of the film is slightly different. Mainland China, Korea, France, it was very successful. But for example Japan and Germany, it wasn’t so well received. So the scores are kind of up and down. But across the board it seems like the reviews in all the countries have been pretty good." (indiewire) 

The cast and crew are from a global scale.  Making use of mainstream Western actors, Eastern actors and local and international production companies. 

Big name actors featured in Snowpiercer

"The staff consists of professionals from a variety of countries as well. Alex HONG, one of Korea’s top cinematographers, is in charge of cinematography, working shoulder-to-shoulder with an American computer graphic supervisor and a Czech production designer." (KoreanCinemaToday)

This idea of a transnational cast extends into the movie, as the people of the train are made up of a wide variety of races, cultural identities, and influences.  The train itself represents a borderless nation, one that moves on the worldwide track.  

The World-Wide connecting train tracks of Snowpiercer

Another interesting aspect of the film is found in the opening credits, "Today 79 countries will began dispersing CW-7 into the upper layer of the atmosphere."  This statement is important because it does not blame one single host country for causing the ice-age apocalypse.  For an international film to succeed, it cannot afford to offend the host country that the film is being viewed in, but instead allow the audiences to make assumptions that fit their own needs.

One of the greatest examples of transnationalism is found in the spoken language of the film.  The film is nearly all English.  For a South Korean director to select English shows the embodiment of transnationalism. As Bong Joon-ho said in an interview "[...] it’s also really nice to see the movie and show it to an audience where they don’t need subtitles." (indiewire)

It is fascinating how closely a train can tie the concept of transnationalism in film.  They both can be borderless, the both match the styles and influences of the citizens/passengers, and the both can derail within the blink of an eye.  

Bibliography:

"The Big 4 Goes Global - BONG JOON-HO." Korean Cinema Today. Ko Biz, 14 May 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Suskind, Alex. "Interview: Bong Joon-Ho Talks 'Snowpiercer’ & Why The Stories About Harvey Weinstein Conflict Are Wrong." IndieWire. N.p., 26 June 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Filmography:

Snowpiercer. Dir. Bong Joon-Ho. Koch Media, 2014. DVD.