The best way to articulate what constitutes a transnational film is that films of this nature encompass an array of different elements from many diverse nations around the globe – essentially, they are not able to be characterised as belonging to any one nation in particular.
One example of a recent transnational film is George Miller’s 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road.
The Sydney Morning Herald has described the film as ‘the second-highest grossing Australian film at the international box office’ (2015). However, this begs the question – how Australian actually is this film? The cast includes the British dreamboat Tom Hardy and South African-born Charlize Theron, and is co-written by Brendon McCarthy who is British. Additionally, the film was partly shot in Namibia and upon viewing, it seems to be inspired by Western American films. These cultural elements blending together make the film transnational.
When films cross the border from being purely domestic from one distinct global film industry, to being classed as transnational, cultural elements often get lost in translation and generalisations or stereotypes about certain races of people or cultures are perpetuated. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (2009) is an example of a film in which this occurred.
Slumdog Millionaire was labeled a ‘Bollywood film’ by the US, despite being co-produced by UK companies Film4 and Celador, and was distributed by the French company Pathe as well as by Fox (Karan and Schaefer 2010). Karan and Shaefer argue that the ‘mislabeling helped American audiences mistakenly associate ‘Indian cinema’ with the film’s Westernised production values’ (2010). This was inclusive of a classic three-act narrative order and director Boyle’s apprehension to include random dance sequences that are common in films of a Hindi origin. The film also included elements that surface in Westernised popular culture such as landmarks like the Taj Mahal.
Essentially, Slumdog Millionaire is not purely a Bollywood or Hindi film, but a transnational film containing elements of Bollywood, as well as those from Western cultures. This idea may then lead to Western viewers generalising and branding any film situated in India as Bollywood (Karan and Schaefer 2010). These types of generalisations are unhealthy as they perpetuate racial stereotypes through lack of intercultural understanding.
Another argument that has been made in relation to transnational film is that cultural appropriation is fostered through mixing cultures. James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) has been criticised for this.
There are quite a few elements Cameron drew from Indian Mythology. These included depicting the avatars with blue skin – a colour traditional for Hindu deities, as well as recreating the Hindu idea of religious entities being able to recognise and bless their followers through a motif of seeing and understanding (Karan and Schaefer 2010).
Ultimately, Avatar illustrates the ‘growing incorporation of ‘Bollywoodisms’ and Indian/Hindu references into mainstream North America’ (Karan and Schafer 2010).
References
Articles:
Karan, K and Schaefer, DJ (2010) ‘Problematizing Chindia: Hybridity and Bollywoodization of popular Indian cinema in global film flows’, Global Media and Communication, 6: 3, pp. 309-316.
Images:
Mad Max: Fury Road image credit to cnet.com
Slumdog Millionaire image credit to playbuzz.com
Avatar image credit to flowtv.org
Videos:
FoxSearchlight 2008, Slumdog Millionaire – Trailer, (online video), 30 Oct, viewed 4 Sept 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q>.
Warner Bros. Pictures 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road – Official Main Trailer [HD], (online video), Mar 31, viewed 4 Sept 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJnMQG9ev8>.
20th Century Fox 2009, Avatar | Official Trailer (HD) | 20th Century FOX, (online video), 9 Nov, viewed 4 Sept 2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PSNL1qE6VY>.
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