Critical Essay: Snowpiercer

How is Snowpiercer a transnational film?

Snowpiercer in my opinion displayed transnationalism in three different 

ways: diverse cast/characters, Korean director for American film, and the movie 

was based off of a French graphic novel Le Transperceneige.

Wikipedia defines transnationalism as “a social phenomenon and scholarly 

research agenda grown out of the heightened interconnectivity between people 

and the receding economic and social significance of boundaries among nation sates.”

Cast/Characters

In the film the audience is given no background of the characters before the

apocalyptic freeze 17 years prior. It is made very clear however that the last 

people on Earth living on the train came from all different parts of the world. Within 

the first thirty minutes of the movie three different languages were spoken.

The specific scene including the multiple languages being spoken is Minister Mason 

(Tilda Swinton) giving a seven-minute speech before freezing a man’s arm and shattering 

it with a hammer. There was English and two other languages being translated for the

“scum” people of the back of the train.

This assists the audience in understanding that people aboard the Snowpiercer did not 

all just hop on in America. The cast included huge Hollywood names (Chris Evans, 

Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris) along with various other actors of different ethnicities.

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Snowpiercer was director Bong Joon-ho’s first English language movie of his career. 

Joon-ho is from South Korea. A South Korean director making a majority English 

spoken film directly links with this film being transnational.

“The global forces that link people across nations.” (Ezra and Rowden, Transnational 

Cinema, pg. 1)

I believe the significance of having directors of different nation states create movies 

gives the movie a new twist on the repetitive Hollywood originals we watch every 

couple years concerning the social class segregation included in Snowpiercer

(ex: Hunger Games series).

This movie is considered and English film but it premiered first in Seoul, South 

Korea a couple months before its release at the Deauville American Film Festival.

Le Transperceneige

Snowpiercer was based off a French graphic novel Le Transperceneige written by 

Jaques Lob. Director Joon-ho found this graphic novel in a bookstore and read the 

book cover to cover while standing in the store. He was inspired by this graphic 

novel and added his own South Korean-Czech science fiction thriller twist to it.

Did Snowpiercer successfully conform and/or expand transnationalism?

At first, while watching this movie I struggled to find connections with this 

being considered a transnational film because it was one society on a single train 

simply segregated by train cars. The more I got to know the characters and researched 

the director and his inspiration it became clear.

In my opinion from the three examples above Snowpiercer conformed directly 

with the definition of transnationalism. The genre of this movie in and of itself 

screams transnationalism: English-language South Korean-Czech science fiction

 thriller film, quite a mouthful and highly transnationalist. 

Roughest Draft: Argo and Persepolis

Who is telling the story?

The Islamic Revolution was in full blast in 1979. Iran has strict censorship policies, which limits the people of Iran to be able to express themselves freely whether it be music, name brand materials, movies, and numerous other activities. These limitations are still active today, but two stories in particular occurred directly in the middle of the revolution and the stories live on today. Persepolis, first a graphic novel, then was turned into an animated biographical film. The story follows author and director, Marjane Satrapi throughout her young childhood years, into her life as an adult during the Islamic Revolution. This movie has been translated into three languages, but the original was made in French. The second story is Argo. This thriller drama 2012 film is directed by Ben Affleck. The movie was based off a true story of a CIA mission named Canadian Caper. This real mission, transformed into a film of the Islamic revolution hostage situation at the United States embassy in Iran closely follows many situations that happened during this time in history. The purpose of comparing these two films set during the Islamic revolution of 1979 is examining who is telling the story, and how the story changes based off who is telling it. We will be finding similarities and differences amongst an Iranian born Islamic female Marjane Satrapi and Ben Affleck/former CIA agent Tony Mendez. Interviews, scholarly journals, and examination of filming techniques will assist in finding the similarities and differences between the two.

Persepolis was narrated from the standpoint of a Marxist raised middle class Iranian female. Marjane Satrapi and her family were viewed as radicalisms in her town, and feared walking the streets of Tehran frightened by the Muslim fundamentalist who took power during the Islamic Revolution. Marjane growing up witnessed firsthand family members being murdered, arrested, and ________. The arrest and execution of her Uncle Anoosh was the final straw which led her to act out in class and get in trouble with the police by breaking modesty laws.  Going to school abroad for her remaining grade school years, college, and early adulthood Marjane avoided talking about her nationality and religion at all costs. To new friends she would say, “I am French, born and raised in Paris.” Marjane felt the need for this because of how the rest of the world views Iran and Iraqi people in the 1980’s and still today. In an interview with Bitch magazine Satrapi encourages non-Iranians, “the 70 million people [of Iran] are human beings, they are not an abstract notion. They are individuals with life, love, hopes. Their life is worth the life of anybody else in the world.” (Frames and Mirrors). Satrapi attempts to teach people through her graphic narrative and biographical animated film the frameworks of acceptance with the use of  “pictorial framing of the comic art panel.” (framing and mirrors). In Persepolis the audience sees that Marjane is a normal teenage girl who loves punk rock, Kim Wilde, and Bruce Lee. Elajih(author of article) believes the purpose of showing Marjane’s infatuation with western pop culture is to not only “piece together a divided identity,” but to bring forward the contrasting sides Marjane had to live with growing up during this time in Iran. In a single frame Marjane is pictured in her Hijab with a Persian artworks in the backdrop, placed next to image of Marjane free of the Hijab surrounded by posters, clothes, etc. This technique Marjane used throughout her film is to assist her audience in understanding the competing states of her life.

(paragraph about other graphic novels from Middle East, with sources included)

Argo was told from the standpoint of a white male CIA agent entering the ciunrty of Iran in the middle of the Islamic Revolution for an undercover mission. The opening scene of this movie begins with a group of Iran/Iraqi protestors swaying an American flag that is on fire outside of the American embassy. With a movie beginning in this way automatically gives the audience an idea on who/ what type of person is telling this story. Within the first five minutes the audience sees the people of Iraq and Iran as mad people in the wrong, and with that initial image of these people, sets the stage for how the director, Ben Affleck, wants the audience to view the people of Iraq and Iran. In an interview with director of Good Will Hunting Gus Van Sant, Affleck explains how he wishes he could have traveled to Iran to see the country in person but the studio said “it was a bad idea… whenever people go there (Iran) they always end up being followed by secret service agents.” (Ben AFFLECK)With this movie being released in 2012, during the United States and Iraq war, Americans already had their stereotype of Iran/Iraq people figured out. The story of Argo seems so far-fetched the fact that it is a true story brings light to so many questions unanswered within the film. In an interview with Ben Affleck and Tony Mendez (the actual spy who completed the Argo mission of 1981) go into detail about the feature film. “The events in Argo weren’t the first time. I was working with them (Hollywood) routinely,” Mendez says. The completed mission of Argo was just one short chapter of Mendez’s entire spy career. People may question how accurate Ben Affleck’s movie may be, since it is not categorized as a documentary. Mendez states, “I didn’t think he needed to change a thing.”

Both of these films Persepolis and Argo took place at the exact same time within the same region of the world. What makes them so different? Persepolis is a black and white animated film. The specific purpose for the film being told in black and white animation was to prove that the people in the movie put in these different scenarios could be from any country not just specifically Iranians. Color of skin, or miniscule physical features could not be depicted to prove that characters were a certain race. Persepolis being told from a female perspective reveals some situations to be more lighthearted than if it was told from a male’s point of view. For example, in multiple scenes Marjane goes into great emotion about relationships with boys. Yes this is an autobiography and this was a part of her story, but most would agree these scenes do not add to the plot of the movie. Persepolis was first released in French in 2007, then translated into English, Persian, German, and Italian. This clearly show Marjane’s direction on who she wanted to appreciate and learn about her film, everyone.   Argo is a biography drama filmed in color. This movie being filmed in color gives it more life and feeling of being in the streets of Iran during the Islamic revolution. Color is necessary to depict who are the Americans and who are the Iranian people throughout. Argo is told by not only a male, but a CIA spy. The narrator makes himself clear throughout the actions of his overall mission that he will do anything no matter how implausible it may seem, and add a couple badass riot scenes to keep the audience on their toes. Argo has not been translated into any other languages, it is only featured in English, which again clearly shows what audience Ben Affleck was reaching out to, Americans. Both of these films show straightforward differences that are obvious on purpose to assist viewers in representing who is telling the story.

(paragraph about similarities, with sources included)

Persepolis and Argo were both box office hits, receiving enormous amounts of attention from people across the world. Still today, Persepolis is not sold or streamed on televisions in Iraq and Iran because of their strict conservative laws and the governmental standpoint of Marjane’s story being inaccurate. The course concept of transnationalism is clearly the focal point throughout both movies. Persepolis is a melting pot of cultures all thrown into one animated feature length film. Marjane is Iranian, her movie was originally released in French, and her artistic technique used for her cartoon has a Persian flare. Argo includes two languages throughout the film, English and Farci. The movie takes place in the United States and multiple countries in the middle east. The importance of transnationalism in film is becoming more prevalent and viewed as a way to unite the people of the world. Information about similar historical events told from various countering people one ups history textbooks for the sake of perspective.  

Thesis and Outline: Argo and Persepolis

Argo movie trailer

Persepolis movie trailer

Introduction (rough draft)

The Islamic Revolution was in full blast in 1979. Iran has strict censorship policies, which

limits the people of Iran to be able to express themselves freely whether it be music, name 

brand materials, movies, and numerous other activities. These limitations are still active today,

but two stories in particular occurred directly in the middle of the revolution and the stories 

live on today.

Persepolis, first a graphic novel, then was turned into an animated biographical film. The

story follows author and director, Marjane Satrapi throughout her young childhood years, 

into her life as an adult during the Islamic Revolution. This movie has been translated into 

three languages, but the original was made in French.

The second story is Argo. This thriller drama 2012 film is directed by Ben Affleck. The

movie was based off a true story of a CIA mission named Canadian Caper. This real 

mission, transformed into a film of the Islamic revolution hostage situation at the United 

States embassy in Iran closely follows many situations that happened during this time in history.

The purpose of comparing these two films set during the Islamic revolution of 1979 is 

examining who is telling the story, and how the story changes based off who is telling it. We 

will be finding similarities and differences amongst an Iranian born Islamic female 

Marjane Satrapi and Ben Affleck/former CIA agent Tony Mendez. Interviews, scholarly

journals, and examination of filming techniques will assist in finding the similarities and 

differences between the two.

Thesis

The purpose of comparing and contrasting the films Argo (2012) and Persepolis (2007) 

is to find how the events of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 changed based off who was 

telling the story.

Outline

Introduction (see above)

•          Thesis clearly stated in the introduction

Marjane Satrapi’s side

•          Details of her national Iranian pride
•          How the world views Iran, but how the people of Iran really are (secondary source: Frames and Mirrors, Elahi)

Other Iranian Graphic novel authors/ directors

•          (secondary source: Marjane Satrapi and the Graphic Novels from and About the Middle East, Chikuma and Lazreg)
•          Talk about two different authors and what happened to them in Iran during the Islamic, and how their work was inspired from these events in history

Ben Affleck

•          Why he chose to do this movie topic?
•          What he learned as an actor/ director by making this film?
•          (secondary source: Ben Affleck, Van Sant)

Former CIA Agent Tony Mendez and Ben Affleck

•         Tony’s version of how the Islamic Revolution played out
•         How he feels about the result of the Argo film
•          Importance of Hollywood and CIA missions
•       (secondary source: Spies Like Us, Nashawaty)

Differences

•          Significant differences from each side of the people’s story that stand out
•          Differences between the movies (settings, mannerisms, actions of Iranian people)
•          Animation vs. Not animation

Similarities

•          (further research needed for this section)

Conclusion

•          Restate thesis
•          New significant findings
•          Restate the importance of the purpose comparing Argo and Persepolis

Scene Analysis: The Magnificent Seven (1960) "Testing Chico"

If video does not play, video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yh3GgjFpxw

Context

This scene occurs within the first thirty minutes of the 128-minute-long movie.

The scene includes five characters: Chico, Chris, and three villagers (Hilario, 

Tomas, and Miguel). This scene takes place inside a single room, most likely 

someone’s hotel room. The three villagers in the scene prior had asked Chris to 

gather men to fight in their village and protect them against Calvera and his men.

Summarize

The scene begins with Hilario, Tomas, and Miguel sitting at a table and Chris Adams 

standing and then they hear a knock at the door. Enters Chico a young, enthusiastic, 

and proud hopeful gunman. This is not the first gunman the audience meets, but the first 

one to enter for the “tryouts”. Chris gives Chico a test on his speed by clapping his hands 

together three times trying to stop the gun in between his hands. Chico fails, he is embarrassed

and leaves unhappy. Chris appreciates his enthusiasm but expresses that his young proud 

personality will get him killed.

Three Structural elements

11.     Camera Movement

“Testing Chico,” includes various shots. The shots in the scene are using 

spatial technique. First, shot/reverse shot, this type of technique is used 

when people are having a conversation so the audience can see both sides. 

This shot is used when Chris and Chico are closer to each other doing the

clapping test. Next, close up shot is used, only showing a character’s face

in entire frame. This shot happens once, zooming into Chico’s face. The 

audience sees and feels his dissatisfaction with not being able to complete

Chris’s clap test.

22.     Mis-en-scène (meez on scen)

This is a French theatrical expression meaning, “put into the scene,” 

simply the basic things in a certain scene. This includes props, setting, 

lighting, etc. For this scene, the five characters are in a small old time hotel 

room with a bed and a table strategically placed for all three villagers to be 

sitting at like judges at a performance. A three-point lighting technique is 

used, the audience gets a sense of depth but not too much depth which would

include intense shadows.

33.    Music

This scene includes no music. I believe the lack of music in the scene 

has a great impact on the scene. The only noises the audience hears are, 

clapping, character dialogue, and footsteps on the dirt floor. With a distraction 

of music in the background the audience would’ve not caught the emotions

on Chico’s face when he failed the clap test. Music is played in majority of 

scenes in this film, this scene did not need music.

Pivotal Moment

I believe this scene was a pivotal moment of this movie for two reasons. First, it was

the beginning of the “tryouts” for finding the seven gunmen. This scene was showing 

the first step in trying to stop Calvera. Next, the audience gets to officially meet Chico 

and see his enthusiastic and young personality. The one of seven personalities the audience

gets to know.

Annotated Bibliography: Persepolis and Argo

What am I writing about?

How does the perspective of the Iranian Revolution change based 

off who is telling the story?

The Texture of Retracing Marjane Satrapi

In this specific edition of Women's Studies Quarterly, the author Hillary

 Shute goes into detail about Satrapi's life growing up in Iran before, 

during, and after the Islamic revolution. Shute expands greatly on the 

importance of female's roles in the graphic narrative world. Though this 

article focuses on Satrapi's novel, not the movie, the audience gets

important information for Iranian female perspective.

How people should view Iranian People 

This interview with Marjane Satrapi from Bitch magazine goes deep 

into her emotions of how people outside of Iran view the people of 

Iran. She highlights Iranians are humans too, they have the same

hopes, dreams, and aspirations as the rest of the world. The importance 

of this interview for my research paper is the emotional aspect it 

holds. She realizes the radicalism of he home country but the people 

of Iran are just like everyone else.

Graphic Novels From and About the Middle East

This academic article begins focusing on Marjane Satrapi and her

graphic novel journey. It then brings forward additional authors

from the Middle Eastern region and has them explain their version of 

the Islamic Revolution through their eyes. I believe this article will be

the basis of my research paper because revealing different aspects from 

other Middle Easterners is great material that most people do not know 

about.

Ben Affleck: Director and Actor 

This interview with Ben Affleck explains his journey in choosing 

the topic for his movie Argo, and why this part of history stuck out

to him. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling in the movie 

industry. He believes his version of the story "touches a certain place 

in our collective consciousness."

"Spies Like Us"

This interview includes Ben Affleck and former U.S. CIA spy, Tony 

Mendez, the interview begins talking about the movie Argo focusing on

filming concepts with how the movie came together as a whole. 

However,most of the interview is directed towards Mendez and his 

specific plan that he came up with as a CIA spy in getting hostages 

out of Iran. For the sake of my research, having inside to a U.S. CIA 

spy working during this time in history, adds great value to his version

of the Islamic Revolution.

Bibliography

"Ben AFFLECK." Interview, vol. 42, no. 8, Oct/Nov2012, pp. 60-157. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=82717482&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi's ‘Persepolis.’” Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1/2, 2008, pp. 92–110., www.jstor.org/stable/27649737.

Elahi, Babak. “Frames and Mirrors in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis.” Symplokē, vol. 15, no. 1/2, 2007, pp. 312–325., www.jstor.org/stable/40550774.

Nashawaty, Chris. "Spies Like Us." Entertainment Weekly, no. 1227, 05 Oct. 2012, pp. 52-55. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=81284060&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Reyns-Chikuma, Chris and Houssem Ben Lazreg. "Marjane Satrapi and the Graphic Novels from and about the Middle East." Arab Studies Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 1, Winter2017, pp. 758-775. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=121396501&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Prospectus: Persepolis and Argo

My Topic

For my comparative paper this semester, I have chosen to examine 

Persepolis (2007) and Argo (2012). Both films are set in the same time 

1979-1980, in the middle of the Iranian Revolution. Persepolis is a French 

animated biographical film, and Argo is an American historical drama. 

These two stories are told from divergent viewpoints, in Persepolis 

a young Iranian girl and in Argo an American CIA agent, brings forward

numerous questions that are answered in both films being compared.

Course Concept and Critical Question

The course concept that will be discussed in my paper will be 

transnationalism. The two movies have variety of settings taking place

in multiple countries with great contrast in language, culture, and 

values. 

The critical question being researched for my paper is: How does the 

perspective of the Iranian Revolution change based off who is telling the story?

Plan of Action

I plan on completing each section of the comparative paper on time and to 

the best of my ability. To begin, I have written the five deadlines for the paper

in my academic calendar. To guarantee I give myself enough time for each 

section, I will dedicate thirty minutes to this assignment every other day until 

the final paper turn in date of May 2^nd.

For the annotated bibliography, due March 21^st, I plan to use the 

Kennesaw State library database to find academic journals to guarantee 

accurate information for my research. The thesis and outline due March 30^th, 

will be simple and straightforward with majority of information being 

brainstorming ideas. I struggle most with turning outlines into rough drafts.

I plan to visit the writing lab on campus for this portion as guidance to assure 

my paper is error free.

All portions of the comparative paper, including the final draft, will be posted to

this blog.

Machete: Review

Plot

Machete takes place along the border of Mexico and Texas. Main character, 

Machete (Danny Trejo), is a former Mexican Federale who is given an 

assassination mission to kill the corrupted Senator of Texas, John Mclaughin

(Robert De Niro). 

During a political rally for Senator Mclaughin, Machete aims to kill and

notices a rifle pointed at him from afar, he realizes has been setup.

Machete is injured, but angrier than anything. With help from his two

sexy sidekicks, Sartana (Jessica Alba) and Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), 

Machete is sent into a frenzy to seek revenge upon his former boss.

Background of Film and Cast

Machete premiered September 1, 2010 at the Venice Film Festival in California.

Though Machete is a mexplotiation film, it was released through 20^th 

Century Fox making the United States the film’s origin. This film has an 

enormous list of easily recognizable actors featured throughout. 

This is Danny Trejo’s first lead role in a feature film as Machete, then later 

starred in Spy Kids the movie along with various television series including 

Breaking Bad, Bones, and The Cleveland Show. 

Robert De Niro also featured in this film, has been in countless blockbuster

movies Meet the Parents, The Godfather, The Goodfellas just to name a few. 

Machete also includes our Hollywood favorites, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba,

Cheech Marin, Cheech Marin, Michelle Rodriguez, and Shea Whigham.

Machete was originally written in 1993 after director, Robert Rodriguez, 

did his casting for the movie Desperado.

Rodriguez said “There weren’t any action movies with a Latin flavor that 

could play to a broad audience.”

So finally, 17 years later Rodriguez casted his well-known actors and 

actresses. People working on and off screen speak highly of Rodriguez 

about how filming with him is not work it is truly a joy waking up and 

spending the day with him.

Genre

Machete is an action, crime, thriller mexploitation film. Before Machete, I

have never seen a mexploitation film. Granted, knowing this movie included

action and crime I had an idea that there would be some plot-line of Mexican’s

crossing the United States border along with some guns.

Mexploitation and my Evaluation

As a rookie viewer to mexploitation films, I had no clue these movies 

had a basic outline that almost all follow. There is a male lead, counter-macho,

with chicas modernas who are of course beautiful and exceptional in their own 

way. This is then followed by countless action scenes, and soap opera esc 

dialogue. As well as including a scenario of transnationalism, which in 

this film involved Mexico and the United States.

Knowing more about mexploitation movies after watching Machete 

made the evaluation of the film simple. It was honestly just checking off 

the boxes and Machete got them all. The cheesiness factor of course masked 

the underlining message of corrupt Americans and the Mexican-United States

border, but sure did have its own personal charm attracting blockbuster stars

and making millions of dollars.