INTERNATIONAL CO-PRODUCTION & NEW DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM GENRE
(Source: amazon.com)
Snowpiercer (2013) is a science fiction thriller film which directed by Bong Joon-ho. Snowpiercer was a globe-spanning train with the aim to stop global warming but in fact got the whole world into a new ice age. After this happened, a wealthy industrialist Wilford was the one who made the train run continually without stopping. That time was when humanity’s last remnants reside on the train created the fight between the well-to-do people living in comfort in the head cars with the poor stucking in black in cramped quarters.
The movie contains many transnational factors. Director Bong is Korean, he and an American screenwriter Kelly Masterson co-writing the film. Snowpiercer was a collaboration of different culture. It features international casts mainly speaking English. They are actors and actresses from South Korean, the US and UK. The film was made with a Hollywood-level budget.It was such a product from an international co-production. It based onthe French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, and Jean-Marc Rochette. It was filmed in two large studios: Barrandov Studios in Czech Republic and Korda Studios in Hungary and got the support about sound design, costume design or visual effects from Czech, German, and South Korean counterparts.
On the other hand, Snowpiercer was also a product of new distribution platform when it passed to TWC-RADiUS – a Video-on-demand (VOD) branch and started streaming on aNetflixafter two weeks release in the theater. According to Dewhurst (2014), Snowpiercer earned a surprising result $3.8 million in its first two weeks of VOD release, compared with $3.9 millions from five weeks in theaters. In fact, Netflix had helped the movie get more audiences but did not cost too much via VOD platform. Snowpiercer’s film producer did not have to release the film with high cost rolling in different theaters around the world.
In consequence, Rottenberg (2014) stated that Quinn – co-president of TWC – RADiUS believed that VOD platform and theatrical can coexist as each film has different strategy to reach its the audience.
(Source: Flood Magazine)
ASIAN HORROR GENRE
They said that save the best for last. It is correct in this situation when until this final film we got the chance to watch The Maid – the very first Singaporean horror movie directed by Kevin Tong. So why are people usually impressed by this genre? According to Andrew Tudor (2002), people are always curious about what will happen next and they fascinate about how the monstrous creatures in the film appear.
(Source: wordpress)The Maid became popular in Southeast Asia based on two factors: Kevin Tong’s reputation of making art-house films and the content of the film illustrated the social issues (Taylor, 2014). He asserted that ‘’The Maid genders the Philippines as feminine in relation to a masculine Singapore that (s)exploits vulnerable Filipino domestic workers such as Rosa Dimaano’’. On the other hand, this movie could be examined as a transnational horror movie as Alessandra De Rossi (the femaleprotagonist) is a Filipino-Italian actressand her collaboration in The Maid marked a good effort in maintaining the relationshipbetween two nations: Singapore and Philippines (Taylor, 2014).
The Maid was the movie about folklore and spirituality. It was a story about Rosa – a maid from Philippines who working for a Teochew opera family in Singapore. Chinese Hungry Ghost Month was the main topic to be drawn in The Maid. Kevin Tong has shown the third world with three ethnographic encounters (Taylor, 2014). First, it highlights the discomfort while living in the host society of the ethnographer like the maid Rosa. She was introduced by Mrs. Teo about the Chinese Hungry Ghost Month and she caught the Teos praying before a sidewalk altar during her first night in Singapore. Second, The Maid told many Hungry Ghost Month rituals that led Rosa meet culture shock. She got to know many taboos she has never heard before such as children are told not to stay out late, laundry should be taken in before nightfall, don’t turn around if you hear someone calling your name, the first row of Teochew opera performance is reserved for the ghosts,don’t touch on the ashes after burning paper money, etc. Third, also the plot twist of the film, when the Teos turned to be cold-blooded and forced Rosa to get marriage with her son’s spirit. Ghost marriage ritual was described as a superstitious ritual.
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REFERENCES
Dewhurst B., 2014, ‘Is the VOD Release of ‘Snowpiercer’ Clever Marketing, or Just a Roll of the Dice?, nofilmschool, <http://nofilmschool.com/2014/08/vod-release-snowpiercer-marketing>.
Taylor B, 2016, ‘ The ideological Train to Globalization – Bong Joon-ho’s The Host and Snowpiercer, Cineaction, Issue 98, p.44-48
Taylor, J 2014, ‘Legend Has It … : Imag(in)ing the Ethnographic Encounter in The Grudge and The Maid’, Visual Anthropology, pp. 117-137
Tudor, Andrew. “Why horror? The peculiar pleasures of a popular genre.” In Horror: The Film Reader, edited by Mark Jancovich, 47-55. London: Routledge, 2002.
Rottenberg J., 2014, ‘’Snowpiercer,’ VOD and the future of film distribution’, latimes, July 11, <http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-snowpiercer-vod-and-the-future-of-film-distribution-20140710-story.html>.
FEEDBACK/COMMENT ON BLOGS ENTRIES
Linh K Van 
Hi Linh, first of all, congrats on your last blog. I guess you have spend enough time enjoying and researching for the whole films included in this course. In particular, with this two genres, I think you has deliver thorough ideas on it. I have listened to you and your group’s discussion on The Maid in the last class, it was wonderful. So some to Snowpiercer, an international co-production movie, as how it outstandingly become successful due to releasing on Netflix, how likely you think about the film platform people are preferring nowadays and could you predict this situation in the near future? Cheers.
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Hi Thanh,
Thank you and I am really appreciate your thought on my blog. That was great. And I am happy since you enjoyed my group’s discussion on The Maid as well. On the other hand, I’ll give you my perception to answer your question. I think that it is hard to assume or predict about people’s preference nowadays. It really depends. For example, Netflix is popular in Western countries, but not in Asian countries. People loves the atmosphere of theater with giant screen with the best sound quality might not like watching films at home. Or maybe busy people who cannot spend time hanging around at the theatre prefer enjoying watching film at home. I thought that with each platform, it will have its own audiences and director or film producers should define whether or not their film should be related to suitable consumers.
Linh
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I am interested in your blog. You have discussed outstandingly about the two genres. But I especially enjoyed the discussion on horror movie. This was my first time watched the Singaporean movies as well. And I used to think that only some Asian countries such as Thailand, Japan, etc are well-known about their horror movies. In my opinion, The Maid might not be like a usual horror movie, it built from a folklore of China and about people belief on Chinese Hungry Ghost Month, which is also the real thing. Actually, to what extend do you compare an Asian horror movie to a Hollywood horror movie which people are more familiar with? Thank you.
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Hi Nhu,
Thank you for your comment. About your question, I think those two types of horror movies have both in common and differences. First, Asian horror movies have adapted Hollywood horror movies convention, it still include some basis and predictable elements like any horror films such as jump scares, spirits, gore, vengeful female, the final girl, an uncanny child, etc. However, in my opinion, what makes Asian horror movies different from Hollywood horror movie is that it based much more on Asian folklore and Asian cultural context (for example: in The Maid is about Chinese Hungry Ghost Month) with some superstitious topics. While Hollywood horror movies seem to describe more about human’s imagination, director’s ghost make-up appearance which also means it might be like sci-fi sometimes.
Linh
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Hi Van,
What a great work of your discussion about international co-productions and horror genre in Asian cinema for your blog this week. Your insightful discussion on these films are in depth and interesting. I really enjoyed your in-class discussion on The Maid as I am a big fan of horror movies. You might have researched much into the horror theme and the Chinese Lunar Seventh Month. Your blog is informative to me and well-constructed. Thank you for sharing your thought on our discussed films through this semester. Anyway, congratulations on your last post and hope you would have a great holiday. I am still looking forward to your posts in the future.
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