Movies, since forever, have always relied heavily on people’s lives for inspiration. Whether it be over the elite or the working economy, cinema and literature focus their lenses time and again on their struggles and triumphs, seeking beauty in the mundane. Even the most far-fetched plots, we can agree, still have their roots buried in truth. While some may exaggerate and romanticise the dreariest of hardships, some focus on the raw portrayal of the pain and strife involved. Over the decades, cinema has discussed numerous topics: socio-economic disparities, communal turmoil, terrorism, globalisation and migration, the flesh trade, slavery, wars, and so on.
Among the endless list of topics, migration has been a widely discussed subject. Due to the increasing demands of globalisation and economic development, migration has become a worldwide phenomenon. Economically developed countries have witnessed a mass influx of people in the last few decades owing to several factors. People from economically developing or underdeveloped countries travel towards such countries in search of employment opportunities, income or better standards of living. However, the roads that promise success always come at a price. Thousands of migrants are misled or even smuggled in by corrupt establishments promising better opportunities and forced into slavery or prostitution instead. Countless others have to contend with various factors ranging from discrimination, prejudice, disparity in pay and benefits, familial and social pressures, to manhandling, assault, abuse, etc. While some find their happy endings, sadly most don’t.
Many such phenomena that are either a direct or indirect result of globalisation become the focal element of the ‘transnational’ cinema narrative. The genre, while being a by-product of global flow itself, functions as a visual representation of the networks and transactions involved in globalisation. While it offers a glimpse of the struggles faced by immigrants, it also touches upon several other issues such as the gradual alienation of cities, loss of identity, exploitation, tourism, etc. Transnational cinema, through its sensitive depictions, attempts to create awareness by exposing the dark, macabre underbelly of such global organisations and networks.
The following article seeks to understand the relationship between globalisation and people and analyses its impact on cinema.
Globalisation and Its Impacts
Globalisation can be defined as the growing interdependence between different economies, societies, and cultures around the world. Whilst establishing interconnectivity, this process also inevitably creates a ‘pull’ effect, where it encourages people from economically backward regions of the world to seek out opportunities in developed regions. Consequently, this results in the formation of ‘global powers’ that further increase the gap between the economic status of developed and developing countries. Petro and Krause, in their works, state that global networks are experienced ‘locally’ in large and small cities within a country. This eventually results in the creation of large global metropolitan centres (for e.g., Tokyo, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, etc.) that attract a huge number of migrants. While these metropolises initially manifest themselves as cultural melting pots, they slowly grow into centres of crime, corruption and exploitation, infested with unorganised, squalid urban ghettos. Such developments lead to cities or regions losing their identity and instead becoming socio-cultural swamps with the passage of time.
Saskia Sassen, concurring with the above statement, further points out how ‘built’ topography becomes inadequate to describe such cities, leading to referring to other influential factors such as cultural diaspora, migrant influx, socio-economic interactions, to assess the identity of such places. Variances and disparities born from such interactions eventually assert the dominance of ‘global’ entities, enforcing a physical and emotional disconnect between the migrant and their native.
Transnational Cinema: Global Cinematic Topographies of the City
Transnational cinema compares the topography of metropolitan centres with the transnational movement of the characters featured within these spaces. Through a myriad of narratives, it sheds light on powerful themes such as labour migration, international tourism, transnational commodification, postcolonialism, transnational education & capital, and transnational organ trafficking and harvesting. The genre studies globalisation and its impacts through the perspective of the locals. The narratives commonly utilise a ‘built’ or ‘micro’ environment to represent a ‘localised entity’ – a local space experienced topographically, yet connected to global points. By doing so, it effectively establishes a stark contrast between the merits and ill effects of globalisation.
Case Studies
- Remote Sensing by Ursula Biemann: A Case Study in Transnational Flesh Trade
Remote Sensing captures the complexity of women’s lives and the predicaments when caught in the precarious web of global trade of sex, false adoption and marriage in their search for jobs and a better standard of living. The essay maps out the journey of such women from Thailand to Tokyo, Russia to Korea & Israel, the Philippines to Nigeria, etc. – Routing and Rerouting.
The documentary follows the story of two women, Arlene and Nilda Wilbar, lured by the promises of German cons Bernadette & Wolfgang Stromberg to work in a German restaurant, where they end up in the brothels of Nigeria serving Chinese customers. The screen splits into 3 or 4 sections as the narrative progresses showing the ordeals of the 2 Filipina women and satellite images that track their routes as they traverse through the transnational network. Through this movie, Biemann questions how to shoot a clandestine life while being truthful to the harsh obscenities of large metropolitan cities and their invisible layers.
2. Dirty Pretty Things by Stephen Frears: A case study in transnational organ trafficking and harvesting
The film employs the setting of a hotel as the site where migrants’ bodies are harvested and their organs are sold. It presents a normally unnamed local space as disturbingly alienated and decontextualised imagery, focusing only on the movement of the characters. This is in stark contrast to Weimar cinema and film noir, in which the entire image of the cityscape and its topography is established as the narrative progresses. Through the cinematography, Frear quietly yet effectively presents the notion of alienation and the universal quality of such transactions, noting how people are affected around the globe, irrespective of nationalities and borders.
3. Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola: A case study in cultural displacement
Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost in Translation’ offers a thought-provoking analysis of the phenomenon of ‘cultural displacement’, better known as ‘cultural shock’, by paying close attention to the everyday experiences of the protagonists. Two strangers get acquainted with each other as they stay in the same hotel in Tokyo, Japan. One is trying to salvage their marriage which is hanging by a thread; another is questioning their relationship. As the two spend their time exploring the city and the hotel, their interactions with the locals expose them to the nuances of Japanese culture. The film also beautifully captures the feelings of alienation and loneliness people experience when they are plucked away from their roots and placed in unfamiliar situations.
4. James’ Journey to Jerusalem by Ra’anan Alexandrowicz: A case study in illegal immigration
The film’s plot is centred on an African teenager named James, who goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on behalf of the elders in his village. James, upon his arrival in Israel, is believed to be an illegal immigrant worker and is arrested by the police. Shimi, a contractor who employs foreign workers, pays for his release to work with him. After James narrates his story, Shimi demands that he pay his debt to him and that since he paid for his release, James now owes him. Therefore, James is forced to terminate his journey and begin working for Shimi. Eventually, James grows closer to his superiors, learning the tricks of the trade, and becomes a small-time contractor himself. As greed and wealth grow, James forgets his actual purpose and conveniently settles into his new lifestyle. However, by the time he realises his folly, he is already arrested and imprisoned in Israel.
The climax shows James staring at an aerial view of Mecca, but the audience realises the truth as the camera pans away slowly. The director, in a rather clever move, reveals that he is admiring a triptych – a painting of the city – rather than the actual view itself. Ra’anan, through James, sensitively portrays the perils and difficulties associated with the phenomenon of illegal immigration and trade across borders.
5. Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle: A Case Study in Crime in Metropolitan Centres
Slumdog Millionaire traces the journey of Salim, Javed & Latika, three children who come from Mumbai’s slums who find their fates intertwined with each other. The story spans across their life, portraying the ordeals faced by them – exploitation and abuse, their entanglement with Mumbai’s crime syndicate and their attempts at escaping them. The movie is a commentary on the ill impacts of socio-economic disparities prevalent in large metropolitan areas and how it ensnares poor inhabitants and migrants alike into its treacherous world of crime, abuse and exploitation, with people trying to hold onto opportunities that can grant them escape from the merciless world.
While globalisation may have expanded our prospects and improved transnational relations, the above essay can attest to its adverse impacts on the common public. Although it might prove advantageous for those who belong to the elite and the wealthy, the eventuality often comes at the price of the poor. Transnational cinema, on the other hand, has been immensely helpful in shedding light on the struggles associated with the above phenomena and bringing awareness among the general public. While the harshness of reality may prevail, art and cinema have, in their own way, helped create awareness and grant hope to people in the face of adversity.
References List:
- Krause, L., P, Petro. (2003). Global Cities: Cinema, Architecture, and Urbanism in a Digital Age. New Brunswick, U.S.A: Rutgers University Press
- Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Slumdog Millionaire. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumdog_Millionaire [Accessed 24 Apr. 2025].
- Wikipedia Contributors (2020). Lost in Translation (film). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Translation_(film) [Accessed 24 Apr. 2025].
- Wikipedia Contributors (2024). James’ Journey to Jerusalem. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James%27_Journey_to_Jerusalem [Accessed 24 Apr. 2025].
- Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Dirty Pretty Things (film). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Pretty_Things_(film) [Accessed 24 Apr. 2025].
