Comments on: I'm looking for recent films which deal with the topic of globalization in interesting ways.

Question: I'm looking for recent films which deal with the topic of globalization in interesting ways.

tulseluper — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:47:09 -0800

Globalization on Film: I'm looking for suggestions for recent films which deal with the topic of globalization in interesting ways. [MI+]

I'm planning on programming a series of films on the topic of globalization which will screen in conjunction with a university course on the same topic (I am not, however, teaching the course).

Ideally, I'd like between 5-7 films which have been released in the past 5-10 years but did not receive wide theatrical distribution in the US. I'm thinking of films like Ja Zhang-ke's excellent The World and the hilarious documentary The Yes Men.

Bonus points if the films are unavailable on video or DVD – all screenings will be in 35mm.

By: AlexReynolds

AlexReynolds — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:10:22 -0800

• Moolaadé
• Network (roughly)
• The Godfather: Part II (roughly)

By: AlexReynolds

AlexReynolds — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:11:15 -0800

Oh, one more: Control Room

By: gesamtkunstwerk

gesamtkunstwerk — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:26:09 -0800

I have three suggestions. Lemonade Joe is the best. It's a Czech film from the sixties, and the best choice.

The Coca-Cola Kid and Y tu Mama Tambien. The former because it's an English language, Eastern European film by a former dissident that's really about globalization; the latter because it is a popular film that addresses globalization, but is known for other reasons.

By: punkbitch

punkbitch — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:40:00 -0800

Check out The Take, Trade Off and, of course, The Coporation

By: fionab

fionab — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:40:25 -0800

The New Rulers of the World, Life and Debt, maybe even The Corporation.

By: trondant

trondant — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:41:39 -0800

Naqoyqatsi?

By: goatdog

goatdog — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:47:00 -0800

You'll never find a copy of it (or if you do, let me know where), but the best film about globalization ever released is a 1977 Filipino film called Perfumed Nightmare. Of course, you asked for the last 5–10 years, but just in case.

By: Sonny Jim

Sonny Jim — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:49:36 -0800

You're probably not going to find this on 35 mm., but the NZ doco. Someone Else's Country (1996) is interesting. (Unabashedly Marxist, though.)

More info here.

By: Napierzaza

Napierzaza — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:31:12 -0800

Does The Gods Must Be Crazy count?

By: punkbitch

punkbitch — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:51:28 -0800

What about Apocalypse Now, Maria Full of Grace, Motorcycle Diaries, l'Auberge Espagnole ~ I remember that Before Sunset has some straightforward dialogue about globalization ~ there's a decent Colombian film called La Primera Noche that I think fits in well also.

You could look at films like American Beauty, because they present American globalcentrism so well.

Above all of these I would suggest you see Half Eaten Pinapple for the real goods on the influence of globalization in cinema.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:27:29 -0800

Blade Runner

Rollerball (the original, not the clueless remake) is all about globalization. Well, that, and James Caan being a badass.

I second The Coca-Cola Kid, which is a really fun movie. It makes a nice double feature with Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three, which also uses Coca-Cola as a metaphor for Americanization.

By: invisible ink

invisible ink — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:28:07 -0800

Goatdog : I was just about to recommend Kidlat Tahimik's Turumba:-)
It's not a recent film, however I highly recommend it for the way in which it deals with the topic of globalization.

By: sagwalla

sagwalla — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 01:05:02 -0800

The Cup

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 06:51:54 -0800

Manufacturing Consent

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 13:44:43 -0800

Yi Yi.

By: tulseluper

tulseluper — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 19:20:51 -0800

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Finding Perfumed Nightmare and Someone Else's Country are now going to be personal quests of mine - I love a good challenge.

By: eustatic

eustatic — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 19:39:22 -0800

I second

life and debt (if you only show one movie, this is the one)
the corporation
Manufacturing Consent

and raise

Showdown in Seattle: five days that shook the WTO.

I think the global justice group also showed Baraka (akin to Koyaanisqatsi)

There was also a really nice journalism-style documentary that the BBC did on The World Bank and Ghana, "Profits of Doom," i think it was called.

By: invisible ink

invisible ink — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 01:23:30 -0800

tulseluper - I recommend checking out this seller (note: I am not acquainted with him in anyway, I just happened to order my copy of "Turumba" from him, and so I think he's pretty reliable.)

By: capcuervo

capcuervo — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 19:32:36 -0800

Gung Ho is a pretty funny movie by Ron Howard about Japanese car companies opening plants in America. Kind of reverse-globalization.<a