Group Blog Post Explaining our Presentation

It lies in the political and cultural effects of border establishment that allows us an understanding of what is felt inside the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. (Nicholas Meyer/1991/U.S.) In this film, we see the possible demise of The United Federation of Planets most formidable adversary, and the moral dilemma of lending a helping hand. I of course am referring to the Klingons. With the destruction of the Klingon's primary energy production facility, they no longer are able to maintain their empire with out assistance. Their only help lies in their long time enemy, the United Federation of planets. Many in the Federation fear the Klingon influence inside their space and don't want to offer them assistance, it would mean the destruction of their border called the Neutral Zone. The entire film deals specifically with the struggle of Klingon integration in federation culture and the reluctance of both sides to end hostility and over come cultural differences. The 2008 film Frozen River presents its viewers with an interesting study of what a border signifies and how it functions in our modern world. The film deals with the St. Lawrence River, an iced-over body of water dividing Canada and Upstate New York. This border is encompassed by a Mohawk Indian Reservation and is used to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. The film plays with the permeability of this much-ignored border and forces its viewers to contemplate and interpret for themselves what truly constitutes a divide between nations and their people. In exploring the European side of the spectrum, Julien references Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, a film essentially documenting the decline of Italian aristocracy. Julien combines these elements from both cultures and focuses not so much on the border itself, but rather the difficulty of leaving home and relocating to a new place. Isaac Julien uses multiple projections, essentially three separate images beside one another. This creates a separation between the European and African cultures, however, Julien combines elements of both in order to emphasize the themes of globalization, cultural hybridity, and migration. Isaac Julien documents the African migrant’s struggle to cross the Mediterranean Sea, which serves as a “border” between Northern Africa and Italy. All of these examples from our presentation on the 'border' serve as an examination of globalization and cultural hybridity through a combination of traditional cinematic references and the “art” film.