A Beautiful New World (1999)
"Meili xin shijie" (original title)

A satirical comedy about a country bumpkin who goes to the big city, and ends up teaching the cynical city folk a few lessons about basic human decency. The hero leaves home for the first ... See full summary »

Director:

Runjiu Shi

Writers:

Fendou Liu, Runjiu Shi,

Stars:

Wu Jiang, Hong Tao, Ning Chen

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Wu Jiang	...	Zhang Baogen
Hong Tao	...	Huang Jinfang
Ning Chen	...	Chen Minhui
Richie Ren	...	Xiao Bai (as Xianqi Ren)
Wu Bai	...	Liang
Zhengwei Tong	...	Granny Cai

Storyline

A satirical comedy about a country bumpkin who goes to the big city, and ends up teaching the cynical city folk a few lessons about basic human decency. The hero leaves home for the first time to go to Shanghai, to collect his lottery prize - a brand new apartment. However, when he arrives, he is told by the developers that his apartment block will take a year and a half to complete. He decides to find a job in Shanghai and wait for his apartment to materialise...

Details

Country:

Taiwan China

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

15 October 1999 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

A Beautiful New World

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SGD 1,300 (Singapore)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imar Film, Xi'an Film Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Stargate (1994)

User Reviews

A Beautiful New Chinese Film.

I've just seen this film in a local festival here in Copenhagen: Films from the south, and would like to highly recommend it. This film is indeed not a narrow art movie from a foreign hemisphere, just the opposite it is a film with a very broad appeal. As a matter of fact it is much like some of the best American screw-ball films of the 30's and 40's. The roles could as well be played by Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. The story is so well written, though the theme is old as history. The frame of the story is a song performed by some traditional Chinese musicians, which gives the story its special humor. As fx in "Cat Ballou". As you can understand this is a real peach. Don't miss it...if you ever get the opportunity to see it. It ought to be shown on national tv in prime time. It is a very funny ....and intelligent film.