Shijie (2004)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Zhang Ke Jia

Writer:

Zhang Ke Jia (writer)

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An exploration on the impact of urbanization and globalization on a traditional culture.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Theme Park | Security Guard | Chinese | Language Barrier

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Tao Zhao	...	Tao
Taisheng Chen	...	Taisheng
Jue Jing	...	Wei
Zhong-wei Jiang	...	Niu
Yi-qun Wang	...	Qun
Hongwei Wang	...	Sanlai
Jing Dong Liang	...	Tao's ex-boyfriend
Shuai Ji	...	Erxiao
Wan Xiang	...	Youyou
Alla Shcherbakova	...	Anna
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sanming Han	...	Sanming
Juan Iu	...	Yanqing
Xiaodong Liu	...	Karaoke singer
Xiaoshuai Wang

Directed by
Zhang Ke Jia

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Zhang Ke Jia		writer

Produced by
Keung Chow	....	producer
Shozo Ichiyama	....	producer
Masayuki Mori	....	executive producer
Hengameh Panahi	....	producer
Zhong-lun Ren	....	producer
Takio Yoshida	....	producer
Nelson Yu Lik-wai	....	associate producer (as Yu Lik Wai)

Original Music by
Giong Lim

Cinematography by
Nelson Yu Lik-wai

Film Editing by
Jing Lei Kong

Production Design by
Li-zhong Wu

Makeup Department
Yang Yuan Zhen	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Elise Bastoul	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Laurent Bailly	....	sound mixer
Si Guo Li	....	boom operator
Yang Zhang	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Meng Da Yu	....	grip
Ricky Wong	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Christophe Legendre	....	grader

Other crew
Mathilde Incerti	....	press attache
Pan Jian Lin	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Office Kitano
• Lumen Films
• X Stream Pictures
• Bandai Visual Company (in association with)
• Shanghai Film Group
• Xinghui Production, Hong Kong

Distributors

• Ad Vitam Distribution (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Bitters End (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Celluloid Dreams (2004) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Contact Film (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Entertainment (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Golden Village (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Office Kitano (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Zeitgeist Films (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Prodimag (2007) (Spain) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The World (International: English title) (USA) (literal English title)
World (USA) (festival title)

Runtime:

Italy:140 min | USA:143 min | Argentina:143 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | 105 min (theatrical version)

Country:

China | Japan | France

Language:

Mandarin | Shanxi | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Australia:PG | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Beijing World Park, Beijing, China

Company:

Office Kitano

Trivia:

Visa d'exploitation en France : # 111851.

Quotes:

Taisheng: Are we dead?
Tao: No, we have only just begun.

Movie Connections:

References Tôkyô monogatari (1953)

have you seen this Chinese lollapalooza?

I come home late night, tired, sit in my sofa, turn on the TV & there is this Chinese movie. It has just started, I want to change the channel, but I don't do it. I am curious, cos I have never seen a Chinese movie before. & there is this opening scene with long tracking shot & I say WOW & I watch it to the end.

These have been the surprising 2 hours. This film is so great that it is hard to believe. Actually, it's not about some Chinese people doing their Chinese things in their China; It's about People in general. It is a film with a very UNIVERSAL approach to the very UNIVERSAL issues. The themes in this film are not limited in any particular space or national frontiers, they can be applied to any people of any country in the modern world. This film deals (at least tries to) with such common questions concerning the human lives as love, hatred, despair, pain, loneliness, death, friendship etc. With its level of the variety of these issues, I would compare it to MAGNOLIA, with the difference that WORLD probably goes deeper in the exploration of a human destination. To say briefly WORLD is about people on the planet Earth, about the complicated interactions of the ways of their dismal lives & about constant & incomprehensible feeling of sadness which covers our planet soaked within its thin layer of atmosphere. The film manages to be sad itself, using some nice & unidentified (for me) music. But the most surprising thing about WORLD is that it evokes some sad & beautiful emotions into viewer, & call it a cinematic trick or a cheap manipulation but the animated sequences are really great. They performed the condition of the characters' inner worlds, their diverse sensations evoked by the various messages they got on their cell phones.

Now to my favorite part: the techniques. Cinematography is great, very colorful, very tracking but slow, well executed. Lighting is OK, but could be done more professionally. Production design is strange, scenes are shot from very few angles, in some sequences there is only one single camera used, but since it contributes to entire film's not so dynamic & fast pace, it can be considered decent. Editing is by far the weakest point of the movie, I don't know whether it is cut on Avid or not, but it looks more like an amateur Moviola editing. As for acting, well to say frankly it was a little bit hard for me to follow the acting, cos these Chinese guys are so different & their mimics & ways of expression are not familiar to me.

As a result, I can say that cinema is being made in China & this cinema looks better than you can imagine.