The World (2004)

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

Director:

Zhangke Jia

Writer:

Zhangke Jia

Stars:

Tao Zhao, Taishen Cheng, Jue Jing

5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tao Zhao	...	Tao
Taishen Cheng	...	Taisheng
Jue Jing	...	Wei
Zhong-wei Jiang	...	Niu
Yiqun Huang	...	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

Storyline

"The World" is a theme park on the outskirts of Beijing, sixteen kilometers from the Chinese capital, designed around scaled representations of the world's famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa.The site is seen here not from the visitors' point of view but through the eyes of a few of its staff, lonely people, communicating poorly, a bit disillusioned with life, glittering for the tourists but dull and restricted as far as they are concerned. We meet, among others, pretty young dancer Tao and Taisheng, a security guard who is fond of her but not of personal commitment...

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Plot Keywords:

theme park | security guard | dancer | chinese | new york city | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

China Japan France

Language:

Mandarin Russian English

Release Date:

8 June 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

The World

Filming Locations:

Beijing World Park, Beijing, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,776, 4 July 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$63,662, 23 October 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Office Kitano,Lumen Films,X Stream Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) 105 min (mainland china)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France : # 111851.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References Tokyo Story (1953)

User Reviews

realism at its most ironic

Though this movie is to some extent, demanding on the audience, a little patience and decent memory will leave you spellbound after the movie. I do warn that if you don't have the patience for books such as The Idiot, don't watch it. Otherwise, I'm sure it will be enjoyable. Jiangke takes the candor of Yasujiro Ozu's dramas and removes kindness, whimsicality, and love and replaces these with loneliness, harshness, and austerity. Powerful combination. The lead actress acts in a way that seems to forget that it's being filmed for a movie. The level of focus on her part is astounding to me. This is in fact true for the entire cast. The irony of the movie lies in its title: The World - a word that conveys a sense of endless possibility. What you get is quite the opposite - in fact the characters seem to be confined by such a level of endless impossibility that the throughout the film, I found myself fearing an imminent gunfight. That never came but the end is equally, if not, more shocking.