CHINA – 2004 – 133 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN MANDARIN, RUSSIAN, AND ENGLISH
A FILM BY JIA ZHANGKE
THE WORLD focuses on a young dancer, her security-guard boyfriend and others who work at World Park, a bizarre cross-pollination of Las Vegas and Epcot Center where visitors can interact with famous international monuments without ever leaving the Bejing suburbs. Daily lavish shows are performed amongst replicas of the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, St. Mark’s Square, Big Ben, the Pyramids and even the Twin Towers. But working beyond the kitsch potential, THE WORLD casts a compassionate eye on the daily loves, friendships and desperate dreams of these provincial workers.
Jia, whom The Village Voice calls “the world’s greatest filmmaker under 40,” has created his funniest, most inventive and touching work to date, from the sensational opening tracking shot to poetic flourishes of animation and clever use of text-messaging.