Reviews of The World
Displaying all 2 reviews
Jazzaloha
28Feb10
China’s impressive economic growth has lead to concern from some Americans. But Atlantic Monthly’s James Fallows, who has been living in China for the past several years, likes to point out that most of the population in China still lives in relatively poor conditions. That’s what Jia Zhangke’s first three films—Platform (2000), Unknown Pleasures (2002), and The World (2006)—brought to mind as all of them focus on characters living in relatively squalid conditions.
All three films deal with the effects of larger forces—specifically massive social changes—on normal people. Platform chronicles the dissipation of Communism in the 80s by following members of dramatic group. At the beginning of the decade, we see them performing Communist pieces, but by the end of the decade they start performing pop music, partly because they need to draw an audience. Unknown Pleasures continues to follow the economic effects by showing a performing group that now generates revenue by advertising beer. Both films depict a rather bleak view of the effects of these changes on “regular” citizens—contrasting the more glowing promises of a more market driven economy and modern society.
In The World, the amusement park—a Chinese version of Epcot center containing replicas of famous international structures as well as having performances from various cultures—and the people around it—represents the ultimate convergence art and commerce that Jia started and followed in the previous films. But there’s something else: like the Matrix films, the amusement park also seems to represent the way technology has created and supplanted the real world with a virtual one. Like the previous films, The World presents a bleaker—or at least a cautious—view of these economic changes.
The amusement is a perfect vehicle for depicting this because the film literally takes the viewer backstage, behind the artificial facade, to the people waiting to fulfill their hopes and dreams, but largely have them frustrated. For me, many of the characters and their stories weren’t very interesting as they seemed pretty cliched, but I liked the way they contrasted with the pristine of the amusement park. There’s a strong sense that they’re trapped: we see one of the main characters riding the monorail that only circles the park. The airplane also seems to be used as a symbol for escape and possibly freedom.
Finally, something about the final line: “Is this the end?” followed by, “No, it’s just the beginning.” My take is that it continues the bleak view of the benefits from modern capitalist society—i.e. the real or best world doesn’t take place until we leave the material one.
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Mugino
24Jan10
The Cinematheque Ontario recently selected three Zhang-ke Jia films for inclusion in their Best of the Decade programme: Platform, Still Life and The World. Jia himself was in attendance at the screenings. Fresh-faced, diminutive Zhang-ke Jia looks like a kid and speaks with his hand pressed against his heart. With sincerity and candor, he described The World as a product of the SARS outbreak and the construction undertaken for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, both highly disruptive symptoms of globalization and the ever accelerating pace of urban development and modern life. The mass migration of country laborors heading for the big cities in search of work has granted certain individual freedoms while also taking others away. The Beijing World Park (yes, it is an actual theme park) is a microcosm of all these things. Although it is a virtual world, Jia said, it is also a very real one.
Indeed, The World holds an entire universe of emotions and realities within the walls of its kitschy attractions. The plucky and headstrong Tao barely scrapes by, donning various ethnic costumes and performing Vegas-style showgirl numbers at the theme park. By monorail she travels from “India” to “Japan” to “France” without ever leaving Beijing. Her boyfriend, Taisheng is a security guard at the park. Like Tao, he is also a migrant worker from the country, with dreams of making it big. Amidst the Egyptian pyramids, Big Ben, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Manhattan (with World Trade Centers still intact), Tao, Taisheng and many others struggle to survive and struggle to love. Some take shortcuts at great cost, while others toil away, uncertain of where they are headed. The Eiffel Tower looming against the urban Beijing landscape is like a mirage, a beacon of false hope.
There are moments of hilarity (tourists who always take snapshots of people pretending to prop up the Leaning Tower of Pisa), enchantment (Taisheng patrolling the Parthenon on horseback at night), poignancy (Tao’s close friendship with a Russian performer, Anna, despite the lack of a common language), heartache (Tao’s reaction when she realizes what has become of Anna), and tragedy (the last words of a migrant worker fatally wounded in a construction accident). The sentiments are never sentimental, just grounded in a spare, honest truth. It’s been hours since the lights came back up in the theatre but my heart and mind are still brimming with the emotions of The World. It has unquestionably earned its spot among the Best of the Decade.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.