The World
by Zhang Ke Jia
List Price:
Our Price: $26.99
You Save: $3.00 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $14.00 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jue Jing, Taisheng Chen, Tao Zhao, Yi-qun Wang, Zhong-wei JiangDirector: Zhang Ke Jia
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Cantonese (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 139 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Movie Reviews of The World
Movie Review: A great location in search of a movie
Summary: 2 Stars
Zhang Ke Jia's The World is a great location in search of a movie. Set in a Beijing theme park recreating the major cities of Europe dominated by a one-third scale replica of the Eiffel Tower and dealing with the employees and their friends, it's really just comes over as a whole lot of nothing. Scenes may be true to life but they're trivial and, like the characters, never really go anywhere. That may well be the point, but that doesn't make watching it easy going. There's possibly something about the globalization of Chinese culture lurking in their somewhere and the contrast between the glamorous face of modern China vs the poor quality of life for migrant workers, but nothing really comes through because the characters are so univolving. Instead it's like watching people out of a bus window on a rainy day while waiting for the traffic lights to change, images washing over you inoffensively but without leaving any lasting impression as you move on.
Be aware that some Asian releases of this title are the much shorter 105-minute Chinese theatrical version rather than the international 139-minute version presented here on Zeitgeist's DVD.
Summary of The World
Acclaimed Chinese writer-director Jia Zhangke (PLATFORM, UNKNOWN PLEASURES) casts a compassionate eye on the daily loves, friendships and desperate dreams of the twenty-somethings from China's remote provinces who come to live and work at Beijing's World Park. A bizarre cross-cultural pollination of Las Vegas and Epcot Center, World Park features lavish shows presented amid scaled-down replicas of the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, St. Mark's Square, the Pyramids and even the Twin Towers. From the sensational opening tracking shot of the young performer's backstage quest for a Band-Aid to poetic flourishes of animation, clever use of text-messaging and a rapturous electronic score by frequent Hou Hsiao-Hsien musical collaborator Lim Giong (GOODBYE SOUTH GOODBYE, MILLENNIUM MAMBO), Jia pushes past the kitsch potential of this surreal setting-a real-life Beijing tourist destination. THE VILLAGE VOICE called Jia Zhangke "the world's greatest filmmaker under forty," and THE WORLD is his funniest, most inventive and touching work to date.One of the year's most highly praised pictures, Jia Zhangke's ravishing epic opens in a rush of color and sound. Here's young China in action, optimistic and bursting with life. First there's yelling (for a badly-needed Band-Aid), then music--gurgling synths atop a pan-ethnic beat--as the sequin and feather-bedecked performers of the "Five Continents" company take the stage of the real-life World Park. As the ads say, "See the world without ever leaving Beijing," and 106 of the globe's major sites are recreated in miniature, like a third-scale Eiffel Tower and mini-Lower Manhattan--complete with Twin Towers. Doll-faced Tao (Tao Zhao), ever-present cell phone in hand, is at the center of the maelstrom. Her boyfriend, Taisheng (Taisheng Chen), is a security guard with a sideline in fake IDs (and infidelity). When some Russian guest workers join the troupe, Tao's increasingly insular world briefly expands. She and Anna (Alla Shcherbakova) don't speak the same language, but do what they can to communicate. Tao envies her new friend's "freedom"--she's never been beyond China's borders--unaware that Anna's nomadic existence is by necessity rather than choice. When she finds that Anna has become an escort, Tao's world snaps back to its previous dimensions, ultimately shrinking down to nothing. The World is unambiguously ambitious, with elaborate dance sequences, animated text messages, and tragic subplots. Unlike 2000's Platform, Zhangke's fourth feature isn't set in the past or the provinces, but he surpasses that success with his finest--and most cynical--film to date. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Art House & International DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in i've seen these movies 2006-2007
Humanit?Release date: 2001-02-13; DVD
Best price: $18.50
Price in other shops:
Paradise NowWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-03-21; DVD
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
CapoteSony; Release date: 2006-03-21; DVD
Best price: $1.64
Price in other shops:
Transamerica (Widescreen Edition)HUFFMAN,FELICITY; Release date: 2006-05-23; DVD
Best price: $2.30
Price in other shops:
The Weeping MeadowRelease date: 2006-12-19; DVD
Best price: $64.95
Twentynine PalmsRelease date: 2004-09-21; DVD
Best price: $11.30
Price in other shops:
Ghost WorldRelease date: 2002-02-05; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
The Kingdom - Series One (Riget)Koch International; Release date: 2005-11-08; DVD
Best price: $10.24
Price in other shops:
The FuneralRelease date: 2007-07-10; DVD
Best price: $19.95
Ugetsu - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2005-11-08; DVD
Best price: $25.96
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
The Story of Qiu JuSony; Release date: 2006-03-28; DVD
Best price: $10.68
Price in other shops:
![Chungking Express [Region 2] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
Chungking Express [Region 2]DVD
Raise the Red Lantern (MGM World Films)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $12.22
Price in other shops:
To LiveRelease date: 2003-07-01; DVD
Best price: $9.13
Price in other shops:
Lust, Caution (Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Suzhou RiverSUZHOU RIVER; Release date: 2001-10-16; DVD
Best price: $15.65
Price in other shops:
Summer PalaceUNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP DISTRIBUTION; Release date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $15.01
Price in other shops:
Still LifeRelease date: 2008-11-25; DVD
Best price: $26.98
Price in other shops:
Unknown PleasuresRelease date: 2004-03-16; DVD
Best price: $12.98
Price in other shops:
PlatformRelease date: 2005-08-16; DVD
Best price: $19.98
Price in other shops: