The World
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Movie Reviews of The World
Movie Review: The 'Five Continents' theme park proves to be a whole world unto itself as dancers date guards and life goes on - at 1/3 scale!!
Summary: 3 Stars
I found this film watchable, but it just seemed to be about a group of Chinese twenty-somethings in unremarkable daily situations working backstage (and onstage) at the 'Five Continents' theme park. One thing I did pick up on was the insidious slogan "see 'the World' in Beijing" which seemed to imply that there's no reason to ever leave and explore the life 'outside' China.
Why think about going to the trouble of travelling to London, Paris, New York when the best each country has to offer has all been created for you right there (to sub-scale). And people in other countries think Disneyland is propaganda, at least they have a Fantasyland there instead of recreating the island of Manhattan WITH the World Trade Center (not to mention the 1/3 scale Eiffel Tower dominating the city skyline)!
I can't entirely recommend the movie though the photography and some of the 'spectacle' dance moments are impressive. They definitely milked the mini-'Leaning Tower of Pisa' gag one time too many, but minimalists might enjoy this slice-of-life in a world where security guards can hook up with dancers, for better or worse.
It also seemed ironic to me that the couple that was sparring for the entire film decides to get married, sort of an accident waiting to happen of you ask me. But maybe that was part of incongruity the director set up with the false expectations of a man-made world done to scale with the Beijing tourists exclaiming "Wow, that's so big" when what they're seeing is really just a partial scale recreation of London Bridge, etc.
Of course, the main reason the Chinese government would want to re-create all the wonders of the world at home is to discourage applications for exit visa's (and the possible defections that could follow). The film does allude to the black market demand for fake visa's and ID but only minimally.
A bit slowly paced overall considering it's 2 hour plus length, but worth a look for those curious about life inside China.
Movie Review: Colorful, but sad
Summary: 3 Stars
This film starts out with a great deal of gusto - unfortunately, too many underdeveloped characters are introduced into the story which makes it progressively slower and less interesting.
The plot involves young people drawn to Beijing for work in various industries, but most of the action takes place at an amusement park with replicas of famous places around the world- The Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Manhattan, Egyptian Pyramids, Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc. As we get deeper into the lives of the characters, we find they are not happy with their work situations in Beijing. No doubt they feel trapped in low-wage jobs that leave them unfulfilled and yearning for something more. Their personal lives are not going that great either- with cheating boyfriends & girlfriends, separations from children and spouses, problems with siblings, etc. I think "The World" is suffocated by the overwhelming sadness that touches the lives of the characters and the birth of 21st century Beijing. This film even has you feeling a deep sorrow for the camel who is used as a live prop for the Egyptian Pyramid display. There he stands, alone in his boredom, tethered to a boulder in a barren landscape for the amusement of paying guests. The end of the story is nothing short of perplexing. Watch this film, but be forewarned: this is no merry romp through an amusement park.
Movie Review: Ponderous
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie is set in a theme park in China, where some of the more famous monuments of the world (the Eiffel tower, the Statue of Liberty) are reproduced in a much reduced scale. Meanwhile, the workers at the park live empty, unsatisfying lives, overburdened with work and empty of personal projects for the future. The main point of this movie seems to be that capitalism and modernization might have brought prosperity to some in China, but not to the majority of the chinese people, and in any case it has left the country spiritually void, without a common goal for the people with the exception of making money. Director Jia Zhang-Ke might be right in his analysis, but did he need to tell this story in such a ponderous, gloomy manner?.Movie Review: visually stunning but dramatically inert
Summary: 2 Stars
**1/2
The Chinese film "The World" is set in an amusement park that offers its patrons the opportunity to "experience the whole world without ever leaving Beijing." This it accomplishes through monorail tours of miniaturized replicas of the Eiffel Tower, The Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Vatican, even the Manhattan skyline complete with a pair of still-intact Twin Towers. The movie focuses primarily on a young woman named Tao, who works as one of the performers who roams from "country" to "country" throughout the park performing native dances (her specialty appears to be Indian), and her rocky relationship with a security guard named Taisheng.
The main problem with "The World" is that the setting is so intriguing and visually arresting that it winds up completely dominating the drama, which is as diffuse, meandering and plodding as the direction by Zhang Ke Jia, who shoots his scenes almost exclusively in impersonal medium shots. There's a certain sad irony in the fact that the movie's characters are stuck working in a bizarre facsimile of the world when all they really yearn for is to travel to exciting and far-off places - and start new lives - beyond their own land (the park even features, as one of its attractions, an old defunct jetliner that people can sit in and pretend they're actually going somewhere). Unfortunately, with the movie clocking in at a seemingly interminable 138-minute running time, it is WE THE VIEWERS who ultimately feel trapped by the experience.
There are a number of lyrical moments and haunting images in the film, and Ke Jia does capture with full force the astonishing strides China has made in joining the technological revolution (all the characters have the most up-to-date cell phones, for instance). But all the peripheral virtues of setting and theme can't compensate for the overweening dullness and listlessness of the drama at the core.
Movie Review: Over-rated by many professional critics.
Summary: 2 Stars
First of all, I was rather surprised to see this film made it to the 10 best list of some of the local papers. I had hesitated to seeing it until renting on DVD simply because it didn't appeal to me for the following reasons: the story and it starred "nobody" that I know. What was appealing to me was The World Theme Park of this film. There are several things I didn't like about this film. It was way too long and slow-paced with multiple plots about the "showgirls/entertainers". It chronicles the on-stage and behind the scenes of main characters, and their relationship life outside the park. They didn't speak Mandarin in a regular accent that I had to read the subtitles!!! Most of the scenes played by two actors are shot in one large frame without any other angles and closeups!! There was no subtitles during the dialogues delivered between the lead actress and the Russian supporting actress. They don't even understand each other's language, and they are supposed to be communicate to each other!! And what's with the animated inserts? OK, what I loved about this film is the outlandish and stunning costumes during the stage performances!!!!!Just think Chinese Zeigfeld Follies meets Priscilla! It was so under underexposed, because everytime they had a show scene, it was just like 15 seconds, while some of the overdragged and boring conversational scenes are like 10 minutes long. So there, I wished I can say I enjoyed this film, but I just wanted it to be over at halftime.