The World (2004) ( Shijie ) ( O Mundo (O kosmos) )

The World (2004) (Blu-Ray) (*)

Out of Stock

Original Title: Shijie
Alternate Title: O Mundo (O kosmos)
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Venice Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Multi-lingual ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Multi-lingual ( DTS-HD Master Audio )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
140 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Documentary
Interactive Menu
Making Of
Scene Access
Booklet
Remastered
Blu-Ray & DVD Combo

Movie filmed in 2004 and produced in:
China ( India, Eastern Asia )
France ( France, Benelux )
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )

Directed By:
Zhang Ke Jia

Written By:
Zhang Ke Jia

Actors:
Tao Zhao ..... Tao
Taisheng Chen ..... 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
Sanming Han ..... Yanqing
Juan Iu ..... Karaoke singer
Xiaodong Liu
Xiaoshuai Wang

Synopsis:

The fourth feature by internationally acclaimed auteur Jia Zhang-ke was also his breakout success, an epic with a canvas as vast, and intimate, as its title suggests: a state-of-the-modern-world address, and a look at the insular world of a troupe of Chinese stage-performers dreaming of freedom... Zhao Tao, Jia's muse, is one of these troupers. For Tao and the larger ensemble of pageant performers at Beijing's real-life World Park (a sprawling hyper-pastiche of global landmarks famous sites from five continents), love is respite from work, work is respite from love, and the line that extends from the past to the future loses all definition beyond the present. A testament to the wisdom of this young filmmaker who arrived in the late 1990s with Xiao-wu and, in 2000, Platform (regarded by many to be the greatest film of the 2000s), The World provides an image of globalisation as a paradox: at once a phenomenon rooted in social control, and a network that allows connection across individual people and populations. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this modern classic by renowned Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke, shot in 25p HD, to Blu-ray for the first time ever.

Chinese writer/director Jia Zhang Ke's The World is his fourth feature, but it's his first set in a major city, and the first film he's made with the cooperation of the Chinese government. The World is set at the eponymous amusement park in Beijing. Tao (Zhao Tao, who played the Mongolian King girl, Qiao Qiao, in Jia's Unknown Pleasures) is a dancer at the park, which contains scale replicas of landmarks from around the globe. 'The Twin Towers were bombed on September 11,' says Taisheng (Chen Taisheng), a security guard, proudly, pointing to a miniature New York City skyline, 'but ours are still here!' Tao is dating Taisheng, who, like her, moved to Beijing from the provinces for work years earlier. Taisheng thinks Tao is just stringing him along until she finds somebody better, so he gets involved with another woman, Qun (Wang Yi-qun), who makes her living creating knockoffs of Western fashions. Xiaowei (Jing Jue), another dancer, also dates a security guard at the theme park. Niu (Jiang Zhong-wei) is extremely jealous and possessive, and constantly demands to know where Xiaowei spends her time. Youyou (Xiang Wan), who also performs at the park, is secretly dating the boss. When a group of Russian performers comes to work at the park, Tao befriends one of them, despite the language barrier. Friends of Taisheng arrive from the provinces, desperate for work. One of them is injured in a construction accident. The characters often communicate through text messages, which Jia displays in animated sequences. The World was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the 2004 New York Film Festival.

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...

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 22 December, 2015.