Jia Zhangke, The World (2004)

Someone really should make a documentary about Jia Zhangke; he’s the voice of the next generation of Chinese filmmakers and most people in the West have never even heard of him (except these people at the Lincoln Center!). Who knows… perhaps someone amongst my vast readership of 17 people will have the forethought and audacity to make this film a reality.

The World, while not a documentary, succeeds in capturing the modern Chinese dilemma better than any film previously made. The setting and primary symbol of this film is the World theme park in Beijing, in which there are miniature versions of famous world sites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Sphinx- picture Disney World on a Walmart budget (this link highlights some of the great visual symbolism such as Chinese workers carrying bottled water jugs on their back with the miniature pyramids in the background).



The irony, of course, is that the only reason that so many Chinese go to World Park to view replicas of famous world sites is because so few have a passport to travel outside the country and see the real thing. In one scene, two characters stand near an airport; as the airplanes take-off and land in the background, one of the characters remarks, "Who flys in those things anyway? I've never met anyone who's even been in a plane before."

Unlike Jia’s earlier work, The World appears to have been made with a Western audience in mind. Jia’s directorial style in this film is also a mixture of Western and Eastern influences. The camera work could almost be mistaken for a Robert Altman film (watch the first 30 seconds of this link and you'll feel like you're watching a scene from Altman's Gosford Park (2001)). The film is filled with long takes with lots of characters, and the camera is constantly moving in and out, capturing the action in a subtle, almost voyeuristic way. The music sounds a lot like Air-soundtrack that underscored the modern classic, Lost in Translation (2001). Compare Air's soundtrack here with the soundtrack from The World. Both films use this music to set the tone for a discussion about freedom and loneliness.

Despite all these Western references, The World still manages to stay true to its Chinese film heritage. Jia never loses focus on the commoner laobaixing. The er hua Beijing accent is pitch perfect, as is the portrayal of both Beijing women and men. The women are almost obnoxiously loud but cutsie as they whine with cries of “Tao Yan!”, ubiquitous in China. Young Beijing men are still using every trick in the book to have sex with their girlfriends but are constantly denied. Like Jia’s early films, the women still hold the power in the relationship game.

Beijing awaits its opportunity later this summer to host the Olympics. Their primary goal will, no doubt, be to showcase Beijing and China as a modern and vibrant place. The pace of change is so fast in Beijing that in only a few years, we will probably look back with nostalgia at The World as a snapshot of Beijing in the distant past. The film should, however, stay relevant for a long time because China is so vast that the rest of its cities will still require years if not decades to reach first world standards.