By setting the film in remote Shanxi Province, Jia is better able to show this stark contrast. Local citizens watch topics on the news ranging from the story of the American spy-plane landing in China, the announcement of Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympics to terrorism and modern crime (guns and bank robberies), but their lives are far different and have almost no relationship to this news. Upon discovering a one dollar bill in US currency, one of the characters has no idea what to do with it, and spends the remainder of the film trying to find a use for it.
Another of Jia's strengths is his ability to accurately portray the modern Chinese young woman and young man. The women are much more savvy and are able to easily manipulate the men emotionally. The men, on the other hand, are completely unable to show their emotions in front of women (instead they play the tough guy) yet behind closed doors they are completely vulnerable. Jia's films are not extremely user friendly to the Western viewer due to the slow pace, but his characterizations are spot on. Even Jia's directing style seems torn between his predecessors (the extended scene of the protagonist trying to drive his motorcycle out of the ditch is pure Zhang Yimou-type symbolism, while at the same time he takes a page from Western directors like Quentin Tarrantino and the jumps cuts of the French New Wave). However, in Jia's films, the male character is largely impotent, as illustrate in one of the funnier scenes when he tries to pull off a bank robbery Tarrantino-style.
Jia's films are not easy entertainment, but with a little effort you can get a lot out of it. Its amazing that this film even passed the Chinese censors to begin with- Jia shows DVD piracy even of his own films!
