The World (Shijie) (2004)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 42
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 12
Though perhaps too slowly paced and long, The World offers an intriguing glimpse into China's modernization and the growing ennui of some of its people.
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 3
Though perhaps too slowly paced and long, The World offers an intriguing glimpse into China's modernization and the growing ennui of some of its people.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 1,679
My Rating
Movie Info
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
Cast
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Tao Zhao
Tao -
Taisheng Chen
Taisheng -
Jue Jing
Xiaowei -
Zhong-wei Jiang
Niu -
Wang Yi-qun
Qun -
Wang Hong Wei
Sanlai -
Liang Jing-dong
Tao's Ex-Boyfriend -
Xiang Wan
Youyou -
Liu Juan
Yanqing -
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All Critics (48) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (12) | DVD (7)
A tonally flat experience. The movie's highs and lows are modulated to the point where nothing moves you or touches you in these lives of not-desperate-enough desperation.
Top CriticIt's a heartbreaking, beautiful movie that gains strength from its deep characterizations.
Its rewards come with patience and concentration.
It has a romantic power that seeps into your bones, with its languid rhythms, general plotlessness, and fierce attention to surreal detail.
The World has a lot to say and is not in any unholy rush to say it.
Flawed only by its abrupt and stylistically awkward ending, The World is a tragic, visionary work.
Gives one a rough idea about the Chinese Dream through its modern day landscape and relating the new China to the hopes and aspirations of its young citizens.
The World feels too small in scope--ironic considering its title.
The World is less a condemnation of the current state of the world than an attempt to explain and come to terms with it.
Beyond the novelty of the setting -- which isn't even that novel when you have something similar a few exits south -- there's just not enough going on.
Easily one of the year's best films.
... an inspired metaphor for the strange new world of modern China in the global economy.
The World steeps the viewer in a culture that clings to traditional conventions but must...embrace the mores of the high-tech, fast paced world....
Audience Reviews for The World (Shijie)
Super Reviewer
A slow-paced melodrama of contemporary Chinese society, with something to say about the growing uniformity of our world.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on The World (Shijie)
December 22, 2005:
Phoenix & Toronto Critics Offer Their Year-End FavoritesIt's tough to keep up with all the critics' awards being tossed out this time of year, but Movie...
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Foreign Titles
- The World (FR)
