The World (2005)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: 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.
The World Photos
Movie Info
Cast
as Tao
as Taisheng
as Xiaowei
as Niu
as Qun
as Qun
as Sanlai
as Sanlai
as Tao's Ex-Boyfriend
as Erxiao
as Youyou
as Yanqing
as Anna
as Yanqing
as Karaoke singer
as Businessman
News & Interviews for The World
Critic Reviews for The World
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (13) | DVD (2)
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.
It'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.
Jia's most extraordinary mapping isn't of an external landscape, but an emotional one. Without ever leaving Beijing, he shows us an entire universe of human joy, frailty and sorrow.
Audience Reviews for The World
a unique vision of 'the world' as a theme park in beijing and the mundane lives of the workers there. a gorgeous looking film with surprise animated sequences
Super Reviewer
Definitely worth watching for its' absolutely stunning cinematography. The film takes place almost entirely inside a 114-acre theme park, World Park, on the outskirts of Beijing. The park contains 1/3 scaled replicas of internationally renowned buildings and sites, including the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, London Bridge, etc.
A slow-paced melodrama of contemporary Chinese society, with something to say about the growing uniformity of our world.
Super Reviewer
A very dull and boring movie. I know it is supposed to show the bleakness of contemporary urban Chinese live in an oppositional context to the "World" (which is a large Disney Worldesque theme park). But personally, I think it utterly fills. There are many moments of silence, but they are not filled with despair or sadness but are just empty. One should not mistake silence and lowkey direction for deepness. There are many movies succesfully portraying dystopian societies (think Shane Meadows, De Sica etc.), but this is not one of them. Stay away.
Super Reviewer
The World Quotes
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.