Trevor Williams: Analysis The World

Sixteen kilometers outside of Beijing is a theme park called WorldPark. It is filled with miniature landmarks from the globe over suchas the Eiffel Tower, the Egyptian pyramids, and a model of Manhattanwith the World Trade Center intact (Beijing). This park is the setting of the film The World (2004). The film follows the workers of the park as they work to entertain the visitors, portraying different cultures through appearance and stereotypes. The World is an examination of globalization on the traditional culture of China.

The World is the first film from director/writer Zhang Ke Jia toofficially be approved by the Chinese government (Asia Arts). It would seem the government of the People's Republic of China could use this film as a viewpoint on the rise of modern Chinese culture after the Cultural Revolution almost rid the country of its old traditions. The film does not declare globalization to necessarily be a bad thing,but it focuses more on the culture that has resulted from a shrinking world.

Zhang Ke Jia seems to focus his film as more of an observationthan a statement on how culture has changed.The film mainly follows Tao, a dancer who dresses in different cultural garbs to entertain the visitors at World Park, and her boyfriend Taisheng, a security guard at World Park. Tao is the main example of a girl who moved to the city to live a better life. She moved with her boyfriend Taisheng. In between the presentation of a globalized and urbanized culture is the relationship between Taisheng and Tao. As Tao tries to find romance with Taisheng, we also see her dealing with ex-boyfriends and the marriage of one of her coworkers.

The characters interact behind the scenes of the park, rarely showing the tourists that actually visit. The park is comprised of people who just get by in Beijing. They are the people who would have harvested rice a hundred years ago, before moving to a big city. They have moved inward to find a more sustainable job in the modern world. The characters try to exist within their own world while dreaming of escape. At one point in the film, Russian guest workers show up at World Park. Tao soon befriends one of the Russian women, yet they do not understand each other's languages. They come together for a dinner scene where they toast one another over drinks. While they try to convey the value of friendship, they understand only what they are saying individually as they hope for something better. This scene could have been contrived as they did not understand each other, but it turned out to be an interesting way to communicate beyond language. The reality of having the displacement of one citizen within the country of another is no longer taboo or rarely seen. This shows the vantage point of people from one culture trying to interact with the invasion of another culture as they begin to merge.

The film itself is amazing as it shows us this world within The World. World Park is photographed through the lives of these workers. There is the drama which takes place behind the scenes of an amusement park, where people fight and break up, only to announce their wedding in the next scene. The location of the park is the heart of the people's lives. They are there to survive.

Zhang Ke Jia shows a China which is culturally dead, as culture has evolved into the Darwinian model of survival. Western culture has fought for the dominance of everyday life, while traditional Chinese culture has almost died out within China. The progression of China into being a major world power has taken away from what once was a beautiful culture. It had to be abolished to make way for what was better in the international affairs and prevent another China dominated by foreign powers as it was between the Opium Wars and the beginning of the Republic of China. The World is an examination of the limitations in creating a country to compete for recognition among the other countries of the world, but at the same time it seems to sit back and say this is going on without giving us an idea of where the filmmaker actually stands on globalization.

Works Cited

The World. Dir. Zhang Ke Jia. Perf. Chen Taisheng, Zhao Tao. ZeitgeistFilms, 2004. The World Park In Beijing. Beijing-International.

Hu, Brian. Presenting The World. Asia Pacific Arts. 7 April 2005

IMDB The Internet Movie Database. 2007.