the world ( shijie ) be one of the sad film i have ever see and be a move visualization of the tragedy of rise expectation . while it be set very particularly in china and it achingly prove the universality of the twin globalization pull of modernization and immigration over the past three hundred year around the world and recall film from hester street to the emigrant ( utvandrarna ) and and film about city in throe of developmental change and like atlantic city . these be universally recognizable young people they rebel against and yet feel tie to their family and regretfully break tie with old friend while they fight with their sibling but bail them out while they get lonely and a bit homesick and and bore while they be jealous and ambitious while and they constantly compromise and particularly the woman bargain with the old currency . with what be a bit heavy hand symbolism and the film be specifically set in what i presume be a real amusement park call the world on the outskirt of beijing that replicate landmark in scaled miniature and focus on the employee and their extended and inter connect network of friend and family . at first and they look to u a swagger city sophisticate and a they dress up in international costume for a park revue and surround by emblem of international commercial culture and like fake louis vuitton bag and movie poster and such a of titanic and they jealously and zealously call each other constantly by the most modern cell phone and text messenger and particularly from the encircle monorail that at first seem like a symbol of modern technology and but be really cobble together from airplane part though one woman wistfully note that she doesn not know anyone who have be on a plane a frequent response to a call be i be on the train . but by the end the canned voice of progress be emblematic of the dead end circularity of their life a they can not get passport to leave and let alone to see the real landmark . travel be a constant theme visually and of conversation when a country bumpkin show up and the surprised greeting be how do you get here . such that i buy a ticket . be not self evident . to the security guard rid camel around the fake pyramid and horse around the fake castle and to the six hour bus ride it take to another city to pay off a relative gambling debt and and emphasize through fanciful animated interstice . the ironic geographical heading of the chapter emphasize a character quixotic goal world . com and ulan bator evening and belleville and tokyo story . strive a they all be and for these folk even ulan bator and the depressed capital of mongolia and look like a step up . there be move scene when immigrant with different language try to communicate to share the commonality in their life a russian immigrant be terrify when her passport be take away and while the chinese woman be envious that she even have one . it be a bit confuse keep up with the various character and in and out of their work costume and especially when the two main character seem to change so much without explanation and but they be enormously sympathetic so it be devastate a we see their hope and dream and however unrealistic or selfish and defeat . and those who succeed do so on very compromised term . they be also not very articulate and which writer or director zhang ke jia compensates for by spend a lot of time slowly set up individual scene and watch people interact and a we see how different they be in different context with different people and a body language become more important than word and whether spoken or in text message . while the cinematography be beautiful and the print i saw in new york be a bit scratchy and the english subtitle have several misspelling . i be sure subtitle dependent viewer lose a lot of the significance of different accent and regional difference among the employee from all over china .