World questions

The World, 2002 dir. Jia Zhangke

  1. When her boyfriend Taisheng calls from the fake Eiffel Towner, Xiao Tao tells him she is in “India”. What problem does the director want the viewer to be aware of by this reference to her physical location? 小涛的男朋友在假的埃佛铁塔给她打电话的时候,小涛说她在印度。贾樟柯让观众注意到什么问题?
  1. In the context of the story, what does the theme park in Beijing offer to the visitors and tourists: “Give us one day, we’ll give you the world”? 故事中,北京的世界公园给游客带来的到底是什么刺激?给我们一天,我们给你整个世界?
  1. What aspect of life in Beijing as a cosmopolitan center is revealed to the viewer? Who is a Beijing native and how does he understand the city in ways the tourists from other places don’t? 观众看到的是大都市生活的什么方面? 谁是真正的北京人,能看到外地和外国游客看不到的东西?
  1. What are the bases for the friendship of Xiao Tao and Anna, and for the relationships between Xiao Tao and her boyfriend Taisheng, between Wei and Niu, and between Taisheng and Qun, and Qun and her husband in France? 小涛和安娜的关系,老牛和他女友的关系,太生和小涛的关系,太生和小关的关系是建立在上面基础上的,有哪些共性?
  1. How do you understand the issue of trust in today’s world of global capitalism in which people become displaced and everything is valued as commodity? 在资本主义全球化的今天,一切都被商品化了,流动人口中互相的信任度有了哪些变化?
  1. Why does Tao envy her ex-boyfriend for having a real passport that allows him to travel to Ulan Batur? What happens to the passports of Anna and her friends from Russia after they arrive in Beijing? 小涛为什么嫉妒她的前男友有护照可以去乌兰巴托去旅游?安娜和其他俄罗斯舞蹈演员的护照在他们到达北京以后去哪了?
  1. What does Qun do to make a living in Beijing? In what respect is she more experienced and mature than Xiao Tao and Taisheng? In what way does she as a character contribute to the meaning of the story as a whole? 关女士在北京是做什么的?她在哪些方面比太生和小涛更成熟?她在故事中的出现有什么意义?
  1. How do you interpret the facts that “Little Sister” is worth more dead than when alive as a construction worker, and that he dies only after handing to Taisheng an IOU detailing the small debts he has incurred? “二姑娘”死了比活着挣的钱还多;你作何解释?工伤去世前他留下一张详细的欠条给太生,这说明了什么?
  1. Who is in the airplane flying above the construction site where “Little Sister” asks Tao what kind of people would take these commercial flights? “二姑娘”问小涛天上飞机里都是些什么人在飞来飞去,我们看到飞机里的人是谁?
  1. How do you understand the short and surreal conversation between Taisheng and Tao after they are dead due to a gas leak in the apartment of Wei and Niu on honeymoon in southern China: “Are we dead?” “Nope; this is just the beginning.” 你怎么分析影片最后小涛和太生因老牛和小葳的公寓煤气中毒而死后他们的对话:“我们死了吗?”“没有,这才是刚开始”?
  1. Part of the film is in computer animation; analyze the purpose as far as Jia Zhangke is concerned. What effects are achieved by animation? 影片中观众会看到动漫;贾樟柯为什么在现实主义的作品中穿插动漫?他想达到什么目的?动漫一般出现在上面时候?
  1. How does Jia Zhangke want his viewer to understand cosmopolitan culture and global capitalism with this film? 你觉得贾樟柯想要观众通过这个故事了解到都市文化在资本主义全球化的今天的哪些问题?