Tao,a young dancer, performs in daily shows in Beijing’s theme park, “The World”, in front of miniature replicas of the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, St Mark’s Square, Big Ben. She left the Northern provinces some years earlier with her boyfriend, who works as a park security guard. At a crucial point in their relationship, Taisheng is attracted to Qun, a young fashion designer.
In a place that concentrates a disembodiedand artificially reduced representation of the world, Jia Zhang-ke captures the speed of a frenetic modelling of the city that confines its inhabitants to a new form of submissiveness, caught between progress and disenchantment.
