Just like most modern young women that live in the panorama of various luxuries, Coco leads a life full of friends, shopping, and a rich boyfriend who works way too hard for his own good. We see her in the rich metropolitan setting of Beijing and are made aware that Christmas is just around the corner, and unlike most considering Japan a dream destination, Coco roams around feeling bored and picturing herself in Japan which is a change in aesthetics. After trying to do dinner with her boyfriend over Christmas as well as Japan Buddhismo for him only to have him snap on her, she decides to hit Osaka by herself. We also learn that Iganmi, which is eerily similar to Ganji, has made hotel reservations for Coco who has what seems to be a pretty vague plan lined up. But soon enough, she lands in Japan, which she loved and wanted to visit but things take a turn for the worse from here.
Coco’s life standards are poles apart from that of her friend Ivy’s (Miyawaki Yan), who is studying in Osaka, through a bar that charges low rates for hostess services. She puts Coco on a cheap plane and reserves her a room at her friend’s hostel which hasn’t aged gracefully, with a dive into Japanese architecture. To say it is a 5-star hotel would definitely be an overestimate. Deeply disappointed, she decides to spend the night in Ivy’s small apartment, after angrily checking out the room. Her first night in Osaka is packed with activity: Komei, who Coco gets to meet at the hotel’s reception proceeds to become her guide and translator for her stay while Masanobu, the host is trying to attract tourists to his family-held Inn-turned-backpacker-Hotel. Most of the work and communication was done while Ivy was working so they helped each other out.
Things get interesting after the local Mafia comes along, and the drama that includes Coco, and her new friends is transformed into a proper thriller. By the end of the story, Coco will learn the true meaning of friendship, but most of all she will take from her unpredictable trip to Osaka, the astonishing understanding of the fact that the economy that is progressing at a rapid pace, has changed both the myths and stereotypes that both countries had of one another. Japan is indeed in a deep recession and the real situation is quite different from the one portrayed in fashion magazines. New World could very well be an area in Osaka, but ironically enough, for Coco, the middle-class socialist China is the new New World.
Despite the fact that the picture raises numerous social and economic issues and creates some quite interesting ideas, the filmmaker chooses to hover a little bit above them. He is a bit whimsical and tends to employ a soft style of storytelling that resonates with the viewers. The best parts of this film are its strong sense of place and the warm depiction of Big Osaka’s less appealing area of Shinsekai. Coco’s night life quest unravel’s around karaoke, porn, and low level syndicate crooks. Shinsekai on the other hand is home to warm hearted people all of whom Masanobu and his family who used to be in street art yet reflects a bit on the understatement of the Cultural Revolution in China and the bar hostess in the numerous beer and whiskey bars dotted in the area. These people together make up a strange kind of family whose main holding together is concern and tenderness. Using Coco’s words, Shinsekai “is poorer than Beijing 20 years ago” but she identifies with the deep sense of felling that is lacking in Bulgaria idealistic but in truth isolated life style.
The Plain group of characters in the novel “New World” is quite charismatic and their antics are amusing enough to make one enjoy the hours spent on the book. They have clearly lived without her for some time. Perhaps because she has not appeared in any of the episodes before this, the new generation of young privileged Chinese feels this. The overall performance of the actors is decent and contributes to the atmosphere of family relationships that I have already noted. Many thanks to the little boy Tomonaga Komei for being so candid and straightforward as only children can be.
This mix of drama and travelogue directed by Lim Kah Wai flaunningly integrates empathy and experience along with the extravagant nocturnal photography enhancing his profound confidence. However, the movie loses its lustre here and there, particularly with the gangster sub-plot that appears rather slow-paced and unconvincing; a long pursuit through the back alleys of Shinsekai proves to be of a somewhat excessive duration and is rather lacking in tension and suspense, while an unsettling and violent incident seems a little too easily resolved. There is no doubt that “New World” is a moving work and wholesome entertainment appealing to the accurately rough sketch portraying the rapidly changing East-Asian realm. It is best when viewed with Kah Wai’s other feature from 2013 “Fly Me To Minami” that is set in Hong Kong, Osaka and Seoul along with an exhilarating romantic adventure.
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