BEIJING, Sep. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The extra-large model baby in the Spain Pavilion(馆) was “conceived”(构思)by a Spanish filmmaker, Shi Yingying reports.
Visitors admiring the 6.5-meter-high giant baby, Miguelin, in the Spain Pavilion may be surprised to realize that it was not the concept of a famous designer or a group of groundbreaking engineers. It came from one filmmaker’s interpretation of the meaning of “Better City, Better Life”.
Spanish director Isabel Coixet developed the idea after being asked to contribute to Expo 2010 Shanghai.
“They asked me to do something to tell the Chinese audience about Spain in the future and the first thing jumping to my mind was a baby,” said Coixet. “If we really fight to have better cars, better cities and better lives, it’s for them - for our children.”
Despite her Spanish heritage, Coixet doesn’t focus on making Spanish films or using Spain as the setting. Fans of her various award-winning films, including My Life Without Me, The Secret Life of Words and Elegy, may not even be aware of Coixet’s Spanish background.
“The borders between countries are just illusion(假象),” said Coixet. “Some directors feel really comfortable telling stories that belong to their territory.”
But Coixt feels the opposite: “I'm more comfortable outside my country. It gives me a strange freedom.”
One of her favorite things about being a director is the freedom. “The thing is that the world is wide and this freedom lets you make films everywhere,” she said.
Coixet’s curiosity took her latest exploration and movie work to Japan. In the movie Map of the Sound of Tokyo, the Catalan actor Sergi Lopez is the owner of a wine shop in Tokyo, and Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi is a young woman who works both as a fishmonger and as a hired killer.
The conflict of the two people's very different worlds and the tango-like relationship they develop is just one representation of what Coixet is able to produce by mixing cultures.
While she doesn’t know if she will shoot a film in Shanghai, two things have caught her attention: Shanghainese women and crickets(蟋蟀).
After just arriving in the city, she was surprised by the mix of old Chinese culture in a booming chief city “Behind the skyscrapers, there is a flower and bird market with heaps of crickets and birdcages in,” she said. “I'm totally amazed with the city.”
The huge baby represents the idea that ______________.
A.our children are the new generation full of imagination. |
B.our children will develop the friendship between China and Spain. |
C.our children are our future. |
D.our children will understand the meaning of “better city, better life”. |
We learn from the passage that Coixet’s award-winning films were set ____________.
A.only in Spain. | B.only in Japan. |
C.mainly in the countries outside Spain. | D.mainly in the countries within Europe. |
According to Isabel Coixet, a flower and bird market behind the high rises_______________.
A.shows people in Shanghai are living a rich life spiritually and materially. |
B.reflects prosperity of the market. |
C.indicates the Chinese people are leading a rich life. |
D.represents the traditional culture of China. |
From the passage we can learn that ____________.
A.Isabel Coixet is dissatisfied with the design of the extra-large model baby. |
B.A mix of different cultures is reflected in Isabel Coixet’s films. |
C.Isabel Coixet feels less comfortable while making films all over the world. |
D.Isabel Coixet designed the huge baby according to the requirement of a group of engineers. |