Big Shot’s Funeral: China, Sony, and the WTO

Released on December 21, 2001, just days after China formally gained its WTO admittance on December 11, Big Shot’s Funeral (Da Wan’r) was not only the most anticipated He Sui Pian (New Year’s Movie) of 2002 in China; it was also a highly reflexive film registering some of the mixed emotions in China toward the long-awaited admittance and its implications. In addition, the film is the first Sino-American co-production1 released after the WTO accession, bearing witness to an important historical moment. The many layers of meanings embedded in this postmodern text of self-conscious mockery, cynicism, and pastiche also reflect a general sense of anxiety, ambiguity, and uncertainty associated with the new market economy in China and its consequences. Issues of nationalism, cross-cultural imagination, Sino- American relations, and piracy are also touched on in this social satire.