Not One Less (Yi Ge Dou Bu Neng Shao in China) is not a film that I would have ever gone out of my way to see on a big screen. The only reason that I did go to see it is because it is one of the films that we will be studying in my Film Analysis class. Although it is sad to admit, I wouldn't normally go see a movie that I knew was a subtitled one from China. I've been conditioned to think that only Hollywood films are worth seeing, and I've always hated watching subtitled japanese animation... so I figured that a subtitled film wouldn't be much better than a subtitled cartoon. I was terribly mistaken.
Not One Less carries an extremely light tone, and still conveys a huge message while evoking sympathy, sadness, and joy all at the same time. This film was a success with me, and apparently a success with many other movie goers. The director, Zhang Yimou, recieved the Golden Lion award for Best Film in 1999 at the Venice Film Festival for Not One Less. Although I'm completely unaware of the other movies which were viewed at this festival, I'm sure that Not One Less was quite deserving of the award that it recieved.
The plot goes like this: In a poverty-stricken village in China, Gao is the only teacher at a primary school that is so poor that he must ration chalk to make sure that he has enough for the day. The village is so poor, that some of the children need to sleep in the schoolhouse since they have nowhere else to go. Many students drop out because they have to work in order to help feed their families. Gao has to leave the village for a month because his mother is ill, and no one in the town is willing to to subsitute with the exception of a 13 year old girl named Wei Minzhi. She has not yet graduated high school, so her teaching abilities are very minimal, even non-existance. Wei Minzhi is determined to keep every child enrolled in the class -- if she makes sure of this, she recieves a 10 yuan bonus. Wei Minzhi is forced to make up for her lack of teaching credentials with a display of extraodinary determination: one of her students, Zhang Huike, has dropped out of school to work in the big city. Wei goes through a terrible journey trying to find her student who is lost in the city, and her fantastic determination is rewarded in the end.
This movie is one about human determination. We are shown that if we are determined enough, we will be rewarded for our efforts. That is what is so wonderful about it. It's very hard for people today to exhibit the kind of determination that Wei Minzhi showed in this film. When she began her journey into the city, her motivation was the extra money she would recieve if all 28 children remained enrolled in class. In the end, she is genuinly worried about the child and wants to see his safe return home. Wei Minzhi is innocence, determination, and pure goodness. She is unrefined and merely a child herself: and yet her strong desire to get that child back into school is rewarded. She represents what all people have the potential to do if they only have those essential, basic characteristics within them. The tone of the movie is rather yet, and at the same time extremely emotionally heavy. A scene near the end in which Wei Minzhi begins crying because she can't find Zhang Huike evokes similar frustration in the viewers. This film has a happy, satisfying ending. The director Zhang Yimou tied the movie together wonderfully at the beginning and the end: what was at first very sad, is now happy and exciting.
The musical score for Not One Less is simplistic, yet affective. Music is only playing during particularly moving parts in which we are expected to put ourselves in the shoes of Wei Minzhi -- which we effectively do. This makes the movie more powerful since the viewers are identifying with the main character and hope to see a good outcome for her relentless efforts.
The subtitled text isn't hard to read or confusing. In fact, I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed the movie as much as I did if it would have been dubbed. Because we can actually hear the voices of the characters, their emotions are better conveyed -- particularly Wei Minzhi's innocence. The dialogue is simplistic in its written english form, and is very easy to follow. It helps to encourage the authentic feeling of the film. The movie itself seems to be based on a real-life story... which it is not. When you can be moved by a story and are lead to believe that it actually could have happened, you are more inclined to be touched by it. The actors play their parts well I guess. It's hard to tell whether an actor is playing their roles well or not when you are reading subtitled dialogue while having no idea when they are actually saying what you are reading. Despite this, it seemed well cast. The children were real children -- apparently the actors in this film are actually regular, every day people from a small Chinese village who were asked to do this film. Wei Minzhi is one of these people, and plays the part of an innocent, somewhat mousy but still very determined character extremely well.
In closing, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this film. Although it may not be fast-paced enough for some people, the story is enough to engage almost any viewer. I would highly recommend this film to anyone... believe me... you'll be pleasantly surprised.
In the crushing poverty of rural China, a young woman is ordered to a remote village to be their substitute teacher. Barely older than her students, t...More at HotMovieSale.com
Comedy Drama DVD - In a village in China mired in poverty, Gao (Gao Enman) is the lone teacher in a school so threadbare he must ration chalk to make ...More at Barnes and Noble
In the crushing poverty of rural China, a young woman is ordered to a remote village to be their substitute teacher. Barely older than her students, t...More at Buy.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.