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Not One Less (1998)

Director: Zhang Yimou

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The 1999 Golden Lion winner at Venice (after being denied a competition slot at Cannes), Zhang's film is a real audience pleaser. Shot in his vérité style, on real locations and using non-professionals, it tells of a 13-year-old substitute teacher drafted in to take over at a village school in the mountains, despite her obvious lack of qualifications. Promised a bonus if she keeps her class numbers up for a month, she determines to retrieve one pupil when he disappears to work in the city. The result is funny, heartwarming, and, frankly, sentimental - but it's not without some steel in its depiction of poverty and persistence. A pity Columbia insisted on a mawkish end-title card to ram the point home.

Author: TCh

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Technoguy said...

Posted on May 19 2009 00:06 I loved this simple heart-warming tale of the young(13)
substitute teacher who deputises while the teacher takes a month's vacation in a rural village school. It's
so moving and effective.The young girl has been promised a bonus if she keeps the class of kids until he
comes back on top of the 50 yuan.She does her level best but one gets away.Her wait outside the gates in the big town to see the station master and her long search move one to tears.The ending is a little piece
of Chinese propaganda,but it doesn't spoil the film.

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