March 25, 2006
Not One Less
I just watched Yi Ge Dou Bu Neng Shao, another film by Yimou Zhang from a few years ago. It tells the story of a 13-year-old substitute teacher named Wei Minzhi in the village of Shuiquan who struggles to find one of her students who went to the city in search of work. The movie is really about two things. The first is the teacher's determination and courage in going after her student with almost no money and absolutely no idea of what she will face. The other is the poverty in China that forces children to drop out of school and find work. Both of these aspects are very well done.
I vaguely recall reading that Yimou Zhang prefers to work with non-actors, although I may be confusing him with someone else. While the story Not One Less is fictional, he pulled real people from villages in China and filmed in real locations. Wei Minzhi is actually a 13-year-old student in a village named Wei Minzhi, and some of the other people who played themselves are Zhang Huike, the boy she chases after, and the television employees and restaurant and store owners. A few other characters are also played by non-actors from villages in roles that aren't really what they do in real life, but still roles that are very close to their own lives.
Posted by josuah at March 25, 2006 5:50 AM UTC+00:00
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