Zhang's film has charm of childhood
Friday, February 25, 0
NOT ONE LESS: Drama. Starring Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike. Directed by Zhang
Yimou. In Mandarin with English subtitles. (Not rated. 106 minutes. At the
Lumiere.)
The lifelike culture of children goes advance in “Not One Less,'' a touching,
amusing and unpretentious new blear by Zhang Yimou (“Red Sorghum,'' “Raise
the Red Lantern'') from China. It's an excellent movie repayment for kids, because it
is about how amazing children can be.
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“Not One Less'' opens today at the Lumiere, next Friday at the
Shattuck in Berkeley and on March 10 at the Camera in San Jose.
The straightforward story focuses on a young girl assigned to be
a classroom teacher in a tiny rural school. The lovely, thin 13-year-old Wei
Minzhi is both striking and spirited — that she looks like such an ordinary
kid lends the film authenticity.
Wei is a given heavy responsibility for a 13-year-old — with
no teaching experience, she's handed a classroom of 28 kids, some almost her
age. Wei had no previous experience before movie cameras. She's a natural
delight, even when stuck in the awkward, self-conscious mode of a teenager.
As teacher, it takes her a while to warm to the job, but who could blame her
with a room full of kids testing her authority at every turn?
Wei is there because the old teacher at the remote village
school has to take a leave of absence. He's fit to be tied when the skinny
teenager is hired by the town mayor. But the old teacher has to go, to
attend to his gravely ill mother. He leaves stern instructions for Wei, one
of which is not to waste chalk.
The class was bigger when school started that year, but poverty has
caused many kids to drop out as they are forced to work on farms or move to
cities with their families. The girl is told that she must not let the
enrollment drop further — if she can keep the class at 28, she'll get extra
pay.
Related in matter-of-fact terms and with an uncluttered cinematic
naturalness, “Not One Less'' has a polemical tone. It's a cautionary tale
about poverty forcing Chinese families to move to cities. Attendance at
rural schools has dropped off dramatically as a result.
Wei has no idea of the extent of her responsibility — or that
she will bond with the kids — until a bright,
rascally 10-year-old named Zhang Huike, also an amateur actor, deserts. When
Wei learns that he's run away to the city, she goes to find him. He's living
on the streets, scavenging food to survive, and she summons amazing
resources to help him.
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This article appeared on page
C - 4
of the San Francisco Chronicle
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Teen Gives More In `Not One Less' / Zhang's veil has hypnotize of girlhood
RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) NOT ONE LESS: Play. Starring Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike. Directed by Zhang Yimou. In Mandarin with English subtitles. (Not rated. 106 minutes. At the Lumiere.)…