Film Review: Not One Less

Posted on the 06 August 2013 by Donnambr @_mrs_b
About Not One Less (1999) Thirteen-year-old Wei Minzhi is assigned to work as a substitute teacher in a poverty-stricken region of rural China. However, she will only be paid if she manages to keep the already-fast-depleting class intact. So when she discovers one morning that pupil Zhang Huike has been sent by his mother to work in the city, she does the only thing she can do and goes after him. Unfamiliar with city life, she suffers many dispiriting knock-backs in her attempts to locate her young charge, and it is only when she asks a TV station for help that her efforts bear fruit.

Starring: Minzhi Wei, Huike Zhang, Zhenda Tian, Enman Gao, Zhimei Sun

Directed by: Zhang Yimou

Runtime: 106 minutes

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Amazon USAmazon UKIMDB

Review: Not One Less

Made in the same year as the wonderful The Road Home, Zhang Yimou’s Not One Less was supported by the Chinese government and Yimou had to craft it carefully in conveying the poor state of education in rural China. Almost like a documentary the film stars amateur actors who retain their own names and effectively play themselves. The story follows thirteen year old Wei Minzhi who arrives in Shuiquan village to substitute for teacher Gao who is going away for a month to visit his ailing mother. Concerned for the children, Gao reluctantly allows Wei to take charge of them but makes her promise to lose none of the children. The film emphasises the high rate of children not finishing education and this become a problem Wei has to face as well as getting the children on her side, especially troublemaker, Zhang Huike. Wei is powerless to prevent one girl, Ming Xinhong, from being taken to another school as she is showing promise as a runner and big things are expected of her. The situation becomes even worse when Zhang Huike leaves school and heads to the city to earn money for his ill mother and pay off the family debts left behind by his late father.

Rather than accept that Zhang Huike is gone, Wei decides to unite the children in her care and have them help her earn money to take a bus to the city. After accomplishing this deed through some hard work, Wei has the village mayor care for the children while she heads off alone to the city. The film then cuts between Wei’s search as she sleeps in stations or on the streets, while managing on water she can get from stray taps between her search through various methods for Zhang Huike. Elsewhere, Zhang Huike is faring no better, reduced to wandering the streets and begging for food to survive. The question is can Wei find Zhang Huike in time or will she have to return to Shuiquan village alone?

Yimou’s film may not have the same qualities of his other efforts but it is honest and tender. The amateur actors give a much-needed sense of reality to what is a very thought-provoking subject. The beautiful rural surroundings of Shuiquan village contrast greatly with the destitute and poor villagers, while the big city appears imposing and like another world to Wei and Zhang Huike. It’s amazing they survive longer than a day on the streets. The film came under criticism for messages at the end that emphasised the state of education in China in 1999 with some critics pointing out that Yimou’s hands were tied with some of the information. Away from the politics, Not One Less is another beautifully simple story from Yimou that matches his more glamorous films.

Not One Less is another masterpiece from Zhang Yimou, arguably one of the best directors working today. While this doesn’t match up to the likes of Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Red Sorghum and The Road Home, it still has a lot to offer and is near flawless in its execution. A pleasant group of amateur actors carry the film well and the concluding segments are deeply poignant as Wei concludes her search for Zhang Huike and finds out what became of him.

Verdict: 5/5

(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)

About the Author:

I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school. In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu's Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I'm a lover of films, games, books and blogging. I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats - Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.

David M. Brown – who has written 804 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.