Not One Less (2000)

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CinemaSource

Rating: G

Release Date: Feb 18, 2000

Running Time: 106 mins.

Additional Notes: dialogue Mandarin Chinese

Country Of Origin: China

starring: Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike, Tian Zhenda, Gao Enman, Sun Zhimei, Feng Yuying, Li Fanfan, Zhang Yichang, Xu Zhanqing, Liu Hanzhi

director: Zhang Yimou

13-year-old Wei Minzhi, who can barely read or write herself, is chosen to take over her impoverished village's one-room schoolhouse when its sole teacher must suddenly leave for one month to care for his ailing mother. Warned not to let a single student drop out over the course of his absence, Wei keeps a stern eye on her students, especially Zhang Huike, a bright but naughty 10-year-old boy. When Zhang doesn't show up for school one day, Wei is determined to go into the city, find him and bring him back.

Much is made of the deplorable state of the American public school system today. Too few computers and too many students per teacher are among the most popular criticisms. Our Western woes are put into perspective by Zhang Yimou latest release, "Not One Less," which addresses the state of education in his native China. Based on screenwriter Shi Xiangsheng's novel, "Not One Less" tells the simple tale of Wei Minzhi, a 13-year-old girl commandeered to teach a class of 28 students in the month-long…