Not One Less

Not one less is a movie that belongs to the Chinese cinema. It was directed and produced by Zhang Yinou. This movie basically tells a story of a little girl; Wei; who has to take the role of a substitute teacher. The interesting fact here is that she only has 13 years old. However, in a world surrounded by poverty this is not unusual at all. She has to learn how to be a leader and at the same time continue being a child. It’s really hard to act as an adult when you are still a child and this can be appreciated during the movie.

Wei is designated as the substitute teacher of a very poor school. She has to be in charge while the former teacher is in on a trip. For this action she will be rewarded money and if she makes sure that none of the children drop out of school she could receive more money. It becomes a difficult journey for her to have control of children that have almost the same age as her. However she finds a way to do it with a lot of effort. The most important part of this comes when one of her most problematic students is sent to the city to work. This was in order to help his sick mother.

At this point another story starts. She made a deal in which she could be given extra money none of the students dropped from school by the time the former teacher returns. Not one less. That fact influenced her to take the decision to raise money and go to look for him at the city. Lost and confused in a place where she didn’t know anybody she starts to look for him. She soon finds out that the boy was lost in the city. Her willing to find him even makes her go on TV. This action helped her to find him and return to their village. However, at her return she won more than money.

This is really a good and funny movie to watch. Even though it’s sad to see how poverty affects some people more than others. It is also very illustrative. This is one of the good things of watching foreign films. They don’t worry about visual or special effects as much as Hollywood does. In this story a very good story line can be appreciated. Most important, it keeps the audience engaged with the dharma of the movie. The fact of using children in movies also gives a feeling of belonging. By saying this I mean that every time a movie shows children it makes many viewers to compare their childhood with the one of the actor. This film has a lot of values that people can appreciate and remember. Very good movie.