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Not One Less

7.6

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Original title: Yi ge dou bu neng shao (Not One Less)
Year: 1999
Running time: 106 min.
Country: China
Director: Zhang Yimou
Screenwriter: Shi Xiangsheng
Cast: Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike, Tian Zhenda, Gao Enman, Sun Zhimei, Feng Yuying, Li Fanfan
Music: Bao San
Cinematography: Yong Hou
Producer: Guangxi Film Studios, Film Productions Asia
Genre: Drama | Small Town Life (Non-North American). Education. Schools & University
Synopsis: In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each day and promises her an extra 10 yuan if there's not one less student when he returns. Within days, poverty forces the class troublemaker, Zhang Huike, to leave for the city to work. Minzhi, possessed of a stubborn streak, determines to bring him back. She enlists the 26 remaining pupils in earning money for her trip. She hitches to Jiangjiakou City and begins her search. The boy, meanwhile, is there, lost and begging for food. Minzhi's stubbornness may be Huike and the village school's salvation.

Rankings Position

#5 Best Chinese Movies of all time
#55 Best Movies of the '90s

Awards: 1999: Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion

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Critics' reviews

"It's an uplifting movie about the rewards of perseverance and community."

Jami Bernard: New York Daily News
"A beautiful and genuinely spirit-lifting film about poverty and education"

Michael Wilmington: Chicago Tribune
"Has a warmth and sweetness that is especially hard to resist"

Kenneth Turan: Los Angeles Times
"It's an excellent movie for kids, because it is about how amazing children can be"

Peter Stack: SFGATE
"At first, the picture is moving. . And suddenly charm turns to quasi-commie didacticism"

Desson Thomson: The Washington Post
"This is much more than a typically one-dimensional message-movie -- it's obviously the work of a master filmmaker"

Ken Fox: TV Guide
"Despite its deliberate austerity, Not One Less is extraordinarily rich."

A. O. Scott: The New York Times
"In many ways, Not One Less resembles the socialist-realist dramas of the early Communist regimes. But Zhang has something smarter and more amusing up his sleeve."

Marjorie Baumgarten: Austin Chronicle

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Ranking Lists Position

11 My Favorite Chinese & Hong Kong Movies (43)
45 My Favorite Asian Movies (92)

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Not One Less

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