Yi ge dou bu neng shao
VOD (1)
Plots(1)
In the crushing poverty of rural China, a young woman is ordered to a remote village to be their substitute teacher. Barely older than her students, the shy girl is charged with keeping the class intact for one month or she won’t be paid. Faced with overwhelming family debt, her biggest little troublemaker disappears into the city to find work. The stubborn teacher, however, is determined to follow the boy and bring him back to school. Once in the city, her simple peasant pleas fall on deaf ears, and only when the local television station sympathizes does her search bear fruit. (Via Vision Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (1)
The world of cinema is still full of surprises. Judging by the director's name, you would expect some lavish costume feast, but what you get is a very subtle, almost documentary-like story of a young girl who, somewhere in the Chinese countryside, substitutes for a teacher in the local school and promises to look after the children and keep the classroom participation from falling apart. But one of the students, from a poor family, goes to the city to earn money to pay his family's debts. The young substitute decides to bring the boy back and goes into town looking for him. Aside from the slightly bizarre plot, the story feels authentic, except for the final 15 minutes, when it takes on almost fairytale proportions and tells us that even a completely unknown person can be helped by the big beast from state television. But what the heck, even miracles happen sometimes. What makes this film interesting are the pleasantly down-to-earth performances of the non-actors and the Chinese realities, especially the interesting hilly landscape of central China.
()