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21 out of 23 people found the following review useful: "Just like the real thing!", 10 September 2007 Author: Ruhi E. Tuzlak from Toronto, Canada
This lovely documentary makes it very obvious that there is hardly any difference between an "Experimental Election" recently took place in a Chinese elementary school and the "Real Thing". The step-by-step processes of nomination, campaigning, debating, and voting shows that 'Democracy in Action' could be very exciting, unpredictable, and, most definitely cruel. One of the best parts of the film was the way the three nominees were coached by their parents; this behind-the-scenes staging was very well captured by the director. The parents' very ambitious preparation of their children confirmed that there are lots of Karl Rove's on hand willing to provide help to win an election. Visual quality of the picture is also exceptionally good. Anyone who is interested in "Democracy", "Elections", and "Voting" must see this gem. Highly recommend it.
10 out of 14 people found the following review useful: money, tears, public speaking, but who pulls the strings?, 7 October 2007 Author: iambillycorgan from Australia
As a 25 year old westerner I feel really bad for the sibling-less kids of China post 1979; such an intense, strict and oh so serious upbringing! But it was good to see these kids still know how to have a bit of fun some of the time - alternating between deliberately making people cry - to dancing about like a crazy loon.After finishing watching this just now, my first thought was "who produced this?" was it the Chinese government trying to show democracy as a bad/flawed idea, or pro-westerners trying to say "yeah man, you DO need democracy now!".... in the end it doesn't really matter as the film can equally discount or credit either argument.It is a surprisingly honest and intimate doco; quite cleanly played out (not editorialized). Just like in most elections, the good guy you hope and would really love to see win; gets done over by the political machinations of the more cut=throat dodgier candidate - as is sadly too often the case in real world politics. Make a bet with whoever you watch this with in the first 20 minutes as to who you think will win, you might be surprised!This had me from the first minute until the last credits rolled, good film, nuff said.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: It is so real and made me sad, 19 November 2008 Author: from Australia
The doc was filmed in my hometown, and the first thing I noticed is how crappy those kids, teachers and their parents' mandarin sounds:). We never really speak mandarin that often when I was in school, coz it is so uncool. Things definitely changed since I was there, so should I say somethings changed. Chinese people never enjoyed the true democracy since 1949, and the school system we are having just reflects the real society. This class monitor thing is just another part in the dictatorship hierarchy, teachers picked the kids they like to monitor other classmates, and cool kids like me never really care who will be the guy to monitor us coz we will fight the stupid system anyway. Why bother to introduce a democratic system to elect a little dictator anyway. Kids are so keen to get the job coz the power it represents. Parents are so keen to help their kids to win coz they know it will give them bonus at the time they graduate. For teachers, I have no idea, might be just extra fun at work... so anyway. China is never short of voting system, the problem is the government never wants people to understand the true democracy. I have the feeling that the director probably shares a similar feeling to me, which is sort of disappointment about these younger generation, which made me sad. By the way, I was elected as class monitor once in a quite similar way, but teacher refused to accept the result simply because he didn't like me and chose another kid. He said to us about his decision, "I trust you guys and give you the democratic rights, but look at the guy you chose, you are abusing your rights..." :)
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: This documentary itself actually made cases for both pro-democracy and, 1 May 2008 Author: zombie_archer from United States
Many people don't realize there are village and town level elections in China. I'm fairly certain at least over 90% if not all of the villages and towns have leaders democratically elected. (Note: the government usually don't pick the candidates, but voting fraud happen from time to time from what I heard. Yes, this is what happens when there's a democracy without proper voter education and regulations, most importantly, without a real voting culture. people just buy votes.) Therefore I have no reason to question the authenticity of this documentary. Common, it's an election between three third graders.If you think Chinese government care enough to stage this documentary you are most definitely paranoid.This documentary itself actually made cases for both pro-democracy and anti-democracy arguments. On one hand, it's scary to have uneducated voters and unregulated voting process in a democracy; on another hand, without real democracy, the imitation can only be so crude and cruel.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Didn't really work for me, 30 April 2009 Author: ylmzyldz from Turkey
While "Please Vote for Me" has an interesting subject and an interesting way to look at it, being a part of the "Why Democracy?" series, it fails to make a point about democracy, while only seeming to.First of all, while not wanting to sound political and unlike the common opinion, I don't think what happens in the film has anything to do with China. These children are third-graders and even if they have their own personalities, in a class monitor election with a campaign, they are basically dependent on their parents. Yes, Cheng Cheng wants to have authority and the Luo Lei beats other kids up but after all, they are children for god's sake! The majority of the behavior that they display in this film is typical of a third grader, regardless of how communist or capitalist a country he or she may live in. I must say there are times when the documentary seems artificial, as in one candidate plans to sabotage another's act in the talent show. It is very unlikely that a kid at this age would reveal such a plan to a friend in front of the camera; these are not kids that are too stupid to tell right from wrong. This age is a time when guilt plays an important role in the child's life.The only sound comment the film makes about democracy is the view of the parents. Rather than seeing this election as an opportunity for their child to learn about democracy, self-confidence, winning and losing, most of them take it as a chance for their kid (and perhaps themselves) to show others that s/he is better than everyone else, with whatever means necessary. For example, Cheng Cheng has a mother who belittles him, pushes him constantly and doesn't seem to appreciate him at all and this may account for his desire to have his classmates under control, because his self-confidence is always undermined at home. The film does a better job of analyzing the behavior of the parents than making a point about democracy or democracy in China, for that matter. The scenes showing the school children chanting and exercising in disturbing unity didn't add much to it, either because the election process did not seem to be related with what was happening outside and if it were, the film made no effort to mention how.I wouldn't want to discourage anybody from seeing this film, but I think it is a disappointing film which fails to deliver what it seems to be promising.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Chinese kids learn a lesson in cut-throat democracy!, 22 August 2008 Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Luo Lei, Cheng Cheng and Xu Xiaofei are all in the same 3rd grade class and are told by their teacher that the three of them will be running in an election to see who will be class monitor. It seems that such democratic-style elections are unknown in China and at first the kids seem a bit puzzled. However, they soon get into the spirit of this and the kids act out lessons about the worst attributes of the electoral system--with name-calling, bribery, threats and a variety of other dirty tricks. This really had me wondering if the kids and their very, very overly-involved parents came up with all this on their own or if perhaps this film was deliberately staged to be a parable about the evils of self-rule! If it wasn't staged, then it says a lot about the natural inclinations of humans.Luo Lei appeared to be very capable as monitor--provided you want a kid who will slap the others around to get them to bend to his iron will! Cheng Cheng was, in many ways, like a little "Eric Cartman"--a rather nasty little porker who slapped his parents around and seemed to have gotten his game plan from Machiavelli--what a conniver! Poor little Xu Xiaofei seemed like an adorable and sweet little kid--and soon it seemed like she was out of her element because she's just too nice to run a dirty campaign like the boys!! Frankly, she was the only likable kid of the three--so naturally she's the one who ended up with the least number of votes--a case where Chinese kids are not so much different from their American counterparts! This was a very fascinating experiment, though I was amazed how dirty the teacher allowed the race to be (hence, making me wonder if perhaps it was all staged to a degree to prove that democracy won't work). I was most surprised at the parents, however, as they were nothing liked I'd expected! The seemed far more involved with their kids and allowed some behaviors that were pretty bad (particularly out of Cheng Cheng)--perhaps this over-indulgence is related to their only being allowed one child per household. In addition, the parents continually drilled the kids, wrote speeches for them and prodded them unmercifully--like you'd expect from an American father who demands that their child excel in sports.Perhaps this film was most helpful to me not because of its lesson about democracy but because it gave amazing insights into the Chinese family and children. It was refreshing to see that even though the government is so different from a Western one, the kids seemed a lot like regular kids--for good and for bad! In particular, I was happy to see that Chinese kids can also be obnoxious and full of energy just like the kids I teach her in the States!!
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Democracy at it's Worst, 23 March 2008 Author: barryhomework04 from Thailand
This is the most fascinating documentary I've seen in a long time. The subject matter may sound stale, but the action, drama and raw emotions are fresh and real. It's less a story of the baser elements of democracy and/or the human spirit, as some reviewers superficially assert, as it is about how parents affect they children. For all the benefits of parental involvement in their children's academic and emotion success, this film make you stop and question yourself as a parent.Are parents who become overly involved in their children's classroom and socialization with other children doing more harm than good? Especially when they are teaching their children dirty tricks and tactics that actually work. In this documentary, we witness children turn from naive and benevolent to manipulative and under-handed. We watch as the clean and dirty campaigns alike both lose out to the candidate who has the most money to buy votes. Money, gifts and trips outstrip both intelligence and friendliness.In the end, the students make a choice not necessarily in their own personal benefit. On one hand, that seems altruistic. On the other hand, it seems ignorant. But, despite all of this, you can't help but emotionally bond with these young people and start to care about them.This same documentary could be made in town in America, though the topic would probably be sports or cheer leading.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Please Vote For Me: The "Reality" of Democracy, 17 December 2008 Author: andersonmk from United States
As I was watching Please Vote for Me, a documentary by Weijun Chen, I thought for a few moments that I was watching a modern American reality television show. I was also quite shocked by the actions of the parents of the children in the film. Please Vote for Me is the story of a third-grade class in China getting their first taste of democracy. Three candidates are selected to run for "class monitor," and they all run campaigns to try and win. The duties of the class monitor are never very well specified, but it's evident that they get to boss around the other kids and keep them in line. There were three candidates: Luo Lei, Cheng Cheng and Xu Xiaofei. Luo Lei had an automatic advantage because he had been class monitor before, which is probably why he won in the end. Cheng Cheng was extremely bossy, and Xu Xiaofei was very sensitive and the only girl in the race. The thing that shocked me the most in this film was what the parents did to help their children win. It was similar to a modern election, full of scandal and bribery. It was just a bit less discreet. The kids were taken on a trip, given gifts, and promised a lot of things. Truthfully, the race seemed more like a pageant to me. There was a talent portion and a speech and then a debate, which was the one thing that really made it a political race. In the speeches, it was less about telling what they were going to do, it was more about the flaws of the other person. The candidates even asked their classmates for flaws of their opponents. It was really shocking how mean kids are to each other. I liked how it was shot though, very relaxed, very real. It made me feel like I was actually taking part in the action. I also liked that the cameras went home with the kids (even though it wasn't that great how Cheng Cheng was in his underwear all the time), it really gave a feel for how much the parents were involved. They wrote the speeches, told them exactly was to do, and provided bribes for the kids to use. It was wrong, but it made it much more interesting. This film was captivating and well made. I enjoyed it a lot, but it seemed like the translators didn't subtitle as much as they could. I don't know if this is true, but It could have definitely been changed.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: a democratic vote in china, 4 December 2008 Author: watsonlt from United States
"Please Vote For Me" is a documentary film based on a school in the city of Wuhan, China. The film follows three young children who were chosen by their teacher to run for election to be the class monitor. Since China is a communist country in which the people cannot vote for their leaders, it is a big deal that the children are able to vote for their own class monitor and have a choice. The kids are fourth graders at a primary school called Evergreen Primary and include two boys and one girl; Cheng Cheng, Luo Lei, and Xiaofei.Cheng Cheng, Luo Lei and Xiaofei all begin campaigning to become their class' class monitor. Almost immediately their parents want to get involved in some form. Whether it was helping them memorize their speech, telling them they are playing the flute horribly or bringing in favors to bribe the classmates of their child they were involved throughout the whole endeavor.The students go through the backstabbing, plotting, bribing and finger pointing of the other candidates and fellow students. There are tears, anger, betrayal and of course two losers in the election while one stands in victory.The idea of the film is to see the effects of democracy in a place where democracy isn't present. Would they have the instincts that we in America would when running for office? Or would they have to be told what to do? Maybe they would even have a clean and fair race without the mudslinging. The film shows that regardless of what style of government we have, communist or democratic, the instinct is to win no matter what the candidate has to do.This documentary is very different from the documentary "To Live is Better Than To Die" in which he went into a village and filmed people who were affected by the AIDS virus. The film was so intimate due to the time he spent with the Ma family. He became almost a member of the family with his work.In "Please Vote For Me" the main subjects are Luo Lei, Xiaofei, and Cheng Cheng. While they all look very cute and innocent, each take measures that are very rash. Cheng Cheng looks sweet and kind but he is the main instigator for the plotting. He started the unfair fight with his idea to boo Xiaofei. Luo Lei is a boy who believes that if he hits his classmates they will listen to him, since he has been class monitor before. If he isn't strict then they won't obey what he tells them to do is his thought. Xiaofei, the only girl running, is seen as the weaker link due to her tendencies to cry and "eat slowly." They each join in on taunts and plots to make the other lose. No one is the innocent party in this film. Their parents play roles in this film as well. Xiaofei's mother is a single parent who works in a school. Luo Lei's parents both work at the police department keeping peace in the city.The editing of the film is very smooth as well as the cinematography. The filming generally includes interviews of the children on who they are voting for as well as a view into the schemes and plots of the three running and their parents. The cameramen are never seen (only once due to the positioning of the cameras) and only briefly heard when asking the classmates who are getting their vote. There is no background music through the entire film and the only music that is heard is the music sang by the kids.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Film Review, 4 December 2008 Author: longoc from United States
Film Review: Please Vote for Me The film "Please Vote for Me," directed by Chen Weijun, takes place in Wuhan, China's Evergreen Primary School, 3rd grade class. An experiment about democracy has been conducted. The children of the third grade class are to vote for their Class Monitor. The purpose of this experiment is to see the effects of democracy in China and how it would be received if it were introduced. Within the past 10 years, the world has depended on China's economy. This film delves into the values and ideals of modern China and demonstrates its gradual political change.Throughout the film, the main focus has been on the candidates. Each candidate gained different experiences on their journey through the election. Parental influence was something that had a great effect on the outcome of the election. Cheng Cheng and Luo Lei both had plenty of help from their parents when it came to speeches and gaining favor from their classmates. Xiaofei, however, had no direct influence from her mother. The parents seemed to do everything they could to help their child succeed. Whether there is a great parental influence or not, the candidates easily found their own clever tactics. With the help of their assistants, the candidates found ways to manipulate their classmates, as well as their competitors. This both helped them and hurt them. In the end, Luo Lei came out with a massive win.The approach to the making of this film is mostly 'fly on the wall.' After experiment is initiated, the rest is left untouched. This is an important aspect of the film because, without direct interference, it allows the children in the class and other subjects of the film to live the experiment as accurately as it would be without the presence of the camera. The editing was very simple. It showed important points toward the progression of the election. It was very easy to follow and was very smoothly put together. The cinematography was very straightforward. Without the interference of additional music, the viewer is able to form his own thoughts and opinions toward the situation, instead of being given a feeling or an emotion that is evoked by the intrusion of the director. The only interviews in the film were scarce and brief as a few children were asked "who will you vote for?" Other than that, the director stepped back and simply watched as his film took place.Overall, this film completes its objective. It arouses thoughts and questions about democracy in China. It shows Chinese values and culture in modern China. The growth and political change in China, though gradual, is an active and moving force. All of the children of Evergreen Primary School's third grade class learned new life lessons through this experiment. The candidates were taught to be strong and persistent and to never give up while trying to accomplish their goals. The class and everyone involved received democracy very willingly and valued their right to vote for their Class Monitor.
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