Yi ge dou bu neng shao (1999)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writer:

Xiangsheng Shi

Stars:

Minzhi Wei, Huike Zhang, Zhenda Tian

17 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Minzhi Wei	...	Wei Minzhi
Huike Zhang	...	Zhang Huike
Zhenda Tian	...	Village Chief
Enman Gao	...	Teacher Gao
Zhimei Sun	...	Sun Zhimei
Yuying Feng	...	TV Receptionist
Fanfan Li	...	TV Host
Yichang Zhang	...	Mr Zhang, instructor
Zhanqing Xu	...	Brick factory owner
Hanzhi Liu	...	Zhang Huike's mother
Ma Guolin	...	Bus station man
Wu Wanlu	...	TV station manager
Liu Ru	...	Train station announcer
Shulan Wang	...	Stationery store clerk
Xinmin Fu	...	TV station director

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

city | village | teacher | promise | mountain | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

30 October 1999 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Ni uno menos

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$50,256, 20 February 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$589,114, 9 July 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bejing New Picture Distribution Company,Columbia Pictures Corporation,Film Productions Asia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As in the Italian neo-realism movies, director Yimou Zhang used only non-professional actors.

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Quotes

TV Host: Do you like the city?
Zhang Huike: Yes.
TV Host: What is good about it?
Zhang Huike: The city is beautiful and prosperous. Much better than the country.
TV Host: What's the most lasting impression?
Zhang Huike: That I had to beg for food. I will always remember that.

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Connections

References The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)

User Reviews

Literally determination personified - Even one cannot be less

This is the depiction of a true story with the two lead characters performed by the actual person: Wei Minzhi, 13 year old young girl who is a substitute for the village teacher, and Zhang Huike, 11 year old young boy who left school to go to the city to find work to pay for family debt.

It is DERTERMINATION personified. She is one young lady who's not worried about her looks or other people's criticism. She is truly one track minded to find the lost student and to bring him home back to the village, and does not care if others are curt with her, or impolite; she's just very focused on achieving what she came to the city for - to get Zhang Huike back to the village school - no matter what it takes!

Simple setting. Poor village, city hustles. Children interactions/reactions are always a joy to watch. Lead character is devoid of guile and her stubborn determination is direct and innocent. The hesitation in her speech, her pause and silence held her own. Her performance is guileless - plainly so - that's how precious the performance is. An occasional smile is not easy to detect, as she is so engrossed in her mission; the continuous smile towards the end is well earned. There is magic after all.

This is a rare gem from director Zhang Yimou, quite a different flavor from his film collaborations with heaven-sent leading lady Gong Li.