Not One Less, China

Zhang Yimou’s Not One Less is an unentertaining film concerned with the economic, social, and moral status of China. In the film, the main character, Wei, comes to a remote village as a thirteen-year-old substitute teacher, working towards gaining as much money (50-60 Yuan) as possible. When she takes over for the old teacher, she is promised an extra ten Yuan if everybody still remains when he returns. Of course, two students promptly leave for different reasons, and the rest of the story centers on Wei’s quest to return Zhang Huike to the village.

This part of the plot concerning Wei’s quest, highlights the moral, social, and economic differences between urban and rural life in China. One such criticism comes in the form of the manner in which Wei is treated as a character and portrayed in the film. Wei lives on the street and in the bus station (without visible anguish for these actions) while in the city. She is often shown alone, and being treated as just another person. While in the village, though, Wei is almost always surrounded by people, and is treated warmly, however cold she treats other people. From these two different depictions, comes the commentary on moral, social, and economic differences. The city, the symbol of modernity, can almost be seen as another character in the story, perhaps the true antagonist. The village, though, represents a refuge for Wei in the context of the film. Modernity is seen in a negative light in this film, while the country life is seen more positively.

Not One Less, although not particularly entertaining, does show this global theme. This theme can be found in many conservative texts across film, literature, and other art. Due to that, this film is a global one, just not one that has particularly global appeal.

The Wind Will Carry Us, Iran

Abbas Kiarostami’s The Wind Will Carrys Us is not a film that appeals to the large body of passive moviegoers. It tells the story of Behzad, or “the Engineer,” who is an urban Iranian photographer who has come to observe the rituals surrounding death in a small, remote village. Eventually Behzad acclimates to their culture, but this is a slow and painful process (like the death of the woman) for both himself and the passive audience.

The reality presented in The Wind Will Carry Us causes the film to be less accessible for entertainment purposes, but more accessible as an intellectual film. The slow pace of the film and the ritualization of everything (the man talking on the phone, going to the hill, shaving, talking to the boy, etc.) show this reality. This real-life approach causes the film to have a less discernable plot. The movie initially seems to explore this ritualized life and embrace its serenity, but as the movie progresses, the main character becomes increasingly impatient, and his true purpose in the village is revealed. This hyper-reality is what shields the plot, but as the movie progresses more towards ideas that are slightly less plausible, the plot becomes more and more apparent.

Through this slow pace, though, the film's themes become more apparent. It presents a contrast between modern life and village life in both plot and cinematography. The majority of shots showing village life are still and long. This implies the distance between modern society and the village, as well as the pace of village life. Shots involving the Engineer, though, tend to contain more movement and tend to be medium or close-up shots, implying a more hectic life and more self-centered life. Through these different presentations, the main purpose of the movie, as a juxtaposition of modern life and rural life, becomes clearer.

Initially, I was rather bored with the film. As the film progressed, though, I stopped watching the film passively and tried to become intellectually engaged in it, which helped with tolerating the film for several hours. The brief moments of action (the turtle and the dung beetle) really helped to break the total focus of the camera on human characters. Because this movie cannot be viewed passively (it requires some thought and engagement), it would likely not do well as a mainstream global film. However, to the academic film pulpit or student, it could be a significantly more engaging and intellectually pleasing film compared to many foreign films that try to imitate the "Hollywood Style."