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.

Monsoon Wedding, India

Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding tells the story of an Indian family’s tribulations surrounding a marriage. The film feels like a Hollywood film, but has a distinct Indian flavor.

The premise of the story surrounds Aditi’s marriage to Hermant, who has returned from the U.S. to marry her. Aditi painfully breaks off her ties with her old boyfriend, tells Hermant she’s been cheating on him, and then the two get married. This main plot line is what contributes to the Hollywood feel of the film. The story seems very common, and as such it generates little interest on its own because it is easy for an audience to anticipate what will occur next in the plot line. What makes the film interesting, however, are the more tense subplots which, rather than sitting right within the audience’s expectations, explore the extremes of the audience’s tolerance for unconditional love and disturbing abuse.

Much of the tension in Monsoon Wedding comes from the juxtaposition of Dubey’s love for Alice against the abuse of young girls in the family. This contrast, however, is reverse of class status. The lower class working citizens, despite their societal status, are seemingly much happier than the upper class citizens. The upper class citizens appear in a much more negative light because of the drama surrounding the wedding as well as the abuse of young girls in the family. Through this difference, Monsoon Wedding critiques the system of classes in India and hints towards the global theme that money and status do not equal happiness and purity.

Although Monsoon Wedding appeals to a wide audience because of its Hollywood feel, it shows a distinct (yet still common) theme in a way somewhat unique to India.