Not One Less; Meaningful and Fun

I liked Not One More for many reasons; it was definitely a well done piece. The film was neither a propaganda piece nor a horrible negative critic on modern China. The film simply felt real. The film didn’t push any strong ideologies or harsh despairs. It seems to be a ‘coming of age’ for the Chinese film industry. It was separated from the ideological dogma of the early propaganda films. But it was also separated from the over stylized images of suffering in such films as Farwell My Concubine, which was almost an adolescent rebellion of the strict media control.

The film wasn’t a propaganda piece rallying people behind the party. However, at the same time wasn’t a ‘look at this horrible hell hole movie’. It was definitely was a moral and documentary film. However, unlike many films which show conditions in poor part of the world this film was subtle and didn’t try to make you feel like a horrible human for the water you are drinking or a murderer for the car you are driving, as many documentaries of similar places try to do. The feel showed real people in circumstances that many Chinese can relate to, and because of its subtle nature many foreigners can also relate. The film cast was by real life villagers, most of whom had the same occupation in real life as in the movie, which gave the movie a more realistic feel. The film did a good job of both making the viewer aware of the situation in small Chinese villages and providing hope for the future. We saw a rough village, with almost no founds. But the film also showed how the people went on with their lives. The most uplifting part was the outpouring of support for the village school by ordinary people.

Filmed in 1999 the movie depicts China at the early stages of its economic boom. The conditions in the film were depicted fairly accurately. However, government censors, who worked closely with the director, cautioned against depicting China as too poor. The numbers at the end of the film stating the number of school children who dropped out of school is an official number, one that might be too low according to the director. China has recently brought more people out of poverty than any other country in the history of our planet. So the condition of small village schools has probably been slightly increased. Indeed I have seen new schools being built in micro villages with no more than 20 houses in the most remote areas of Yunnan. Many of the new schools come from privet donations, a theme showed in the movie.

Overall I believe that the film did a good job of giving a moral message, making a realistic depiction, and enjoyable to watch. The film made you aware of difficult circumstances in the villages but didn’t through it in your face. Probably, the best aspect of the film is the belief in ordinary people.