Zhang Yimou's (Raise the Red Lantern) tale of a plucky adolescent substitute teacher in a rural Chinese village, cast entirely with nonactors and shot on location, is an astute example of censorship politics. Taking on touchy issues with a veneer of can-do spirit and happy-ending fantasy, his film is at once rousing and eye-opening. Wei Minzhi is a stubborn young woman who takes a substitute teaching job in a tiny provincial town because they can't afford anyone else. When one troublemaking boy heads off to the city to help support his starving family, it's not a sense of responsibility that drives her rescue mission, it's money: She won't receive her bonus if any students are missing. Her efforts to raise money for the city trip pulls the class together in a sense of purpose, and even drives the lessons, but when she finally reaches the city she's shocked to discover an urban jungle of lost and runaway kids. Yimou shoots with an easy naturalism that suggests a well-intentioned docudrama in spots, due to narrative contrivances and a few self-conscious performances, but his compromises ultimately make his shocking look at China's rural poverty, adolescent workers, urban juvenile homelessness, and woefully underfunded educational system more potent. In the heat of the film's uplifting climax, the once-mischievous boy pulls the film back down to earth with his reflection on his big-city adventure: "I had to beg for food. I'll never forget that." --Sean Axmaker

I don't know how this movie got into my Netflix queue, but it took my breath away. Brilliant and deceptively beautiful, and acted by "real people," not professional actors. What a lovely and realistic look at life in China, and what a moving depiction of a loving heart.

Not to be missed.

NOT ONE LESS is in the same category as The Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise. If you like children (especially adorable Chinese children), are interested in education (anybody who's ever been a substitute teacher will definitely identify with Wei-students are no different in rural China than anywhere else when it comes to taking advantage of substitutes), interested in learning about other cultures (we should all be interested in China), then this is a wonderful film. Definitely a film that can be watched by the whole family (should be old enough to read the sub-titles which are not hard). Foreign film makers definitely seem to have the knack of making films that are extremely interesting without all the special effects and craziness that American films seem to need to appeal to audiences. Like the other two mentioned, this is a film about people, real people actually as these are not professional actors. ENJOY!! WWW.LUSREVIEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

I fell all over myself about this movie. The thirteen year old substitute teacher is priceless and all the children were simply amazing to watch. The story itself is a real grabber and the storytelling is masterful.

Somewhat didactic and sentimental, this film from Zhang Yimou is nevertheless irresistible. An unusual foray from Zhang into realistic filmmaking, Not One Less tells the tale of a young teenager in a Chinese village who is named as substitute teacher in the local school when the head teacher has to visit her ailing mother. Her skills as a teacher are barely adequate, and her students are just a few years younger than she is, yet she makes up her obvious shortcomings as a teacher with an utmost zeal in accomplishing her mission. Her superior has told her that not one of her students must drop out of school, so when one of the more troublemaking boys heads to the big city in order to support his starving family, she has to go there to get him back. The movie is refreshingly sincere in stating that she does not search the boy out of a sense of responsibility, but because of money, since she won't receive any bonus if any of her students are missing. The best part of the movie shows the naïve teacher trying to find her lost student in the urban jungle of the city. Shot with a wonderful amateur cast, this look at rural China is beguiling.

What's beautiful about this movie is that the story is true and all the people in the village are real. They are not actors. In playing themselves in this movie, it brought a sense of reality to the story and the poverty issues in rural China. It is a simple story and yet, it is so moving. Very beautiful production.