Ye Ge Dou Bu Neng Shao (Not One Less) - Directed By Zhang Yimou, 1999

Wei Menzhi, is a 13 year old girl living in the rural, tainted streets of China. She goes to a primitive school on a mountainside, that is extremely impoverished. The school teacher, Gao’s mother is on her death bed so leaves the school to accompany her. The village mayor’s only option is to make Wei the substitute teacher who, mind you is only thirteen. Her abilities are poorly reciting 1 to 2 songs and copying text. Before Gao departs, he stresses the importance of being economical with chalk and to try and not lose any students, as 9 of them have already have dropped. Zhang Huike, troublemaker in the class, doesn’t show for class, at which point one of the female students get scouted by a sports sponsor for running and she never returns. While investigating Zhang’s appearance, Wei finds out he was forced to abandon school to work in the city, as he and his mother are in extreme debt. Wei is infuriated by this and sets out to find and bring Zhang back. The villiage mayor refuses to giver money to buy a bus ticket to the city, so she has the remaining students help. They do so by moving bricks for money. The students are given mathematical exercises along the way. Wei asks them questions on finding out how much money they need to earn for the bus tickets, how many bricks they need to move, and how much time it will take. Through all this, the relationship between Wei and the students develop. After earning the money, Wei finds out, on her way to the bus stop, the price of the ticket was actually more money than she had though and ends up walking. In the city, Wei finds the people that Zhang was supposed to work with, only to find out that they lost him in a crowd at the train station. Wei goes to the train station, with no such luck finding Zhang and is compelled to wait outstide the transition for the night in hopes of finding the manager. In the morning, the station manger lets Wei in and is interest in putting her on a televison show about rural education. When she is on the show, Wei doesn’t say much but luckily Zhang, who is now wandering the streets, sees the show. Once Zhang and Wei are reunited, the station manager schedules them a ride back to the small village. The ending scene gives somewhat of an anecdote /commentary the Chinese caste system, the unnecessary mistreatment and how the latter ultimately receives the short end of the stick.

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