Wei Minzhi, Gao Enman, Zhang Huike
Teacher Gao loves the students in his poor village and is devoted to educating them in the hope of their greater futures. When he is called away to tend to his dying mother for a month, the Mayor call...( read more
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DVD Release Date: August 22, 2000
Stats: 292 reviews
Somehow, thirteen year old Wei Minzhi, who appears unable to act her way out of a paper bag turns in the performance of a lifetime. Blushing, awkward body language, a drifting gaze, and an pre-adolescent thespian's grasp of dialog pacing, filmed docu-realistically, come together ...( read more)
The casting of the lead actress is brillient as she is totally convincing in the role. A hard struggle story with a happy ending. It makes one feel totally humble at the determination of those that don't give up even face faced with seemngly imposible odds. I feel that I can le...( read more)
I watched this movie way back without realising this was by the Yimou himself. It was an impressive and touching film. It really is a film that takes time to enjoy and its ramifications are always at the end. a moral tale and a beautiful one too.
For Chinese viewers, this film will play as a human drama. For Western viewers, there's almost equal interest at the edges of the screen, in the background, in the locations and incidental details tha... full review
although rottentomatoes gave the film 95%, little did I expect it to be such a wonderful movie
but at the end. i'm amazed with it instantly.
at first the film seemed slow. sometimes the movie tried to be too clever and did things that seemed to be coming a mile away.
but it was a trick. the director is using what seems like formula scenes that any hollywood hack could write while slowly weaving a truly emotional story that only hits the audience near the ending.
your reaction to the movie's climax - wei's pleas to a TV audience in that city - will be a good barometer of the story's effect on your emotions.
give it a chance.
trust me.
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