View Full Version : ACK! This Was a GREAT Movie
Gail Simone
03-11-2005, 10:17 PM
NOT ONE LESS
It's a Chinese film, but for those of you with Netflix or a great video story, let me just say, if you have a heart at all, RENT THIS MOVIE.
Like many Chinese films, the drama is at a much quieter, slower pace, but then when the emotional stuff kicks in, katie bar the door because it'll put you on your ass.
An amazing performance by the very young lead actress, one of the most unforgettable I've ever seen.
The story is, a young girl who hasn't even been to High School herself yet is sent to be a substitute teacher for a tiny peasant villiage in modern rural China. She's promised a bonus (I believe, if I know my yuan) a bonus of something like a dollar fifty for the month if none of the kids leave the school.
One of the kids leaves for the city to work, and the teacher, Wei, only thirteen herself and with NO money at all, goes to find him.
This is what movies should be, I say. Go rent this thing!
Gail
Lunar Daydreamer
03-11-2005, 10:35 PM
I have this on order actually via 'welovefilms' and was really taken with the premise, thanks to your recommendation i'll move it up a few notches on my 'wants' list :)
Cam63
03-12-2005, 02:02 AM
Heh ! I still haven't gotten around to seeing Musa the Warrior yet and I've owned it for over a month :)
I'll add Not One Less to the list.
Omg, i nearly cried reading your description. Well not really, but it sounds good too.
If you liked that then try 'The Way Home' (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0312841/).
I mentioned this in the original Asian cinema thread. Its recounts how a rebellious little boy from the city is dumped by his mother in the countryside in a small village. There he has to live with his mute grandmother whom he's never met and has no desire to get close to.
She is the most gracious and forgiving character i have seen onscreen, in spite of her grandson being such a brat. As one reviewer noted, she is mother nature to his city brat and warms you with her truly selfless acts of love in spite of his selfish and sometimes cruel behaviour.
Gail Simone
03-12-2005, 09:10 AM
I watched THE WAY HOME on your recommendation, YoGo, and it IS a beautiful film. The amazing thing about the peasant grandmo in that film is not only is she a real peasant from remote China, not only had she never acted before, she'd never even SEEN a movie before. YOW!
Gail
spoiler:
Didn't the bit where she walked all the way home because she had enough money for only her grandson to take the bus just tug at your heart strings?! And he wouldnt even take the bag of groceries from her! Bawl!!!
When I saw her hobbling back, I wanted to get up and take the groceries from her!
I totally agree that Not One Less is a must-see. There are so many powerfully moving scenes, I won't even try to start listing them. Some of the best are quiet little moments that pass by without any overt effort at drawing the viewer's attention to them (e.g. with sappy music, showy camera work, etc.) . The director lets the story unfold from the characters' actions, without "comment".
The Way Home sounds like another one. I'll have to track it down.
I watched THE WAY HOME on your recommendation, YoGo, and it IS a beautiful film. The amazing thing about the peasant grandmo in that film is not only is she a real peasant from remote China, not only had she never acted before, she'd never even SEEN a movie before. YOW!
Gail
Extreme method acting.
That's what it is.
I do have a question btw. Where do you guys get your asian movies? It sounds like you managed to pick up this movie pretty fast and I was always under the impression you had to order it from the internet or find a video store in Chinatown.
I saw Not One Less a few years ago at the local repertory theatre. I live nearby, so I get to see lots of foreign movies, often only a few months to a year after the original release. Other stuff I've ordered on the web; there's also a video-renatal store I discovered last summer that stocks a very good supply of Asian and European movies. So I'm pretty lucky. All I have to do is find time to watch them!
Thinking of some of teh classroom scenes in the one-room school in Not One Less reminded me of another film I'd like to recommend. This one's from France, and it's called "Etre et Avoir". It's a documentary about a one-room school in rural France, and it is absolutely amazing. I can't recommend it highly enough. One of the best film-viewing experiences I've ever had. If you haven't already seen it, give it a shot.
Briareos
03-13-2005, 03:05 PM
Has anyone seen Battle Royale? How about Perfect Blue?
I think it's time to start the Asian cinema thread (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?p=1037757#post1037757) up again...
f. chong rutherford
03-14-2005, 12:46 PM
I watched THE WAY HOME on your recommendation, YoGo, and it IS a beautiful film. The amazing thing about the peasant grandmo in that film is not only is she a real peasant from remote China, not only had she never acted before, she'd never even SEEN a movie before. YOW!
Gail
Um, The Way Home (Jibeuro) is Korean. It's written and directed by Lee Jeong-hyang.
Lunar Daydreamer
03-14-2005, 12:51 PM
Shaolin Soccer and Ju-On: The Grudge arriving at my house tomorrow - yaaaaaaaay! :)
MicBK
03-14-2005, 12:54 PM
The director of "Not One Less" is Zhang Yimou, who also did the recent "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers"....other films that are great by him are "To Live", "Raise the Red Lantern" , "Ju Dou" and to a lesser extent - "The Road Home", "Happy Times" and "Shanghai Triad"....give these a look!
Gail Simone
03-14-2005, 12:56 PM
Um, The Way Home (Jibeuro) is Korean. It's written and directed by Lee Jeong-hyang.
You're right, and I knew that, I'm just an idiot.
Other facts are all correct.
Gail
Gail Simone
03-14-2005, 12:58 PM
The director of "Not One Less" is Zhang Yimou, who also did the recent "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers"....other films that are great by him are "To Live", "Raise the Red Lantern" , "Ju Dou" and to a lesser extent - "The Road Home", "Happy Times" and "Shanghai Triad"....give these a look!
Really enjoyed Hero, Daggers, The Road Home, and Not One Less, so it sounds like I'd better get the rest of these!
Gail
MicBK
03-14-2005, 01:03 PM
Really enjoyed Hero, Daggers, The Road Home, and Not One Less, so it sounds like I'd better get the rest of these!
Gail
yes definitely! if you enjoyed those, you'll like his other stuff. much props on appreciating the Hong Kong art film, Gail! Have you been initiated to Wong Kar-wai yet? If not, DEFINITELY see everything the man has ever put out - which would be (chronologically) - As Tears Go By (not that good, but just his first film), Days of Being Wild, Ashes of Time, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, and the most recent ones which I haven't had the pleasure of seeing yet, 2046 and Eros. all of the ones i've seen, with the exception of ATGB, have blown me away. he's by far my favorite director now, and if you like Zhang, you must see him.
f. chong rutherford
03-14-2005, 01:07 PM
Other facts are all correct.
This kind of read like, "All Your Base Are Belong To Us," to me for some reason.
GONGFU (aka KUNG FU HUSTLE) is an AWESOME Stephen Chow film. The original, unmolested cut of SHAOLIN SOCCER almost made me cry from its sheer awesomeness. The cut I saw of KFH, just, it DID make me cry from its sheer awesomeness. Superheroes, Chinese legends, Opera, it's everything that THE MATRIX movies wished they could be in terms of human stunts and visuals, and shows the difference between actors with twenty weeks and twenty years of kung fu training. Stephen Chow is a genius, bar none, and someday his name will be uttered in the same breaths as Chaplin, Keaton, and Bruce Lee.
MicBK
03-14-2005, 01:11 PM
Stephen Chow is a genius, bar none, and someday his name will be uttered in the same breaths as Chaplin, Keaton, and Bruce Lee.
man i wish i could get on the Chow wagon...but Shaolin Soccer just didn't do it for me. it was entertaining...but i had a hard time seeing what all the fuss was about. I'm hoping Kung Fu Hustle changes that.
f. chong rutherford
03-14-2005, 01:23 PM
man i wish i could get on the Chow wagon...but Shaolin Soccer just didn't do it for me. it was entertaining...but i had a hard time seeing what all the fuss was about. I'm hoping Kung Fu Hustle changes that.
I dunno, you either like a movie and a director or you don't. I do know that the US theatrical release of Shaolin Soccer wasn't so bad, but the original director's cut (beyond the initial release) is easily one of my favorite films for all the freshness it brings to the genre. Plus all the homages to various actors and movies--done in a way where it isn't a straight style-sample like "Kill Bill V1" but instead with something really new. Plus, in a REAL departure from the genre, killing is at a minimum and most of the worst damage and death is caused by the villains--a theme carried through in Gong Fu. Between all the gags, he's really got something to say and I like to listen.
But who cares if you're on the bandwagon? If you don't like the movie or what an artist is doing, you don't like it.
Me, though, I LOVE it!
From what I've heard 2046 is like a Grant Morisson title. You think it's great, the script is fantastic, but you don't know half of what the hell went on.
MicBK
03-15-2005, 04:43 AM
From what I've heard 2046 is like a Grant Morisson title. You think it's great, the script is fantastic, but you don't know half of what the hell went on.
that's probably true, but quite honestly, when i watch a WKW film - i throw out my preconceived notions of narrative and just enjoy a truly stunning film. i think the combination of WKW and Christopher Doyle has created some of the greatest images and sequences ever captured on film. if you can think of film as more than just a medium for storytelling, I think visually WKW is really hard not to like...but that being said, I can also understand why someone would get bored watching his films.
Gail Simone
02-14-2009, 11:59 PM
Still recommend this movie HIGHLY!
Dragonflye
02-15-2009, 01:24 AM
I just watched OLDBOY this past week. Violent, funny, perverse, and totally original. Never read the manga, but now I may just have to.
On the other end of the spectrum, Takashi Miike's Audition floored me last month. Amazing cinematography, fantastic acting, and a creep-you-out factor turned to eleven.
You know, this could be the asian cinema thread for newbies to YABS like me. Gail, are you okay with that?
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