Zhang Yi Mou and his film, Not One Less
You might have already seen Zhang Yi Mou's name on the big screen in a cinema. His latest blockbuster, The Great Wall starring Matt Damon, Tian Jing and Andy Lau, screened on the cinemas across the globe pass few months ago. That includes Malaysia.
But to get to this point, one needs to work hard. Of course, he has years and years worth of cinematic experience. So who's Zhang Yi Mou and what's his back story?
Zhang Yi Mou
Born on 2 April 1950 at Xi'an, Zhaanxi, China, he had been living in a life full of war since he was young. His father had been an officer in the National Revolutionary Army during the Chinese Civil War. His uncle and also his elder brother followed the Nationalist forces to Taiwan after their 1949 defeat.
Throughout the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, he left school and started working as a farm laborer and later worked at a cotton textile. During the 7 years working at a cotton textile, he took up painting and still photography. He even sold his blood just to buy his first camera.
In 1978, Beijing Film Academy reopened his doors to new students. Interested, Zhang Yi Mou applied but got rejected due to his age was over the regulation age for admission, and also he did not have any academic qualifications. He decided to appeal and show a portfolio of his personal photography works to the Ministry of Culture. He was successful and was admitted to the Faculty of Cinematography.
After he graduated, he was sent to work for the Guangxi Film Studio. He soon discovers there was a lack of directors because of the Cultural Revolution. He obtained permission to start making his own films.
And thus, the beginning of his journey on cinematic films.
The first film he worked, One and Eight directed by Zhang Jun Zhao, and also another film that he worked on, Yellow Earth by Chen Kai Ge, were huge successes at the Hong Kong Film Festival and helped to bring new Chinese cinema to the world.
He soon went on and created more and more films, including Not One Less.
Spoiler alert below! It is best experience a movie blindly (at least that is how I feel), so if you also feel like that, better enjoy both Not One Less first before continue reading below.
One day, while being just an under age child, the class troublemaker has to leave to town to find a job because of poverty. As the teacher promised Wei Minzhi that she will have an extra 10 yuan of salary if she can make sure that all students did not drop nor change school. This forces her to also make a trip to the city, to find her student, and to get him back to school. Instead, she bought back something more than that...
This film... Well for one, the messages of the movie were delivered well. The economic gap between urban and rural population, the innocence of young child being stubborn and many more were pretty obvious to the viewers.
I was never a big fan of Chinese film that is stylized like this. The whole film can be best described as neutral. The film made me felt like I should be feeling various emotions throughout the film, but the way it was film caused me to not able to feel the emotions inside me when I'm watching those scenes.
Maybe I should give it another proper try on films containing this kind of style.
Most of his films, yes most of it, has nomination for multiple awards. This includes Not One Less won the Golden Lion award in 1999.
Today, Zhang Yi Mou is working on his upcoming blockbuster, Shadow, that is due to release on 2018.
But to get to this point, one needs to work hard. Of course, he has years and years worth of cinematic experience. So who's Zhang Yi Mou and what's his back story?
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| Zhang Yi Mou. Taken from IMDB. |
Throughout the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, he left school and started working as a farm laborer and later worked at a cotton textile. During the 7 years working at a cotton textile, he took up painting and still photography. He even sold his blood just to buy his first camera.
In 1978, Beijing Film Academy reopened his doors to new students. Interested, Zhang Yi Mou applied but got rejected due to his age was over the regulation age for admission, and also he did not have any academic qualifications. He decided to appeal and show a portfolio of his personal photography works to the Ministry of Culture. He was successful and was admitted to the Faculty of Cinematography.
After he graduated, he was sent to work for the Guangxi Film Studio. He soon discovers there was a lack of directors because of the Cultural Revolution. He obtained permission to start making his own films.
And thus, the beginning of his journey on cinematic films.
The first film he worked, One and Eight directed by Zhang Jun Zhao, and also another film that he worked on, Yellow Earth by Chen Kai Ge, were huge successes at the Hong Kong Film Festival and helped to bring new Chinese cinema to the world.
He soon went on and created more and more films, including Not One Less.
Spoiler alert below! It is best experience a movie blindly (at least that is how I feel), so if you also feel like that, better enjoy both Not One Less first before continue reading below.
 |
| English DVD cover of Not One Less |
Not One Less (一个都不能少)
Not One Less is a film directed by Zhang Yi Mou, obviously. It is a story about a 13 year old young lady, Wei Minzhi, substituting a teacher that needs to leave for a month. Without any prior experience, she has to face multiple obstacles, including the class biggest troublemaker.One day, while being just an under age child, the class troublemaker has to leave to town to find a job because of poverty. As the teacher promised Wei Minzhi that she will have an extra 10 yuan of salary if she can make sure that all students did not drop nor change school. This forces her to also make a trip to the city, to find her student, and to get him back to school. Instead, she bought back something more than that...
This film... Well for one, the messages of the movie were delivered well. The economic gap between urban and rural population, the innocence of young child being stubborn and many more were pretty obvious to the viewers.
I was never a big fan of Chinese film that is stylized like this. The whole film can be best described as neutral. The film made me felt like I should be feeling various emotions throughout the film, but the way it was film caused me to not able to feel the emotions inside me when I'm watching those scenes.
Maybe I should give it another proper try on films containing this kind of style.
Zhang Yi Mou awards, and his future
He won way too many awards to be listed here one by one. But most noticeably, he is well recognized enough that he was chosen to direct the Beijing portion of closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics and also both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.Most of his films, yes most of it, has nomination for multiple awards. This includes Not One Less won the Golden Lion award in 1999.
Today, Zhang Yi Mou is working on his upcoming blockbuster, Shadow, that is due to release on 2018.
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