2024-05-04 15:37:03
An old elementary school in rural China. Teacher Gao, the only teacher, will be away from school for a month to take care of his elderly mother. The village chief decides to pay 13-year-old Wei Minchi 50 won a month and brings her in as a substitute teacher. The number of students at this school was originally 40, but I heard that the number decreased to 28 as students left for the city one by one. Teacher Gao promises that if her number of students does not decrease for a month, she will give her an extra 10 won, and she leaves. However, it is not easy for a young girl who has just graduated from elementary school to teach students. Attendance is called every day and the contents of the textbook are written on the blackboard and the children are dictated to, but children who look down on their younger teachers only get into trouble. In particular, Wei becomes very discouraged when she loses several of her precious pieces of chalk thanks to the most mischievous Zhang Huger. Then one day, a female student with a talent for running transfers to the city. Wei fights with the village chief, even hiding her students, but when Zhang Huige opens up, the number of her students decreases by one, and the 10 won ‘bonus’ goes to waste. However, a few days later, even Jang Huige stopped coming to school. Because his family was so poor, he went to the city to make money. Wei plots with her remaining students to retrieve Zhang Huge. Since she needs bus fare to get to the city, she decides to go to a brick factory with her children and transport bricks to raise money for travel expenses. Eventually, after many twists and turns, Wei arrives at the place where Zhang Huige works, but Zhang Huige is already missing…
◆ subject:
A film that makes you think about children who have to leave school due to poverty, the question of what education is, and true human values. However, the story is told in a light and cheerful manner, as if watching a documentary, rather than speaking in a heavy or low-key manner. A substitute teacher who has just graduated from elementary school is offered a salary of 50 won, so he plans to spend a month with the children with nosebleeds, but he is exhausted from the struggle with the children from the first day. Moreover, the village head and the teacher who were supposed to pay each other’s salary ended up putting it off. However, he is obsessed with ‘money’ to the point where he hides a child who is transferring to a city school, saying that he will give him 10 won more per month if the number of students does not decrease for a month, but he also goes out of his way to look for the child when a mischievous student skips school without permission. The highlight of the movie is Wei struggling with students to raise money to go to the city, and appearing on a TV program to find a missing student. This is a work that stands out thanks to the cast’s natural acting, which does not feel like acting, and director Jang Yi-mo’s directing skills, which are like a simple ink painting.
◆ Impression points:
The Chinese word Wonje (個都不能少) means ‘you can’t be short of even one thing.’ In the name of raising travel expenses to visit a student who has run away from home, the children and a young female teacher recklessly raise money by transporting bricks from a brick factory. There are several scenes in the movie where people fight over ‘money’, but even though the scenes reflect China’s reality without any addition or subtraction, I can’t help but feel that it’s a bit excessive. However, towards the middle of the film, director Jang Yi-mo begins to convey a calm emotion without any special technique in a scene that was only progressing bluntly. As Wei calculates with her children how many bricks they need to transport to pay for the car, her relationship with her previously awkward children grows closer. And the scene where 20 children drink little by little from the three bottles of cola they bought with insufficient money is so heartbreaking that it leaves a deep lasting impression. Please note that this work is based on a true story, and most of the performers are not actors but ordinary people who are cast locally and appear under their real names. They show the same appearance as in their real lives. The substitute teacher is played by Wei Minchi, a 13-year-old girl, the problem student is Zhang Huige, who is a real problem child, and Teacher Gao, the village chief, and the broadcasting station director are all real people. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1999, and was selected as the closing film at the Busan International Film Festival in the same year.
◆ director:
Director Zhang Yimou, along with Chen Kaige, is considered a representative fifth-generation Chinese director. 1988<붉은 수수밭>It received the world’s attention by winning the grand prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. It is evaluated as being visually outstanding, and is evaluated as having broken down the boundaries between commercial and art films by aiming to be a Chinese and global film at the same time. Because of his father, a member of the Kuomintang, he graduated from high school in 1966 and spent 10 years working in rural areas and textile factories in Shaanxi Province due to the Cultural Revolution. At this time, he became curious about photography and became so interested in photography that he sold his blood to buy a camera. In 1978, he entered the Department of Cinematography at Beijing Film University, and after graduating, he worked as a director for director Zhang Junjiao. <하나와 여덟>directed by Chen Kaige. <황토지> After honing his photography skills by filming other scenes, in 1988 he released his successful film, <붉은 수수밭>Complete. also <국두>(1990), when he won the Louis Buñuel Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the name Zhang Yimou became better known overseas than in China. The Chinese house structure and delicate depiction of women were highlighted. <홍등(大紅燈籠高高掛)>(1991), it has been criticized for missing a realistic perspective due to excessive formalism. He was inspired by this <귀주 이야기(秋菊打官司)>(1992), the self-reflection and realist aspects of Orientalism are emphasized. Afterwards, he created realistic depictions of ordinary Chinese families. <인생>(1994), a commercial film that combines 1930s Hollywood musicals and Hong Kong noir. <상하이 트라이어드 Shanghai Triad>(1995), depicting self-portraits of contemporary Chinese youth. <유화호호설(Keep Cool)>(1997), <책상 서랍 속의 동화>(1999), he has presented works in a variety of styles, and while not denying Chinese tradition, he has combined a modern way of thinking with a unique and sensitive eye, creating a variety of works with clear national characteristics and strong artistic influence. 2014 film starring Gong Li <5일의 마중>is praised for its visual excellence and is evaluated as having broken down the boundaries between commercial and art films by aiming to be both Chinese and global at the same time. As a recent work <원 세컨드>(2022), <만강홍: 사라진 밀서>(2023), etc.
EBS1’s ‘Famous Paintings of the World’, a program that shows carefully selected nostalgic masterpieces, airs every Saturday at 10:35 pm.
[Queen 김경은기자] Photo = EBS Famous paintings of the world
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2024-05-04 15:37:03