Since I have a little free time to spare these days, I’ve been trying to catch up on all the Chinese films I’ve missed out on during the first 32 years of my life. 

Before coming to China the only Chinese films I had seen were the Hong Kong variety–inevitably dubbed and starring Jackie Chan.  Oh yeah, and I did see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  That was a good one.  OK, so I have mostly seen martial arts movies.

The last two weeks I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons a little bit as well as brush up on my Chinese listening skills.  I still keep the subtitles on, but I try to match the words I’m reading with the few words that I know and recognize.  It’s been encouraging to be able to catch certain phrases and isolated sentences in Chinese.

So I started with one of the more famous Chinese film directors, Zhang Yimou.  This week I watched three movies he directed: Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, and Not One Less.  The first two movies were done well (very artistic) and painted an interesting picture of various periods of Chinese history/culture.  But they were also hard for me to get through because of the "tragedy factor".  It’s hard to watch the plight of people caught up in inflexible cultural expectations mixed with the damgaging impact of sinful human nature. 

You see it happening and you cringe and you hope things will turn out all right, but often (I think) in these Chinese films "the captain goes down with the ship" (and often the crew goes with him…)  Of the first two films, I would recommend Raise the Red Lantern.  I know this one is available in America.  Besides being somewhat informative into some past Chinese traditions, it also shows you the intrinsic problem with the whole idea of polygamy (i.e. having multiple concubines.)

The third movie, Not One Less, was a lot different and a lot more enjoyable to watch.  It is not without its hardship.  I think hardship has been so ingrained into the history of this country it’s almost impossible for Chinese art not to reflect it–but that’s an outsider’s perspective I guess.  Not One Less tells the story of a young Chinese teacher who is "substituting" for one month in a rural mountain village.  She is only 13 years old so not much older than her students.  She has been enlisted to teach this class and to make sure that no student drops out or leaves school for any reason.  When one of the students takes off for the city, she, of course, has to go and find him and bring him back.

What was really powerful about this movie for me was the similarity between the movie’s plot and Christ’ parable of the lost sheep.  The teacher innocently forsakes the "99" (other students) to go after the one who has wandered off.  She is heartbroken because he is lost in the city and she will stop at nothing to find him.  It’s very moving when you think about how this is what our Lord did for us…and does for us minute-by-minute.  I think some or all of the elements of the story are based on true events…or at least, the actors are playing themselves (?)  I highly recommend this movie.  It is very spiritual and the ending will not disappoint.

Two thumbs, WAY UP!  I’ll let you know if I watch any more Chinese gems worth renting…