(rated G, 106 mins.)
Opens limited March 10th
From the Director of “Raise The Red Lantern” comes the true story of Wei Minzhi, a 13 year old girl from a poor countryside village, who is charged with keeping all 28 pupils in school until their teacher returns from a month-long trip. When the class mischief-maker Zhang Huike disappears, sent to work by his invalid mother, Wei hatches childish schemes to earn the money for a bus ticket to go to the city and look for him. Although she and the children meet with callous indifference from the adults they encounter, she eventually finds support at a TV station, where she goes to advertise for her missing pupil. Her determined persistence is never really understood or needed, but perhaps with the recent China crackdowns on filmmaking in their home country, director Zhang Yimou may have found safety in such a touching, simple tale.
