Meili de dajiao (2003) User Reviews

Worthwhile, but with flaws

[cavefish-2 · 5/10 · 2 February 2007]

I had high hopes for this film because the subject matter interested me. The basic story was worthwhile: the development of a friendship and understanding between two teachers with very different backgrounds and their common goal of educating impoverished and isolated children so they could have hope for a better future. Unfortunately, I felt the movie was cheapened by various soap operatic and completely unnecessary side stories: teacher Xia and the unwanted pregnancy, and the affair teacher Zhang was having with the father of a student. To top it off, both their love interests were men of no admirable qualities. The city fellow was a control freak with absolutely no empathy for his wife s passion for helping the children. The country bumpkin was a puny and indecisive moron whose current wife beat him regularly with no resistance from him whatsoever. The background music was close to unbearable. Still, many scenes with the children were charming and inspiring... managing to still salvage the movie.

Giving up comfort to teach the poor children

[brainfertilizer · 10/10 · 12 October 2005]

Great movie. It changed my fiancée's life, gave her a goal in life that we will fulfill together: to move to an impoverished village and teach, hopefully helping reinforce the importance of education.

Teacher Xia comes from Beijing to help teach kids in an impoverished village. She is befriended by a local (Teacher Zhang) who had endeavored to teach the children earlier, but had run up against the limits of her own lack of education. There is a good amount of "City Mouse - Country Mouse" culture shock as Teacher Xia gets accustomed to life in a literally dry county. This movie shows the nobility and strength of human spirit when people are faced with nearly nothing. It celebrates the sacrifice of those who give of themselves to help, and reminds us that we all get more when we willingly give up material comfort for the benefit of someone else.

If you are a Chinese language student, the speech is pretty easy to understand, not much problem with the accent.

What was that?

[ram-powers · 3/10 · 16 July 2006]

We saw this movie because I am going to China in a few days and came across this movie in the video store. We had seen The Road Home, a great Chinese teacher in a poor village film; and I am afraid we were expecting something like that. Scenes abruptly started and abruptly ended with fades that was intended to show time passing but instead brought the viewer out of the story and reminded them they were watching a movie. Emotionally I was never attached; there was no build-up and they would jump to the next scene too quickly for me to get caught up in it.

Despite there being English subtitles we concluded there should be cultural subtitles. Despite me being familiar with East Asian culture I still found myself confused at times with what was going on, only to sometimes catch on later.

Eh, I guess you have to get through the okay ones to get to the great ones. Again, if you want to see a great Chinese-Teacher-Living-in-a-Poor-Village-Film, see The Road Home.

A fake story with a huge touch of reality

[zzmale · 10/10 · 2 December 2003]

This film is dedicated to the two types of people like the two female protagonists: the one bravely faces the personal tragedy and moves on to help others, and the one who gives up better life styles to help those in the remote and backward regions.

Although the story is a fake, there are many in real life who are the carbon copy of the two female protagonists. This film was made to salute to these people who sacrificed so much for the kids in the undeveloped regions of China.

u can't get this film as a rental anywhere

[wjwong51 · 10/10 · 29 July 2006]

"Pretty Big Feet"(Chinese title) can't be rented any where. The only way to see a great film such as this is to DL it, burn it, pass it around and tell all the people out there that a wonderfully gripping and touching film as this should never be missed by anyone. sure the plot is fake, but the the lead actress (Ping Ni) is fabulous and a credit to immortalizing the rural cultural life in Western China. The dialouge is not campy and subs are okay. Not a complicated plot, but a pleasant clash of rural life and the modernizing outreach of the new China. See more of her in "Loach is Fish Too" (2005). Both movies will tug at your heart strings. And Guys ... don't be afraid to cry, it's okay. Recommended also of this genre, 'The Road Home' (1999), starring a young Zhang ZiYi and 'Not One Less'(1999). All great films you'll remember.

The comedy of one civilization hitting the other.

[foreign_movie_buff · 10/10 · 17 January 2004]

Watching this movie will enable you to see the steep differences in China between different locales and social classes. You will understand why the Chinese government enacts strict rules on the free moving of the population in the country. From Beijing to the inland school, it was one civilization to the other; the plight of the kids and the help from the teacher to encourage them to fight poverty by studying hard, is really moving. Very funny at some points but the whole movie brought tears to my eyes. The optimistic spirits and the no-whining outlook of the world, of these people, are really moving. You see struggle but it's struggle from people with a stubborn vision: get out of poverty. Stubborn like a donkey, as they say in the movie.

Very touching. Worth seeing at least once.

[Hansda_Sowvendra_Shekhar · 9/10 · 29 March 2006]

I had an opportunity to see this wonderful film at the recently concluded Jamshedpur film festival and I consider myself really lucky for being able to do so. My review, I'm sure isn't quite upto the mark, simply because my knowledge in Chinese films doesn't really go beyond Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. But this isn't a review. This is just an expression, a sort of a feedback to a commendable job that has gone into the making of this film.

The story is set in a very arid region in China where a young, single mother Zhang (Pi Ying) runs a school, the only school in that region. A beautiful city-bred young woman Zia (Yuan Quan) comes to join her as the new teacher. Life is difficult, and Zia finds it absolutely hard to adjust to conditions at her new work place. But a very strong bond develops between these two very different woman coming from totally disparate backgrounds.

I've just given a rough idea of what the film is all about. Although I want to type more I can't really do it for the fear of divulging some spoilers. Plus, maybe this film is too serious to be discussed in this flippant tone that I've deployed. However, this is one worth-talking-about film.

There are certain scenes in this movie that really stand out and are there inside the head even days after having seen this film. The relationship between the two women has been portrayed very beautifully. Zhang's outburst at a Beijing mall is quite powerful and touching. That one scene, perhaps, sums up the spirit of the entire picture--how far could a person could go for the sake of others? The opening sequence is equally engaging. The rugged Chinese landscape make for a very nice visual experience. The lead actors are awesome. Both Pi Ying and Yuan Quan look very good. However, I should make special mention of this child actor (his screen name is Da He). He'll leave you in splits and, in the climax, in tears.

I'd like to recommend this film to everyone, whether they're serious cinema afficionados or whatever. Movies like this shouldn't be missed for anything.