WeiMinzhiplaysWeiMinZhi,ZhangHuikeplaysZhangHuike,thevillagemayorplaysthevillagemayor...Asamatteroffact,andinaclearstatementofsort,thewholecastofthismoviearerealandordinarypeople.

　　ZhangYimouhasgonetheextraordinarymilestoletrealitytellthestories,storiesofthedeclineandpovertyinpartsofruralChina,ofheart-wrenchingconditionsforschoolsandeducationundersuchpoverty,ofheart-warmingspiritofhappy,livelyandadorablechildreninShuiquanschoolblissfullyignorantoftheircondition,andofthe13yearoldpeasantgirlWeiMizhi'ssinglemindeddeterminationfor"NotOneLess".

　　ThismovieisZhang'sdaringexperimenttouse"normalreality"totellreality,andhehasachievedconvincinglyhisgoal.Allcharactersinthismoviearereal,asinrealityreal.Theyarerealbecausetheyhavenomeansofbeingunreal,andthatisthewholepointofusingrealpeople.

　　WeiMinzhi'sself-display(sinceIcannotusethewordperformancehere)iswhatsheis:a13yearoldpoor,good-natured,no-nonsense,singlemindedandtenaciouspeasantgirl.Shequicklylearnstousehertoughnesstodisciplineorevenbullyherstudents.Sheseldomsmiles,butisactuallyaprettygoodleaderbecauseofherno-nonsenseandtoughnessandsinglemindedness.Sheisextremelytenaciousandisobsessedwith"NotOneLess".

　　Theblissfullyhappy10yearoldtrouble-makerandprospectkidmigrantworkerZhangHuike'sdisplayisjustsogoodthatitisalmostunreal.Thevillagemayorisanaturalreal.SunZhimei,thegirlwholostZhangHuikeinthecity,isalsoasrealasyoucanget.

　　ThepeopleIreallylikeinthismoviearethethreegirlstudentswhosleepinschool:ZhangMingshan,JiaoJieandMingXinhong.ZhangMingshanisjustsoprettyandadorable.Sheisalsosmartandisa"studentcadre".JiaoJiehasasuchvivacioussmileandhasalreadysomegoodbusinesssenseasshecomesupwiththemovingbrickideaandthecheatingonbusticketidea.MingXinhonglovestorun,andherfleetingsmileinthecarleavingforathletetrainingschoolissimplypriceless.

　　Ironically,notwithstandingthepoorconditioninShuiquanschool,Ifeelverywarmandtouchedbythegoodspiritofthechildren.Shuiquanschoolisactuallyworking,andworkingquitewell,thankstogoodteacherlikeGao,goodvillagemayorlikeTian,andalsotothe"studentcadre"system,allofwhicharelegacyofMao'sera.Justlookathowsmart,creativeandparticipatingthestudentsareintryingtosolvethebusfairproblemforWeiMinzhi,youknowsomethingisveryrightinthatschool.Oneoftherightthingsinthatschoolisthe"studentcadres"likethepretty,smartandcaringZhangMingshanwho'stitleis"studycommissar"(xuexiweiyuan),usuallythemostresponsiblestudentinclassandateacher'sfavorite.Wealsoseeaboy"studentcadre"inchargeofmorning"militarydrill"andflagraiseceremony.

　　WeiMinzhiismostofthetimeanuncaringteacher,excepttheissueof"NotOneLess"whichinvolvesherpay.Theonewhorealcaresandhelpsouttheclassisthebeautiful"studycommissar"ZhangMingshan.ShewritesoutastudentnamelistforWeitodorollcalls.WhenWeisitsoutsidelettingtroublemakerZhangHuikereignfree,shetellsWeithatitisher(Wei)dutyasateachertodosomething.WhenHuikeknocksthepreciouschalksofftheground,shepicksupthesechalksandtellingthetuggingandstrugglingWeiandHuikedon'tstepon