Not One Less

Not One Less is the type of film that I think Dudley Andrew would expect a film class to watch. First, this film is original, the story it tells and in the way in which it delivers the story. The director clearly strived for realism when making his film. Not only is the story believable and possibly true, but it does not rely on action or unnecessary elements in order to excite the audience. The realism of the film was strengthened by the fact that it was made in the style of a documentary. This can have a bad affect on the popularity of the film because this can take away for the entertainment factor of a film but, ultimately, the most important part a foreign film, according to Dudley Andrew, is the knowledge and wisdom one can gain from the message of the story. I also think that Not One Less is a strong foreign film do to its local qualities found throughout the film. The documentary style of the film and the use of realistic characters, give the feeling that the film simply follows regular people through their everyday lives. This allows Not One Less to leave out appeals to the global culture that you sometimes see in foreign films. The realistic and local qualities of the film allowed it to portray important messages to the audience, it allows the audience to come to the realization of what is important in life. And that by caring for each other people and communities can be truly happy, that you do not need riches and an easy life style, but by helping each other the human race can truly achieve happiness. Not One Less is a strong film that gives credit to Chinese films, and shows that they are not all pointless martial arts films.

"Swades"

Swades gives me a good impression of Indian cinema and the movies it produces. First, the film was well made which makes it easy for the viewer to watch. The film was clearly produced with care to detail, while this may have to do with a better budget than some films, this is still a notable quality. Swades also has a very good story, the writer put a lot of thought into the message he is giving the audience and did a very effective job of setting it up and leaving a lasting impression. I also think this film has perfected the art of showing local qualities, while at the same time making the movie enjoyable for foreign viewers. Much of the film takes place in a remote Indian village, which I felt was at least somewhat accurately portrayed. The film shows several local scenes and customs, such as a village meeting, and even addresses local issues such as arranged marriage and electricity problems. The film does deny the local culture’s trend of breaking out into song and dance routines. The film does however, show these thing in a way that is enjoyable for global culture that might not be used to these qualities. On the other hand, the fact that this is easy for global viewers perhaps means that the film conceals some of the local culture in exchange for entertainment. In an article read earlier Dudley Andrew said, “A course in study of world cinema…should put students inside unfamiliar conditions of viewing rather than bringing the unfamiliar handily to them”. This suggests that a film such as Swades is not a foreign film that is a good representation of local qualities, and does not help to educate the viewer. I would agree with Andrew on this statement.