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Content: Contains one comedic scene with rear male nudity. Suitable for teenagers and adults.

Not One Less

(China, 1999)

The teacher in an impoverished rural village must leave for a month to tend to his ailing mother. Unable to find a substitute, the village chief hires an awkward thirteen-year-old girl to manage the unruly children, some of whom live in the one-room school house with her. The school has a high dropout rate because the poor villagers encourage their children to withdraw from school to work. Before the regular teacher leaves, he tells his young substitute that she will receive a bonus on his return—if there is not one less student.

The girl, nothing if not tenuous, goes to great lengths to earn that bonus. After his intense, highly regarded dramas (Ju-Dou, Raise the Red Lantern), Zhang chose to make this sweet, gentle comedy using non-professional child actors. The result is a delightful family film that also works very well with college students and adults.

Content: Suitable for all ages.

Eat Drink Man Woman

(Taiwan, 1994)

Ang Lee, director of The Hulk and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, made his name with this riotously funny drama about a famous widowed chef, Mr. Chu, whose three unmarried daughters are both a joy and a burden. A teacher, an airline executive and a fast-food worker, they walk their own paths in a modern world dramatically different from the one in which their parents grew up.

Chu, who has lost his sense of taste, uses his best friend, Wen, to taste things for him. Chu can tell by Wen's face if a dish is too sweet or spicy. Emotionally reticent, he shows his love by creating fantastic Sunday dinners for his daughters, which they call "The Sunday Torture Session."

The title of the film refers to the Chinese philosophy of balance, or Yin and Yang. Food (hot and sour soup), marriage and life are meant to be in harmony. If not, everything becomes chaotic. All of the Chus are emotionally repressed, but they begin to find balance, harmony and fulfillment. High school students find the themes of parents and adult children compelling and funny. One of the great family comedies.

Content: Contains one very brief sexual scene which suggests but does not show nudity.

I Not Stupid

(Singapore, 2002)

Singapore, with a land mass just three times the size of Washington D.C. and 4.5 million people, is one of the world's economic powers. It's more modern than most American cities and remarkably free of crime. The population is mostly Chinese but the main language is a dialect of English that Singaporeans jokingly call "Singlish." Singapore's rigorous educational system, and like many in Asia, is cruelly intolerant of under-achievers.

Which brings us to the film's three grade-school pals—Terry (who is chubby and rich), Boon-Hock (who helps at his mother's noodle stand mornings and afternoons), and Kok-Pin (a talented artist). All three have been placed into the low-status, low-achievers class. Enlightened teachers would see the boys as having specific, treatable learning difficulties, but in their school, they are dismissed as slackers. Their mothers drive them relentlessly toward a diploma in a quest for the 3 Cs—career, car and credit card.

Director Jack Neo has coaxed terrific performances out of his young actors, especially Terry, one of the most loveable comedic characters ever. The result is a film that is at once hysterically funny, deeply moving and painfully real. Through trials, the boys' friendship grows stronger and, in the end, they emerge hopeful and appreciated. A huge hit at the Seattle Film Festival, I Not Stupid plays well to children and adults.

Content: Suitable for all audiences.

King of Masks

(China, 1996)

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