Best political documentary EVER! There's backstabbing, vote buying, empty campaign promises, and ruthless smear campaigns. And it all takes place in a 3rd grade classroom in China, where the class is holding their first-ever election for Class Monitor, rather than having the teacher appoint a student to the position. The candidates are Luo Lei, a cute little fascist (his opponent's word, not mine) who's been Class Monitor for the past two years. He's the son of two cops and it shows in the way he exerts his authority as Class Monitor. Then there's Cheng Cheng, the one fat kid in China, who's ridiculously cocky and a bit of a Karl Rove protege. Yet despite his posturing, he won me over with his penchant for wearing only his underwear whenever he's hanging out at home. And finally there's Xiaofei, the lone female candidate, who cries during the "talent show" portion of the campaign when the boys in class start calling her names, but ultimately holds her own against the two XY specimens.
This movie is awesome--so interesting to see the democratic process at work in a Communist country, and to watch the parents as they encourage devious campaign strategies and write their children's speeches. I laughed out loud a bunch of times, and totally fell for these little cuties. While I was solidly on Team Xiaofei at the beginning (and was totally with all the girls who started crying when Xiaofei got teased), Cheng Cheng totally had my vote by the end. But who did his classmates choose? You'll have to "Watch Instantly" to find out!!!!!
Rating: 讚許!
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1 comment:
Kate, just so you know, this is not something that normal people do. Not that you were shooting for normal at any point. But actually, I might watch some of these now that I know they exist and you've reviewed them. Oh, and nice writing! -BenG
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