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"He finds an unlikely competitor in a young girl Liu Guinv (Liu Haocun), who wants some film to decorate a lampshade for reparation. After a series of mischiefs fighting for a reel of film, which finally reaches the regulated farm where the movie is due to be screened by the veteran film projector Fan Dianying (Fan Wei), Jiusheng's concealed identity is at risk of being discovered and his foe-to-friend bond with Guinv, who is more or less his daughter's age, takes a familiar but no less affecting father-daughter trajectory. And ONE SECOND hits the bull's eye with its ending, a tactical misunderstanding brings Jiusheng back to Guinv, and his ensuing disappointment soon changes into a philosophical sigh, he is accorded a second chance to be a father figure, whereas, the film footage, buried and gone, acts like a germane symbol of a bygone era."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

One Second is a small-town period piece about a rough man obsessed with seeing a stolen newsreel. When the newsreel is stolen by a young orphan girl he goes on the chase.

The reasons are shown over time, but the thing you see right away is the importance of film in the movie's world. Townspeople are obsessed with movies, and theater owners are respected to a remarkable degree. Who knew?

The film has an interesting structure - much of the middle is devoted to saving some damaged film, which is surprisingly absorbing, but other parts are pretty dramatic. And the central relationship between the man and the orphan girl is rather remarkable as it shifts and alters in ways that make sense even when they surprise.

While I am more a fan of directory Yimou Zhang's blockbusters than of his smaller village-life movies , this is a genuinely enjoyable and affecting film that is well worth watching.

Zhang Yimou, in general, is the director of the epical drammas. But all the while he manages to tell little stories with a certain cynicism and black humor. One second is one of these films that tells us a very cheerful story with touching tones of hearthwarming. The film is a kind of Chinese "Cinema Paradiso", which is full of love for cinema and for this seventh art. But Yimou not only speaks of love for cinema but also of a friendship and solidarity between a prisoner who has escaped from a concentration camp and a child that their friendship is in fact based on the roots about the interests of cinema. Despite all this good intention that the director wants to put forward, unfortunately the film is unable to end this brilliant idea with a decent final blow and leaves the spectator with a dry mouth disappointing and perplexed without giving the coup de grace that otherwise would have been a sensational ending. .

After a long line of patriotic films, which won't resonate beyond China's borders, One Second was a very welcome film.

The film is about an escaped convict who wants to see his daughter in a newsreel, the reel of which becomes the focal point of the movie. Throughout the movie, the main protagonist chases an orphan girl who steals the newsreel featuring his daughter. At times absurb (reflecting the times and accompanying behavior), at others humourous, the movie is overall a warm, touching tale of how two complete strangers come together, filling a void in the other.

Zhang Yimou once again captures the beauty of the surrounding area, even if often nothing more than desert and a drab village. There wasn't a character out of place nor an actor who failed to deliver.

Highly recommend.

Very rare type of story that you don't normally see. It's unique because it has a simple and genuine storyline but beautifully executed and got carried away till the end. Highly recommended!!

I was lucky enough to see Zhang Yimou's "One Second" at the Toronto International Film Festival. Now, I'm not well versed in Chinese cinema, so I really didn't know what to expect in terms of the common genres, the narrative style, the pacing, etc.

All I can say is, I was very pleasantly surprised. The film is basically a road trip movie about two protagonists who really don't want anything to do with each other, but go through a journey that ultimately, yet ever so gradually, transforms their relationship. The plot was well-written with plausible events and very witty use of dramatic irony. In fact, this charmingly facetious tone is established early on in the movie eliciting chuckles from the audience all the way to the end.

On the topic of character development, what stood out for me was the balanced attention to both the male and female leads. At no point in the movie did I feel that one character was merely supporting the other. While it is not so rare for films to have more than one main character, I particularly enjoyed the coexistence of a male and female character in the lead roles.

I am very accustomed to seeing movies that praise individualism, the American Dream and the Nietzschean Will to Power, I had yet to see a decent film that championed communist ideals (I'm sure there must be quite a few out there - please pardon my lack of exposure and experience). This movie is centered around a propaganda piece and provides a "real-life" example of events that illustrate the ideals of camaraderie, solidarity and sympathy for the fellow man. Two characters who at first only care for their own "individual" and "selfish" well being, find themselves putting each other's best interest ahead of their own. And trust me, this is not done in a superficial, pedantic way that'll make your eyes roll (as it sometimes does in such films). In a sense, the film about a propaganda film IS an effective "propaganda" piece in and of itself.

It's hard to judge acting in a language/culture that is not too familiar. This is because any slight exaggeration or downplay of emotion may be a feature of the target culture and not "bad acting". Having said that, I found the acting in this movie realistic and believable. Organic comedy/drama bubbling out of the very carefully crafted scenarios and situations.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie and look forward to exploring Zhang Yimou's other features.

Whist in search of a lost film roll of utmost importance, One Second takes us on a delightful trip through the desert. The plot reminds strongly of Cinema Paradiso and doesn't add anything innovative to the mix. But it holds enough clever twists and turns to engage the audience.

The movie suffers from some minor flaws but can hide them behind the beautiful cinematography. Meanwhile, its feel-good quality prevents it from living up to the subtlety and nuance of Yimuo's earlier work. And rather than a celebration of film, it almost feels as if they are actually celebrating propaganda. Furthermore, the main character keeps making funny decisions - often of staying silent - which puts him in increasingly dire trouble.

Yet, the performances are firm, the imagery is occasionally exceptional, and Yimou's direction is refined. It's better than most movies these days, but the story itself fails to reach higher ground.

Anyone unfamiliar with the larger career arc of Yimou Zhang can be excused for underestimating this heartfelt film. If it is not a masterpiece, then it is at least a worthy example from a master. It is, of course, a takeoff on Cinema Paradiso (1988). I infer that this film is vastly truer to Cultural Revolution China than that one was to early post-WWII Italy. I think it rings true. I hope that someone who was there "in the day" will comment.

"Zhang" (Yi Zhang) manages to escape from a forced labour camp just as the Chinese cultural revolution is in full swing. His plan is to make it back to his remote home where he hopes to see a screening of a short propaganda newsreel extolling the merits of socialism that features his young daughter. The thing about these multi-reel movies, though, is that they are constantly being circulated, damaged, stolen and even covered in sand, so actually finding one in a working condition near somewhere capable of exhibiting it is no mean feat for this increasingly malnourished and frustrated gent. Then he encounters the wandering "Liu" (Haocun Liu) who also requires the film - but for an entirely different, and probably more practical purpose, so whilst trying to obtain it from her and stay one step ahead of the pursuing authorities, his work is cut out for him. As his quest proceeds, we are introduced by way of flashbacks, to just who he is, who she is, and why we are all chasing this moment encapsulated in nitrate and both actors deliver well. This reminded me, in many ways, of "Cinema Paradiso" (1988) insofar as it also really emphasises just how important cinema was to a small town community. At how revered, almost, the projectionist - in this case "Mr. Movie" (Wei Fan) - was, and despite the fact that the screen was little better than a king-sized bed sheet, at just how the population gathered to see whatever the authorities deemed fit for their consumption with eagerness and zeal. It's thinly veiled critique on all things "party" is disguised in some really quite dark humour with some down right disrespectful dialogue that ridicules the very principles of any one doctrine state: ostensibly benign or just plain authoritarian, things very rarely changed for the people scraping a living the same way they'd done for centuries. The scenes with Wei Fan, especially towards the end, do raise a smile and then there's the slight futility to it that works well, too. At times the photography gives us quite a powerful degree of intimacy and at other times it stands back and allows us to enjoy, or query, this man's purpose as you begin to wonder will he ever see the film and just what did he ever do to merit such persistent attempts to recapture him! It can be a little sluggish at times, but the last half hour makes it worth a watch.

In the last couple of month, or maybe the last year I have seen maybe 10 movies about famous directors love for the cinema...of course one of China's best will do the same. Love for the cinema with a bit of family dynamic sprinkled in.

It is not as visually spectacular as other films from Zhang Yimou but it's still beautifully shot and the cinema scenes really have impact. To involve the entire village to clean up an entire reel that was dragged on the road, it was just not only very powerful chinese propaganda but also a very direct way for Yimou to show us how much he respects the film..and to present it all on the "silver" screen via back-light. Such a great couple of scenes.

Yeah, a lot of it also reminded me of communist Romania and they way they all gathered at the films to mindlessly watch anything, even newsreels, all too familiar. Not for me, but from the stories I heard.

There were lot of running and chasing in this movie. For the story itself, the contents were not that much, just tried to tell you how tough the Chinese people had to deal with during the Culture Revolution. The time frame background of this movie was about the last two or three years of the long 10 years long purgatory-like life and living in a remote and poor village. The Chinese under the iron-clad control of the Chinese Communist Party were suffering but already tamed thoroughly by Chairman Mao and his peers with forceful brain-washing feed. The story itself was actually not that complicated and by modern day standard, actually quite boring, a single and direct line of the development and, well, very very slow.

Two flaws that immediately caught by my eyes: 1) Too many almost looked new bicycles. It's totally absurd during that poor era. And all the bikes not only looked quite new, well maintained, looked like manufactured by the same bike factory.

2) The little brother of Sissy Liu was a wrong cast. Just like those bikes, he not only not looked a bit similar to his older sister but simply looked like a modern day kid attending private school.

I could also tell that the director and the screenplay writers were very very careful not to step on the red lines stipulated by CCP's censorship.

They only feather-touched the unfair injustice when any person could be damned as a criminal and suffered so many years in hard labor and imprisonment.

The song sang by the leading young actress after the movie was not only not good but also very unnecessary.

Watchable, but not especially outstanding.

It's drama reveals part of the history back to chairman Mo era. The encounter of two strangers looking for the same item for different reasons is the main storyline. It's quite interesting for what happening between them especially for the family values being demonstrated as well as two strangers interaction. The movie is directed by Zhang Yimou, that's I found out after watching and it explain why it's so good.

Winds sweep over desert dunes that extend to the horizon where a man walks alone. Unknown to him a girl follows in his footsteps. Encountering one another in the next town it is discovered that they each desperately want the same thing, to steal a film reel. Each has a very compelling reason for the theft. The man and the girl find ways to take the reel from each other, but eluding the community is a different matter. In any other place but China in the 1970s the theft of a film reel might go unnoticed, however here watching a film is a community event. The struggle for the reel assumes epic proportions as the reasons become clear why the man and the girl need the film so much.

Zhang Yimou said in a video introduction to this Toronto international film festival screening that he was in his 20s during the 1970s. Whole communities watched films together back then. Being in packed theaters left a deep impression on him. In One Second he takes people back to this time where everyone sings along and knows the dialogue by heart. One Second is funny and touching at the same time. The cinematography is colorful, crisp, intentional, and well defined. The little acts of kindness in the film have deep impacts upon the lives of the characters, and it is uplifting to see this.

Always faithful to a grand style and beautiful cinematography, Zhang leaves the politically correct History of his first films to dedicate himself to a much darker chapter in China's recent History, the Cultural Revolution.

The odyssey of an escaped political prisoner, just to see a single second, on film, of his daughter, who he was forced to abandon at the age of eight, when imprisoned in a re-education camp.

Along the way he encounters the desert, which is the image of an apathetic China, hostage to revolutionary slogans, the cult of political heroes, but where destroyed families seek the strength to rebuild their lives, after the political storm finally calms down.

Zhang adds poetry to the denunciation of the enormous crime that was the Cultural Revolution. Some will feel that this constitutes a concession to the regime. I prefer to see the work as a contribution to national reconciliation, after the difficult times of authoritarian totalitarianism.

A film made for a foreign audience ignorant of Chinese history and recent cinematography. If you have seen Chinese movies before, don't bother watching this one. If you have never seen any, switch to Zhang's earliest ones. If you want rural melancholy, see Bi Gan's Kaili Blues or Antonioni's Chung Kuo - Cine instead.

The only part that I really liked about the film is the two lead characters, who go through a vast transformation. A villain becomes a hero and back many times. Of course, it is a characteristic of Chinese cinema that there are no distinctly good or bad characters. This, at its best, leads to a very artistic and chill vibe. In One Second, though, it is more a token of Zhang avoiding the official red lines set to the topic of Chairman Mao's years of turmoil. The village boys are real villains who do nasty things, but they get through with no pay. What is disturbing is that their violence is somewhat airbrushed away behind the frame. As if the director agreed to their acts. The result is an immensely politically correct and thus boring storyline, with an all too obvious tear-puller placed to the end.