Media Review: Little Big Master五個小孩的校長

“Little Big Master” (五個小孩的校長) is a Hong Kong movie released in 2015, which directed and written by Adrian Kwan-Shun Fai (關信輝). The movie was about how the retire principal from a prestigious kindergarten saving a verge of closure of kindergarten and in the process that rekindle her hope for education.
 Lu Hui Hong (starring by Yeung Chin Wah), a principal of prestigious kindergarten decide to retire early, because of the different educational philosophy and the poor condition of her body. One day, she saw the news that a kindergarten from New Territories is facing closure. Principal Lu decided to help those five children and their families and accepted to becoming the principal in a monthly salary of $4,500 Hong Kong dollars. Out there, her jobs are not only to be a teacher or principal, but also as a cleaner and driver. And through these experiences, it exposed the mutual help between parents can make a human touch and everyone dreams of hope. And the principal Lu faith of efforts to meet every challenges, have been wrote the best of humanity's most brilliant side in this movie.

For how the movie reflecting the society, the story of “Little” involves social status, the educational issues, just like “helicopter parent” in Hong Kong ‘怪獸家長’ and Hong Kong's education system problems of “if you do not pay, you will lose the opportunity to learn in school”. This film also demonstrates to the audience that the lowest social strata of the people lives (poverty and other social problems). And base on the true story of Lu Hui Hong life-led teaching, there have some depicting in the different roles of the family. For example, South Asian families, May-December marriage families and receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance families in Hong Kong. Also, the gender role also been reflected in this film. It is shown that there are more female can host external in Hong Kong. As Principal Lu, she is a well educated middle class and not relies on her husband. Also, excluded with her kindles, it can see that she is career-focused woman in this story that suitable to describe many female in Hong Kong nowadays.

About the director and this works, the director Kwan early works are “Life is a Miracle”(生命因愛動聽), “The Miracle Box”(天作之盒) and other reputation movies. Compared with the “Little Big Master”, although there is no religious overtone, but his sensational technique is still here and emphasize the propositions that goodness of Human. For example, using the song喝采 to bring out the conjugal love between the main actor and actress as well as inspire principal Lu within the plot. It can see the lyrics‘路上我願給你輕輕扶 你會使我感到好驕傲  幸福快樂陪著你去找一生美好’ echo to the drama plot.

 And as Kwan previous works, every film seems to be not exist of any bad person, even those just have the real estate hegemony of village bullies in this movie. Kwan is always wanted to show the good of humanity, in these stories; there is often without a bad character. In this film, even if the story needed the plot of bad character are still just glossed over. 

Words : 577 

Reference :Cheuk, P. T. (2003). Hong Kong New Wave cinema. Hong Kong: Cosmos Books Ltd. 

Turner, G. (1998). Film as social practice (2^nd ed.). London: Routledge. 

Student Name : Hui Shu YiStudent No : 10561590 / 21619705