The winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, Zhang Yimou's study of the widening gulf between rural and urban China is further proof of both his new-found creative freedom since the departure of Gong Li and the growing influence of Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami on his directorial style, writes David Parkinson.

Ironically, this tale of a teenage teacher who abandons her duties and heads for the city to recover an absconded student is heavily reminiscent of The Story of Qiu Ju, in which Gong exhibited similar tenacity in seeking justice for her injured husband. Furthermore, Zhang returns to that film's neo-realist methodology by employing a largely non-professional cast and frequently shooting with hidden cameras to ensure authenticity. However, it's the Kiarostami-inspired humanism that has attracted the most attention, prompting some critics to denounce the picture as government propaganda - a charge that takes no account of the story's underlying socio-political agenda.

Although not yet of high-school age, 13-year-old Wei (Wei Minzhi) is hired by Party managers to replace the village teacher while he attends to a family crisis. With so many children being lured away to work in the nearby city, Wei is promised an extra 10 yuan if the entire class is still in situ on the teacher's return. Incapable of educating her charges, Wei is content to babysit them, until the class terror, Zhang (Zhang Huike), runs away and the accidentally resourceful Wei is forced to follow him to secure her precious bonus. Based on a true story, this is a highly pessimistic analysis of consumer boom China, in which financial gain has replaced idealism as the prime motivation. There is no sense of honour either in Wei's acceptance of her post or her soul-destroying pursuit of Zhang. All that matters is her paltry reward. Yet, in focusing on Wei's crusade, the film rather overlooks Zhang's equally desperate plight and the fact that he only went in search of work to care for his ailing, widowed mother.

Bureaucratic obfuscation, media exploitation, the status of women and the lack of a coherent education policy are all explored here, as is the issue of black market juvenile labour, although censorship problems prevented Yimou from discussing the darkest side of the modern urban economy. However, the most telling critique is the allegorical suggestion that since 1948 Beijing's idea of governance has been to imprison everyone in a single rickety edifice and hope for the best.

Propagandist rhetoric? Hardly.