Xiao cai feng (2002)

Director:

Sijie Dai

Writers:

Sijie Dai (novel)
Sijie Dai (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 October 2002 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Two youths sent for a Maoist "re-education" in the mountains fall in love with the village tailor's granddaughter.

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Book | Tailor | Literature | Village

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Xun Zhou	...	Little Chinese Seamstress
Kun Chen	...	Luo
Ye Liu	...	Ma
Shuangbao Wang	...	Head of the Village
Zhijun Cong	...	Old Tailor
Hongwei Wang	...	Four Eyes
Xiong Xiao	...	Mother of Four Eyes
Zuohui Tang	...	Old Mill Worker
Wei Chen	...	Wife of the Head of the Village
Tianlu Chen	...	Director of the Commune
Qing-yun Fan	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Guy-Pierre Bennet	...	Journalist (voice)
Quilène Boileux	...	Airport Shop Assistant
Yulin Chen	...	Female Villager
Jing Fang	...	Female Villager
Yao Liu	...	Female Villager
Lina Mei	...	Female Villager
Jie Min	...	Peasant
Li Peng	...	Female Villager
Wa Su	...	Daughter in Law of the Head of the Village
Chun Hua Xu	...	Female Villager
Yukun Xu	...	Peasant
Dandan Yang	...	Mrs. Lao
He Zhang	...	Peasant
Fang Zong Zhao	...	Female Villager
Heng Fei Zhao	...	Female Villager

Also Known As:

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (UK) (USA)
Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise (France)
The Little Chinese Seamstress (International: English title)

Runtime:

110 min | France:116 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

France | China

Language:

Mandarin | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Fenghuan, Hunan, China

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Filming was allowed in China after seven months negotiations with the authorities, but any projection on Chinese territory was banned.

Soundtrack:

String quartet

A sheer delight

Don't be mislead into thinking that a film about the Chinese Cultural Revolution has to be heavy. This one is delightfully light, at times quite funny, but not trivial.

Describing one film review in Hong Kong serves well to describe the film itself. The critic used 90% of the review to say how the film is unrealistic, somewhat over-literary, a bit over-romantic, etc. In the last paragraph, however, despite everything that he said before, he gave the film top rating simply because it was so beautifully made.

The three young people are such a joy to watch. The message I get (which may not be the one intended by the director) is that no matter under what circumstances, youthfulness will prevail. For those who follow the international movie scene, Zhou Xun and Liu Ye wouldn't be total strangers. Chen Kun, the third of the trio, put up an equally sparkling performance. All the supporting roles are great too, and there are quite a few of them.

The scenery is breathtaking and the ending (which of course I won't give away) is very poetic.

It's one of the best, if not the best, "Chinese" film I've ever seen (Chinese in quotes because it's really French, and represents France in the Golden Globe, losing, narrowly I hope, to Almodovar's masterpiece Talk to Her).