Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002)
"Xiao cai feng" (original title)

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

Director:

Sijie Dai

Writers:

Sijie Dai (novel), Sijie Dai (screenplay),

Stars:

Xun Zhou, Ye Liu, Kun Chen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Xun Zhou	...	Little Chinese Seamstress
Ye Liu	...	Ma
Kun Chen	...	Luo
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
Jie Min	...	Peasant
He Zhang	...	Peasant
Yukun Xu	...	Peasant
Lina Mei	...	Female Villager

Storyline

In 1971 China, in the lingering grip of the cultural revolution, two university students, Luo and Ma, are sent to a mountain mining village as part of their reeducation duty to purge them of their classical western oriented education. Amid the backbreaking work and stifling ignorance of the community, the two boys find that music, and the presence of the beautiful local young women are the only pleasant things in their miserable life. However, none compare to the young seamstress granddaughter of the local tailor. Stealing a departing student's secret cache of forbidden books of classic western literature such as the works of Honore de Balzac, they set about to woo her and teach her things she had never imagined. In doing so, they start a journey that would profoundly change her perspective on her world and teach the boys about the power of literature and their own ability to change their world in truly revolutionary ways.

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Plot Keywords:

village | mountain | seamstress | tailor | literature | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Empire Pictures [us]

Country:

France China

Language:

Mandarin French

Release Date:

9 October 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Filming Locations:

Fenghuan, Hunan, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$16,694 (USA) (29 July 2005)

Gross:

$665,260 (USA) (20 January 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Productions Internationales Le Film, StudioCanal, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Soundtracks

"Concerto pour violon N° 3"
KV 216
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Trancelike Story Of Chinese Beauty

This is the Chinese Jules et Jim...so beautiful in its misty mountains...it's hard truths about communism and political harshness. Unbelievable in its many awful truths. But ultimately, one of the most beauteous of all films...especially in the way it deals with the entry into the imagination of beauty through reading, which was forbidden to these peasants...but they took a risk anyway in order to experience those pleasures.

I will always remember this film and its transforming power over my rational mind. I believe the power of this film is the human spirit which sounds like blah blah blah but I really mean it. The human spirit soars from beginning to end in the story. The film captures every moment.