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

Director:

Sijie Dai

Writers:

Sijie Dai (novel)
Sijie Dai (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

9 October 2002 (France)

Genre:

Biography | 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:

Literature | Village | Book | Seamstress | Mountain

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

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
Jing Fang	...	Female Villager
Li Peng	...	Female Villager
Heng Fei Zhao	...	Female Villager
Yao Liu	...	Female Villager
Yulin Chen	...	Female Villager
Chun Hua Xu	...	Female Villager
Fang Zong Zhao	...	Female Villager
Wa Su	...	Daughter in Law of the Head of the Village
Quilène Boileux	...	Airport Shop Assistant
Dandan Yang	...	Mrs. Lao
Guy-Pierre Bennet	...	Journalist (voice)

Directed by
Sijie Dai

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sijie Dai		novel
Sijie Dai		screenplay
Nadine Perront

Produced by
Lise Fayolle	....	producer
Bernard Lorain	....	executive producer
Pujian Wang	....	executive producer
Wang Zhebin	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Pujian Wang

Cinematography by
Jean-Marie Dreujou

Film Editing by
Luc Barnier
Julia Gregory

Production Design by
Juiping Cao

Costume Design by
Huamiao Tong

Makeup Department
Guihua Cheng	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Zi An	....	unit manager: Shanghai
Fanny Bourdillon	....	unit manager
Lewu Chen	....	unit manager
Boutboul Déborah	....	unit manager
Xiong Jiang	....	unit manager: Shanghai
Shenlin Li	....	unit manager
Benoît Ouvrier-Bonnaz	....	unit manager
Zhong Yuan Qian	....	unit manager
Yulong Shen	....	unit manager: Shanghai
Roland Thénot	....	unit manager
Jing-Hua Wang	....	unit manager
Qiang Wang	....	unit manager
Dong Lai Wei	....	unit manager: Shanghai
Hong Wu	....	unit manager
Chenhao Yu	....	unit manager
Jun Zhao	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jen Chang Hsien	....	assistant director
Guang Li	....	assistant director
Charles Liu Morel	....	assistant director
Chunlin Zhao	....	assistant director

Art Department
Baihan Hui	....	set dresser
Jian-An Lu	....	set dresser
Hailiang Luo	....	set dresser
Ying Ma	....	assistant art director
Zhang Tian	....	props
Zhuangchun Wu	....	props
Jian Qun Zhang	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Jean-Philippe Callet	....	sound recordist
Jean De Sagey	....	foley recordist
Franck Desmoulins	....	ProTools consultant
Rodolphe Duhamel	....	sound recordist
Li Pei Gen	....	assistant sound
Benjamin Leloch	....	sound recordist (as Benjamin Le Loch)
François Lepeuple	....	foley artist
Sylvain Malbrant	....	assistant sound editor
Olivier Marlangeon	....	foley artist
Michel Monier	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Nicolas Naegelen	....	sound mixer
Nicolas Naegelen	....	sound
Daniel Sobrino	....	sound
Zhe Wang	....	assistant sound
Li Wen	....	assistant sound
Lala Wu	....	sound
Xin Zhan	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Stephane Bidault	....	digital effects supervisor
Pierre Blain	....	digital effects director
Marc-André Brunet	....	visual effects
Christophe Chanvin	....	artistic director
Alain Fauchon	....	optical transfer
Matthias Weber	....	visual effects

Stunts
Hui Xie	....	stunt double: swimming

Camera and Electrical Department
Te Ba	....	grip
Paul-Claude Bessière	....	key grip
Renaud Chassaing	....	first assistant camera
Dong Cong	....	electrician
Zhang Dahai	....	electrician
Zhao Danyang	....	electrician
Luo Dong	....	still photographer
Wei Guo Dong	....	generator operator
Zhang Fengzhu	....	grip
Patrick Gasché	....	electrician
Liu Guangshun	....	grip
Pei Luo	....	video assistant
Michele Mattei	....	special photographer (as Michèle Mattei)
Yang Ning	....	assistant Steadicam operator
Hong Peng	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Claude Reux	....	gaffer
Chen Zhu Xiang	....	Steadicam operator
Niu Yi	....	electrician
Lu Zhixin	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Zhigang Chen	....	dresser
Huani Tong	....	dresser

Editorial Department
Fleur Augustin	....	assistant editor
Fabrice Dequeant	....	color timer
Nicolas Duchemin	....	assistant editor
Zoé Forget	....	post-production coordinator
Alice Godeau	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ya Dai	....	musician: flute
Can Gao	....	musician: violin
Zhang Gaoxiang	....	musician: dulcimer
Xiaopei Li	....	music recordist
Pujian Wang	....	conductor
Jie Min Yan	....	musician: Chinese violin

Other crew
Tony Krantz	....	press attache
Latifa Laarcy	....	administrator
Li Liang	....	translator
Luc Oeuvray	....	administrator
Laurent Renard	....	press attache
Rafael Schneider	....	making-of director
Dominique Segall	....	press attache
Guixin Zhai	....	administrator
Xia Zhao	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Georges Beaume	....	thanks
Guy-Pierre Bennet	....	thanks
Prune Bergé	....	thanks
Dominique Besnehard	....	thanks
Florence Bitoun	....	thanks
Jacques Bitoun	....	thanks
Jean-François Boyer	....	thanks
Valérie Boyer	....	thanks
Zouhua Chen	....	thanks
Brahim Chioua	....	thanks
Jean-Marie Duchemin	....	thanks
Sylvie El Sayegh	....	thanks
Joy Fleury	....	thanks
Danièle Heymann	....	thanks
Guy Joussemet	....	thanks
Monique Kouznekzoff	....	thanks (as Monique Kouznetzoff)
Tony Krantz	....	thanks
Anne Kuperberg	....	thanks
Pierre Kuperberg	....	thanks
Didier Kustinger	....	thanks
Archie Larochie	....	thanks (as Archie Laroche)
Xin-Min Long	....	thanks
Yong Luo	....	thanks
Zitian Luo	....	thanks
Denis Offroy	....	thanks
Isabelle Peyrefitte	....	thanks
Bernard Pivot	....	special thanks
Marie-Françoise Rousset-Rouard	....	thanks
Yves Rousset-Rouard	....	thanks
Jean-Marie Sénia	....	thanks
Anna Maria Tatò	....	thanks
Perrine Tézé	....	thanks
Shi Zhao	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Les Productions Internationales Le Film
• Studio Canal (in co-production with)
• France 3 Cinéma (in co-production with)
• Les Films de la Suane (in co-production with)
• TF1 Films Production (in co-production with)
• Canal+ (with the participation of)
• Bac Films (with the participation of)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (with the participation of)
• China Film (in collaboration with)
• Forbidden City Studios (in collaboration with)
• Philippe Rousselet (in association with)

Distributors

• Empire Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Empire Pictures (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Ager 3 (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Art Films (2004) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Arthaus (2004) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Best Film CO (2003) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Evgueni Kondratenko (2006) (Ukraine) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2002) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Filmladen (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Films de l'Elysée, Les (2003) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Hopscotch Entertainment (2003) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Les Films Séville (2002) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Media Asia Group (2003) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• New Select (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• New Vision Film Distribution (2003) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Noah Communication (2002) (Israel) (theatrical)
• Quality Films (2003) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Schwarz/Weiss Filmverleih (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sunrise Film Distribution (2004) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• TF1 Films International (2002) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Telexcel (2003-????) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Vértigo Films (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Albatros Film
• Bac Films (France)
• Consórcio Europa Severiano Ribeiro (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Empire Pictures Inc. (2005) (USA) (all media)
• First Run Features (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Intercinema Art Agency (Russia)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Millennium Storm (2004) (Italy) (video)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Seville Pictures (200?) (Canada) (DVD)
• Soda Pictures (UK)
• Television (????) (Romania) (TV)
• Videodis (200?) (France) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2007) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• AutreChose

Other Companies

• Assurances Continentales, Les  insurance
• Beijing Ltd.  lighting
• CCTV Studio  music recorded at
• Cinerent  lighting (as Cinérent)
• Excalibur  titles
• Hôtel Long Quian, Zhang Jiajia, Hunan  thanks
• J.C.R.  lighting
• Kodak  film stock
• Les Audis de Joinville  sound re-recording
• Les Productions Internationales Le Film  music publisher
• Les habitants de la commune Daping de Zhan  thanks
• Panavision France  camera equipment provided by
• Polyson  sound post-production
• Titra Film Paris  subtitles
• Transpalux  lighting
• Unimage  editorial facilities
• Virgin Records  soundtrack
• Warmflash Productions Ltd.  trailer

Also Known As:

"Xiao cai feng" - France (original title)
"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 | Hong Kong:IIA | 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:

Les Productions Internationales Le Film

Trivia:

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

Soundtrack:

Divertissement

Beautifully understated

This Sino-French film breaks no particular new ground, is not strong on action or drama, and is unlikely to move you either to great joy, or to tears. Despite this, there is something innately satisfying about watching it, which defies casual analysis.

The story centres on two young men, Ma and Luo. Coming from "reactionary bourgeois" families in the city, they are sent by the Chinese authorities for "re-education" to a beautiful yet achingly backward and isolated community in the mountains. There they undertake menial work, live in comparative squalor, but predictably find love in the form of the same woman – known throughout the film simply as "the little seamstress".

While "Balzac…" will win few originality awards, its strength lies in execution.

Sijie Dai manages to tell his story (which is semi-autobiographical) in a straightforward way. The local party chief is ignorant and officious without ever descending into malignancy. Ma and Luo are engaging without being overtly benevolent. The "peasants" are ignorant without being stupid. As love blossoms, the emotion of the film moves from repression to longing.

There are some wonderful, poignant moments in the film too, which underscore the mood. The local party chief exclaims early in the film "revolutionary peasants will never be corrupted by filthy bourgeois chicken"; Ma and Luo are sent to the cinema with instructions to tell the story to the village on their return; the little seamstress comments wistfully that she can "see planes flying overhead, and wonder to what far cities they are going" reminding us painfully that this is the 1960s not the 1860s.

Mostly, though, the audience is reminded of the futility of repression; the insatiable thirst for knowledge and new ideas, even among the villagers who are transfixed by the basic choices to be found in a city-boy's cookbook.

The cinematography is also wonderful. Apart from the flood sequence at the end, there is nothing flashy about it (and, given the scenery, it's possible that even I could do a fair job of making the film look pretty) but it is precisely the understated nature of the cinematography that I loved.

If the film has any particular weakness, its end (at least in terms of the Phoenix Mountain segment) is abrupt and seems not to follow logically from what has gone before. This is a small criticism though.

Many films today, even the good ones, seem to force their themes upon the audience by brute force, yet upon leaving the cinema, there seems little to talk about or ruminate over. "Balzac…", at least for me, was the opposite. Its light touch has worked its way into my unguarded consciousness. It is a welcome guest, and long may it stay.