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Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Original title: Xiao cai feng
  • 20022002
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Xiao cai feng (2002)
  • Biography
  • Drama
  • Romance
Two youths sent for a Maoist "re-education" in the mountains fall in love with the village tailor's granddaughter.Two youths sent for a Maoist "re-education" in the mountains fall in love with the village tailor's granddaughter.Two youths sent for a Maoist "re-education" in the mountains fall in love with the village tailor's granddaughter.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Sijie Dai
  • Writers
    • Sijie Dai(novel)
    • Nadine Perront
  • Stars
    • Xun Zhou
    • Kun Chen
    • Ye Liu
Top credits
  • Director
    • Sijie Dai
  • Writers
    • Sijie Dai(novel)
    • Nadine Perront
  • Stars
    • Xun Zhou
    • Kun Chen
    • Ye Liu
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 47User reviews
    • 61Critic reviews
    • 65Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 9 nominations

    Photos

    Xiao cai feng (2002)
    Xiao cai feng (2002)
    Xiao cai feng (2002)
    Xiao cai feng (2002)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Xun Zhou
    Xun Zhou
    • Little Chinese Seamstressas Little Chinese Seamstress
    Kun Chen
    Kun Chen
    • Luoas Luo
    Ye Liu
    Ye Liu
    • Maas Ma
    Shuangbao Wang
    Shuangbao Wang
    • Head of the Villageas Head of the Village
    Zhijun Cong
    • Old Tailoras Old Tailor
    Hongwei Wang
    • Four Eyesas Four Eyes
    Xiong Xiao
    • Mother of Four Eyesas Mother of Four Eyes
    Zuohui Tang
    • Old Mill Workeras Old Mill Worker
    Wei Chen
    • Wife of the Head of the Villageas Wife of the Head of the Village
    Tianlu Chen
    • Director of the Communeas Director of the Commune
    Qing-yun Fan
    • Doctoras Doctor
    Jie Min
    • Peasantas Peasant
    He Zhang
    • Peasantas Peasant
    Yukun Xu
    • Peasantas Peasant
    Lina Mei
    • Female Villageras Female Villager
    Jing Fang
    • Female Villageras Female Villager
    Li Peng
    • Female Villageras Female Villager
    Heng Fei Zhao
    • Female Villageras Female Villager
    • Director
      • Sijie Dai
    • Writers
      • Sijie Dai(novel) (screenplay)
      • Nadine Perront
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
    • china
    • mountain
    • seamstress
    • village
    • tailor
    • 67 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Filming was allowed in China after seven months negotiations with the authorities, but any projection on Chinese territory was banned.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)
    • Soundtracks
      Divertissement
      K334

      Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    User reviews47

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Adorable Poetic Love Story in Times of Changing
    In 1971, in the China of Mao Tse Tung, the two university students Luo (Kun Chen) and Ma (Ye Liu) are sent to a mountain mining village with very ignorant peasants and also a Maoist rehabilitation camp, to be reeducated. Both fall in love for the illiterate granddaughter of the local tailor, called "little seamstress". They become friends, and Luo and Ma steal forbidden books of western literature, and while they read the books and teach the little seamstress, they also tell the story to the community and play classical music in the violin, developing and improving their lives.

    What a magnificent and beautiful movie is "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress". In a wonderful landscape with stunning scenery, this revolutionary love story about the importance of books to improve the life of people is very believable and I am not sure whether it is based on a true story. I regret that the DVD released in Brazil by Europa distributor has interviews with the cast and director spoken in Mandarin and without subtitles. My vote is ten.

    Title (Brazil): "Balzac e a Costureirinha Chinesa" ("Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress")
    helpful•16
    2
    • claudio_carvalho
    • Oct 24, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 9, 2002 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • China
    • Official site
      • Empire Pictures (United States)
    • Languages
      • Mandarin
      • French
    • Also known as
      • The Little Chinese Seamstress
    • Filming locations
      • Fenghuan, Hunan, China
    • Production companies
      • Les Productions Internationales Le Film
      • StudioCanal
      • France 3 Cinéma
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $666,327
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $16,694
      • Jul 31, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,209,555
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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