Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002)

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, Kun Chen, Ye Liu

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 8 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:

mountain | seamstress | village | tailor | literature | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Empire Pictures [United States]

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 USA:

$16,694, 31 July 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$665,260, 22 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

String quartet
opus 131
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

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")