Must See Movie...

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

In Communist China, 1971, two close friends, Luo and Ma, are forcibly relocated to a remote southern region of the country because of their "reactionary"--one of their dentist fathers once filled a tooth for Chiang Kai-shek, etc--backgrounds and activities. They are given Spartan living quarters with diets to match and forced to work back-breaking jobs doing "honest" labor such as hauling large vats of human waste to fertilize the nearby fields. They become friends with a local girl, a seamstress whose true name they never learn, and the three begin a covert reading group of forbidden foreign novels.First of all, BALZAC and the LITTLE Chinese SEAMSTRESS is just a very moving, engaging, and intelligent story. Based on Dai Sijie's excellent novel of the same title, it's not for those who want a lot of fast action and such. Nevertheless, this film truly takes you to Mao's China, providing dead-eye satire of its institutions and revealing the amazing ignorance of the political "chiefs" responsible for making life-and-death decisions for thousands of people. The ugliness of this system contrasts very well with the beautiful natural scenery in the film. The way that three free-thinking people circumvent the tunnel-visioned totalitarian system is a wonderful story device. It's also very funny: Wow, I didn't know that Balzac was an Albanian! There are sexual themes and sexual tension but no blatant sex or nudity. The three-way relationship between these individuals is simply as real as real can get.If you enjoy this film, I might recommend another excellent Chinese production with a similar theme: XIU XIU: THE SENT DOWN GIRL.

An invaluably sad but exceptionally beautiful work of art realistically depicting instability and mutability of all things in modern life. It's inevitably fluid like nature of human evolution between one époque to another. I can feel ethereal touch of Author's filial love to his mother country china. It is easy to see that the Author was torn between his deep seated love for China and Ambition of prosperity on his chosen land (France) at the moment of his life time decision making. This is something that not many understand unless you are forced to leave from your homeland and love ones for a cause. I have left Japan , Kyoto and a noble born beloved fiancé along with almost all things I perceived exquisite at that time for an ambitious cause.Augmented by an outstanding soundtracks with his genius touch in a perfect synchronization with emotion portrayed in screenplay. Since I have played harpsichord continuo part for Haendel's tragic opera such as Alcina, Otone and Radamisto for student soprano singers during rehearsals in the past, I can readily feel Author's masterful quality of refined artistic mind in every scene.This is a second film that I bought for my collection of Dai Sijie's works. I must admit that he is a genius of screenplay when it comes to depicting moments of painful separation. Who else can reproduce so vividly on the screen with such poetic touch today? Julien Kujo, Palo Alto, California

Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress – Film review Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a film based on the cultural revolution of the 1970's. Two boys are sent to the country to be re-educated under Chairman Mao. The main focus of the movie is the adventures that the boys undergo while there. While they are there, Luo, one of the boys, falls in love with a local girl there, a seamstress. There is also a suitcase, belonging to one of the other boys, four-eyes, that is rumoured to hold in it secret books, illegal ones. The boys steal it, and with the help of their favourite author, Balzac, the little Chinese seamstress is changed forever from the simple girl she was.The movie itself leaves something to be desired. Although the plot of the book is simple enough, the adaptation for the movie has not been done well, and some crucial parts have been removed or replaced. There have been some major changes in the movie, and while this is to be expected of any movie adaptation, they do not suit the movie or the book, and make holes in the film.The characters, Ma (Ye Liu) and Luo (Kun Chen) are generally what you would expect them to be from the book. Their appearance is much the same, but they look too much alike to be able to tell them apart easily, especially with the cutting of one person to another. The Seamstress (Xun Zhou) has been done well, and is portrayed well. There is some difference from the book, but this is to be expected as it is an adaptation. The actors themselves have done quite well, and have settled into character much like the book, with the minor characters doing well at setting the scene for the main plot to take place. There were many minor roles, and all of them have done well in making the movie seem real and more life-like The scenery is fantastic. It has been beautifully captured by the camera, and the set of the movie has been chosen well. It fits in perfectly with the book, and is breathtaking to watch. The shots and angles used in the movie are also very well done. They accentuate the specific feeling in a particular scene to make it seem as if you are actually there. There is also very good lighting and sounds used in the movie, that are able to, again, emphasise a particular scene in the film that is of great importance. The sets are also very life-like, with the highlights being the little details that have been put into the sets, the feeling that it has been filmed during the 1970's is very much there. But the way that the camera has been able to capture it has been the most commendable achievement. It has been done in such a way that it is able to show the viewer what life was like, the details, and also to heighten a specific point in the movie.The plot of the movie, however, is not very well done at all. The storyline is jumpy and confusing, and leaves viewers still trying to work out what has happened long after an event has passed. The plot is extremely disorganised, and the adaptation has not worked out well. People would have to read the book before seeing the movie to work out which parts fitted where and what was happening. There is utter chaos when organising the scene where Ma has jumped ahead to the future. When he is reminiscing about how the little seamstress had left a while earlier (from what can be pieced together) it is very confusing trying to work out whether he is in the present or the past.The director of the movie (Sijie Dai) is also the writer of the book, so a better movie would be expected then this. But he has put the pieces of the movie together in such a way that, even though the scenes by themselves are brilliant, the movie is jumpy and hard to understand. The subtitles running too quickly didn't help. There are too many characters introduced at the same time, and eventually it gets far too complicated to understand the first time. One can only get their head around this movie if they have either read the book prior to watching the movie, or they have seen it more then once. Either way, there is too much effort required trying to understand the plot then is really necessary.The movie is shot well, with excellent scenes and camera angles used to create a great tone in the movie. The actors have done well with adapting to the parts, and the characters are not unlike the book. But the plot line is a real let-down, with the scenes being poorly placed, making the movie jumpy and unrealistic. The director has done poorly on this movie, which is confusing in itself, considering he wrote the book as well as making the movie. Maybe he should just stick to writing. Although, for those who have read the book, he isn't too good at that either. Overall, not a movie that is worth paying $4 to go and rent, and certainly not worth the time to try and understand.

I was really moved by the portrayal of the friendship of the Little Seamstress, Ma, and Luo, and how their lives were changed by their experience in the mountains in this brief span of time. The mountains were beautiful, the re-educators were not presented as monsters, and the acting, esp Xun Zho as Little Seamstress and Ye Liu as Ma was really good. Xun Zho reminded me of the young Gong Li in Red Sorghum. Most importantly, I rediscovered how lucky I am to be able to read and watch what I want when I want, and how I am almost obligated to take advantage of my freedom to read and watch movies.For me, the filming was never as strong as the better Asian movies but once the movie got going the filming became stronger as did the movie.The character of the harshness of the cultural revolution in China in the 60's was shown thru a politically soft-focus lens, but I did not mind this as there are more than enough Chinese movies that have leaned in the other direction, and for me, this was a movie about friendship and love in a political and cultural setting, not the other way around which matches my own personal preferences.