Balzac e la piccola sarta cinese

Don't be mislead into thinking that a film about the Chinese Cultural Revolution has to be heavy. This one is delightfully light, at times quite funny, but not trivial.

Describing one film review in Hong Kong serves well to describe the film itself. The critic used 90% of the review to say how the film is unrealistic, somewhat over-literary, a bit over-romantic, etc. In the last paragraph, however, despite everything that he said before, he gave the film top rating simply because it was so beautifully made.

The three young people are such a joy to watch. The message I get (which may not be the one intended by the director) is that no matter under what circumstances, youthfulness will prevail. For those who follow the international movie scene, Zhou Xun and Liu Ye wouldn't be total strangers. Chen Kun, the third of the trio, put up an equally sparkling performance. All the supporting roles are great too, and there are quite a few of them.

The scenery is breathtaking and the ending (which of course I won't give away) is very poetic.

It's one of the best, if not the best, "Chinese" film I've ever seen (Chinese in quotes because it's really French, and represents France in the Golden Globe, losing, narrowly I hope, to Almodovar's masterpiece Talk to Her).

Sijie Dai's wonderful novel, "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" was a joy to read. The author, who one thinks must live in France, made it possible for people that haven't read the book to see it as a motion picture that captures the spirit of the novel.

The action takes place in the China of the Red Brigades. As they swept the country, they wanted to rid of all foreign influence in their culture because it was perceived as a threat to the system. Among the people that fell prey to the hysteria of those days, two young city young men were apprehended and sent to a remote area by the magical Phoenix mountains to start work in one of the mines in the area as part of their reeducation, or brain washing process.

Young Luo and Ma, can't do without their beloved books and the violin that one of them played. Suddenly, these two young men are once again seen as a threat to their small community which is dominated by a man with a small mind who sees evil everywhere. The young men are appalled when they discover that most of the people around them are illiterate. Thus begins a series of readings from the classical books, mostly French, and the young men disguise as coming from another source.

When the tailor for the area arrives with his little assistant, both Luo and Ma can't help in falling in love for her. Only one of them will be successful in being loved back by the beautiful young woman.

The film is beautiful to watch. The impressive backdrop to the story serves as a distraction, at times, into this majestic area of China. The director has achieved a magic moment for the viewer by capturing beautiful images about a place at the end of the world.

It is impossible to understand this story in his real essence. The beautiful skin of love and nice images, the acting and slices of memory are only small details of a horrible era (Chinese Communism of Mao period is more that the best thriller can presents). So, a tale about resistance, about culture like secret and vital refuge is not only interesting or touching but good "remember", too. The life in a country who considers his citizens like social dough is a cruel experience and a survive exercise. In Romania, the Communist regime was not very different but the relates about this period, his reflexion in films is mixture of frustrations and hate. Maybe, this is the normal way after a social crisis. So, the principal virtue of film is the subtle humor. The innocence of resistance, the original game, the delicate resistance against a grotesque situation. In many aspects the film is a charming miniature and it is Sijie Dai's merit to present not only a personal experience, a story of past but a slice of far reality so present in ours life, yet. Same impressive token about a subtle form of resistance is "Flying against the arrow" by Horia- Roman Patapievici.

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.

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")