BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS (BALZAC ET LA PETITE TAILLEUSE CHINOISE) Asian New Classics

Dai Sijie’s poignant, largely autobiographical coming-of-age tale reminds us that love can always blossom where you least expect.

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS is a return to China’s Cultural Revolution, when playing Mozart could get you killed, and reading Balzac was as dangerous as buying a vial of heroin is today. Luo and Dai, sons of reactionary leaders, are brought to a rural mountain town to be indoctrinated with a love for all things Mao. But when a beautiful young girl enters their lives, Luo and Dai discover a different kind of love-one that unifies them as it tears them apart.

Ziiou Xun, star of BEIJING BICYCLE and SUZHOU RIVER, leads a superb cast in this remarkable evocation of a time and place that haunt Dai Sijie, and China, to this day.